One Year in Our Home

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This day last year, we closed on our home. Our offer was accepted on December 4th after three months of searching, visits to over thirty houses, and two failed offers. We were so looking forward to this day, and it has been an incredible first year in our home. We have made many changes, and there are several to-do tasks that still have not been completed. It feels like a day to celebrate. We were excited on this day last year, and I am still so excited that we found our perfect home. 

So happy that we just closed on our new home! :)

To see how far our home has come in the last year, I decided to compare the listing photos of our home to how it looks today. 

The Living Room

Not much has changed here, other than the added stuff. Since this is our only common area, we have a lot of toys in here and play in the living room often. I wanted to do a gallery wall behind the couch, and I was gifted the frames for my birthday, so that was something exciting to finish. Before Christmas there was a big red and gold papasan chair where Skyler's tent (and where the Christmas tree went) is now. The chair served as my inspiration for the room, but we love having the tent to play and read in. I find this room overcrowded, but it is definitely homey and we love spending time together here. The kitten on the rug is also our newest addition to the family, added within the last year as well ;)

The biggest change to the other side of the living room was the red accent wall by the fireplace. I painted that within weeks of moving in and I still love the color it adds! Of course, the room in the background looks quite different as well!

The Dining Room

Our dining room has been one of the biggest changes to our home. We painted the walls (along with both staircases and the upstairs hallway) a warm tan, which was such a welcome change from the stark white! We also took out the carpet and put in hard wood flooring, and got rid of the blinds, opting for curtains instead. You can see where our sensory bins are stored in this photo!

This better shows the changes of the wall color and flooring, and also the next thing we want to change out - the horrible light fixture! It has been on our to-do list, and after taking down the blinds and putting up the curtains just recently, the light fixture looks even worse!

The Kitchen

Again, the kitchen is mostly changed by the stuff that occupies it. I have big plans for this room. I have always intended to paint it (green is the plan) and I have some art to hang on a bare wall. We painted almost the entire house right after moving in, but I lost some steam after awhile, and the daunting kitchen was pushed off of my to-do list. I intended to paint last week, but it never happened. I would also love a window cover for this room. Though it is not my favorite room, it does hold all of our stuff perfectly.

The one thing I would love to change about this picture is the incredibly crowded corner that houses all of our coffee appliances. It is a frequently used area, so it is convenient, but not very eye appealing. We sure have a lot of coffee paraphernalia. Sorry, kitchen, that you do not get much love in the decorating department.

The Downstairs Bathroom

 

I loved the gray color in this room (the top photo better demonstrates what the color looks like), and we actually matched this color to paint our bedroom upstairs. To brighten it up, this room received many yellow accents. For the sake of this post, just going by the listing photos, you can see some of the changes, but not all. We added two white wall shelves behind the toilet and have extra towels, lotion and room spray, vases with yellow and white flowers, and woven yellow frames with photos of my all white wedding bouquet. Above the towel rack is a picture that Skyler colored in greys and yellows, and there are more flowers on the sink.  

The Upstairs Bathroom

Possibly the biggest transformation other than the dining room was our bathroom. I am a big fan of espresso and teal (our wedding colors) and I fell in love with this shower curtain. The artwork I painted, the bunny ring holder, and our rugs are the teal accents to accompany the curtain. We also added the cabinet and a hand towel rack next to the sink. The newest addition to this room is Skyler's beloved "potty!"

Skyler's Room

I have posted many photos of Skyler's room, so this one is not a huge surprise (and reflective surfaces were not my friend today as I took pictures in both bedrooms...blah!). The night we moved in, we set up Skyler's crib in our room, and my dad and I painted Skyler's room and closet. It was a fun way to spend our first hours at our home!

The Master Bedroom

The gray paint (that does not like to photograph) is the only big change to this room. We painted our room and the closet our first week in our home, we added the curtains, and I made a jewelry display in the closest inspired by a beautiful hanger given to me by a friend with my married name written in the wire. We also purchased our bed frame. Though it looks somewhat boring in the photo, in person our room is very calm and peaceful. I love how all the colors in the room play together, but there are still many changes I want to make. There was a large framed picture on the wall behind the tall dresser, but the frame broke and needs replacing. My biggest goal for this room is to paint our dressers. I am saving that big project for the summer, when we can take over the garage. I also want to get new side tables and  matching lamps. (Oh, and I guess our kitty Kina wanted to say "hi" as she ran to that spot and stared while I took pictures!)

The gallery wall in our room makes me very happy. There is a caricature from when we were in high school, pictures from our times in Grand Marais, and wedding pictures, among some other pieces of art. It showcases so many parts of our relationship, and I plan on adding to it. 

There are other areas of our home that were not pictured on the listing, including our laundry room, entry way, and garage. Of those three, the only one that looks somewhat different is the entry way. FINALLY, about two weeks ago we got a large rug, boot tray, coat hooks, and some baskets for winter gear. I was so so sick of mopping the tile floor from our snow covered shoes and having all of our winter gear clogging up our little closet in the dining room.  

I cannot wait to see what we accomplish in our second year living in our home!