Starting Over

Just when we finished all of the big projects in our first house (there were still a lot of little ones left on the agenda) and were settling into our post-renovation-bliss phase, we decided to leave.  To this day (almost 8 months since we moved), hubby still complains jokes about it to our friends.  He would say, "we worked so hard to make everything perfect and are now letting someone else reap the benefits".  He's not completely wrong, we did spent a lot of time and money on it, but at the end of the day it was a good investment and we walked away with all of those skills and the memories of having earned them.  Plus, things are different in the new house.  First of all, it is new.  To us and to the world.  There are no problems to fix (ahem..yet).  We can actually choose to have a free weekend to sit and enjoy the kids or do a project for fun, rather than work on something in the house.  And even though that is something that we both grew to love, that itch to renovate, we can do that over time here.  Much to my husbands chagrin, I already have a to-do list for the new house:

• Add a built-in hutch/storage/shelving unit in the dining room to complement the kitchen cabinets
• Add built-in bookshelves to the office
• Add built-in storage/lockers/cubbies to the mudroom area (currently being used as a playroom, so this will be a project for down the road)
• Finish the basement (more on that in another post, since its a big project)
• Add wainscoting to the kids bathroom upstairs 
• Add overhead lights in the kids' rooms 
• Get a new dining room table??
• Add hooks/storage to the garage
• Window treatments all around the house
• Plant in the back/maybe veggie garden if I'm feeling ambitious
• Turn guest room upstairs into fun hangout space for kids with some trundle beds or day beds for sleepovers
• Install gallery of frames on stairway wall
• Install a patio when basement is finished
• Add storage and functionality to laundry room/maybe paint as well

That's all I have so far, but its certainly enough to keep us busy for a while!!

And all of these projects will make more sense once I show you more pictures of the house, or even a house tour if I can figure out how to do that.  The kids have been sick this week so to say that they are needy at the moment is a severe understatement.  Reagan is sitting in my lap while I'm typing with one hand.  Hopefully next week will be better!!

New house, new beginnings..

We moved into our new house in December.  Just one town over, 7 miles away, but it feels like the other side of the world.  New neighbors, new town, new way of life really.  It's like starting over, but in a good way!!  And this was all totally on a whim, by the way.  We weren't even thinking about moving or selling the house that we put so much love and time and money into, we just stumbled onto a listing that we couldn't ignore.  I am not exaggerating when i say that as soon as we walked in we knew it was home.  I guess I shouldn't speak for my husband in that moment but as the saying goes, "happy wife, happy life!"  So we put our house on the market two days later and it was sold two days after that.  My head it still spinning.  We are settled in now but I have days where I wonder if we did the right thing.  We left some pretty wonderful neighbors, a newly renovated house, and the community that we loved for 4 years (although it felt like much longer), but then I remember all of the projects we still had left to do, and I start to forget all that.  I love me a good project, as you probably figured by now, but the things we had left to do included a new roof, boiler, insulation, just to name a few.  Nothing blog-worthy that's for sure!  

So instead of all that, we did the most unexpected thing of all; we bought new construction.  

I know.  I know.  What sort of projects could we possibly have here when it's brand new?  Trust me, though, we haven't been bored.  It's a blank slate.  There are a million decorating possibilities, two new kids rooms to have fun with and a whole basement to refinish (not sure if I even showed you final shots of the old one).  So although we won't be gutting and renovating this one like we did the last, we have a lot of work to do.  It was sad leaving such a special place (I will always love and miss our first home) but the extra space is really nice and I'm looking forward to all the amazing projects we can come up with here!!!

Looking forward to sharing this journey with you!!

A hop, a skip and a whole year

I can't believe its been a whole year since I've written.  Actually longer.  The demands of two kids was much more than I imagined and something had to give.  Unfortunately, it was this.  I can't tell you how much I have missed it though.

But I have still been decorating, renovating and even MOVING to a new house so we need a serious catch up session.....or several.  Hopefully this is like one of those friendships that stop and start right where they left off, like no time has passed.  I have a few wonderful friends like that.  We may only see each other 2 times a year, but you'd never know it.  Our conversations flow like we were just talking yesterday.  If this is anything like one of those friendships, I think we can rekindle this.  Fingers crossed.

I have some photo uploading and editing to do (7 months later and I still haven't taken a photo of the exterior of the house...oops), but I will share it all in the coming days. 

Can't wait to stretch out my legs after such a long hibernation.