It feels SO weird to say, but yesterday was the 6 month anniversary of moving into our house! I may have been a HUGE slacker - as far as haus blogging goes - lately, but things have still been happening! It's just that
wedding season kicked in, and this blog has to take a back seat [in order to do stuff to the house I still have to make a little money, so that kinda has to come first]. But a big milestone is the perfect excuse to pop in to show you that things are still happening! And some more detailed blog posts about some of the updates will come soon!
Some rooms have improved immensely, some rooms.....well. Some rooms got worse. Such is life.
Anyhoo - on to the photos! When bought the house the kitchen looked like this:
And one week after moving in, it looked like this:
Beautiful white quartz counters went in, glass tile backsplash went up [and a few awkwardly-placed outlets in the desk area were moved to the far right side [thanks, Dad!], and we got a new dishwasher.
Yesterday it looked like this! [well, today too, only with a few more scattered randoms on the counter, and I'm pretty sure the beagle has moved since then.] The kitchen is on its way to being finished - on the list of stuff to still do is: replace ugly hardware on cabinet doors, replace that teardrop light in front of the window [it was added in later, and definitely doesn't go. And it doesn't work, so it's got to go. I can't find an exact replacement, but I have an idea.... I'll keep you posted], get the burgundy chairs reupholstered, paint the ceiling white.... and I'm sure I'll come up with something else.
This room got much better, as well! A coat of paint and some new hardware goes a loooong way. I also got the shelves arranged and pretti-fied [a post on staging shelves is coming soon! I just have to figure out how to make a gif first...]
In here, I plan on tweaking the couches' placement, and I have my eye on a coffee table to anchor the arrangement.... we'll see how that goes too!
__________________
The pass through in the kitchen that looks into the dining room & living room looked like this before [I described it as 'a view of the two ugliest lights ever']
And now, it looks like this! I swapped out the glass shade on the pendant [$12 upgrade that instantly made me feel less itchy when I looked at it], and as soon as I saw
this baby go on sale - for $200! - I snatched it up and watched out the window until the UPS man brought it to my door [not really, but opening up that box when it did arrive made me jump up and down giddily]. My Dad came over to help me put it up [that thing is h e a v y!] And I was finally rid of the bronze and amber monstrosity that loomed heavily over our 50s dining table.
The living room one week in was a mess of boxes, packing material, and WIRES.
It cleaned up nicely, and now looks like this! New pillows, shapely furniture, and cord-wranglers did the trick.
One week in:
In May the view looked like this:
Yesterday it looked like this: [pretty much exactly the same as in May, only one of our prints above the credenza fell down a few weeks ago. Glass shattered, frame bent. Womp womp. I was unable to find a replacement side that matches the rest, so I'm going to get a whole new frame today. I'm getting a black one, which I think ultimately will look better anyway. Silver lining?]
The living room still has a few things I'm planning on doing - I may expand the group of art above the credenza with a few more things, and I'm going to get the avocado chair reupholstered [I just keep procrastinating and I don't know why, other than the cost ;)] AND - I can hardly wait for this one - we're ripping up that carpet and putting down a gorgeous graphite-gray hardwood floor in the living and dining rooms!!! It's been ordered and we're on the waiting list for the floor guy. It's going to make SUCH a difference and I can't wait to see how gorgeous it's going to look!
The dining room one week in:
And today:
Once the floors are put in, I'm going to switch out the painting [I've had it since college and I have no idea where to put it. I just know it's not going to stay here...] and I'm planning on switching out the seats of the chair with black leather. It's gonna be pretty swanky up in here...
I could stare at that light all. damn. day.
The hall bathroom one week in:
And now [not much changed - just painted it white and added some
weirdness/awesomeness]
My office one week in looked like this:
And now, well. This was one of the rooms that got worse. Way worse. So I didn't even take a photo to show you. When we sold our old house, we still had lots of little random stuff to get out, and most of it made its way into here, so there's a loooot more to figure out, and that probably won't happen until December.
Oy.
But let's forget about that right now, and move onto the master bedroom! One week in it looked like this:
And now it's shaping up a bit! We got an *actual* bed, and a few vintage lamps were thrown in for good measure:
The bathroom was beige when we moved in [just like every other room]:
And the bathroom is still beige now. I have a few ideas brewing though! I'll spruce it up this winter.
One room I don't think I ever showed is another spare bedroom [it's a 4 bedroom house]. It pretty much looked like it does now, only with boxes and stuff in it. Now it's working its way to be a nicely-appointed spare room, albeit with leftover bits of furniture we don't know where to put:
I got this awesome oriental rug from my parents, who've had it for probably 35 years. They had it above their bed when I was a kid, and now it fits perfectly on the walnut wall! I've decided to embrace the 70s and go full on boho in this room. A crocheted afghan atop a crocheted duvet [an heirloom on Brandon's side], and even a sweet avocado armchair in the corner [not pictured]. Funky artwork will go on these walls too [the super big Yorkie print is going up near where it's propped - I just have to find some nails and get after it]
The foyer looked like this a few months ago:
And now looks like this! I added some peacocks I've had, and got a new planter for the palm tree:
This view I said I loved before, in another blog post:
But maaaan is it better now, with my amazing new chandelier :)
The laundry room one week in looked like this:
Aaaand now it's like this. This is the other room that got way worse when we got the random bits out of the old house. Just like the office, it'll sit like this until winter, when I can devote a whole day to organizing and putting away of the crap.
Jenna von Oy.
__________________
The dog bathroom one week in, and now!
Now we go outside! Because here is where another HUGE change took place. We had the house painted!!
It's not pink anymore!!
ugh those cables. we have a plan to disguise them [it's that or pay someone to crawl around under the house to rerun everything. whyyyyyy did they have to go over the top in the first place?! Oh well. Make do.]
The patio when we moved in:
After I planted the flowers in late April [I think]:
And now! So white and pretty and clean!! I miss that hanging macrame planter, but in the weeks [and weeks and weeks and weeks] it took to get the house power washed and painted, the purple queen plant at the bottom EXPLODED and it won't fit back into it! So it's on a stand and looks glorious.
We were going to go dark gray in back, but both Brandon and I just had a feeling white would be better. In a sort of a California modern way. And it was definitely the right decision! You see the white through the dining room windows, and everything just seems so bright and amazing!
so much brighter and prettier!
And the exterior in front before:
And now!
I hope you've enjoyed this little recap, and if you're still reading, THANK YOU for waiting patiently for another post! I don't know when I'll post again, but it won't be another three months of radio silence. I promise!
