It's been a while since I've updated the blog on the status of our house. Now that we're spending a lot more time at home, we have grown to appreciate our spaces even more. I feel so lucky every day to wake up in this house. It truly is my dream house.
Since our last update, we've made a few tweaks to make the house even more functional and beautiful. Though I don't believe spaces are ever "done," I do think that we're probably not making any more big changes for a while. That's not to say I might not grab a bucket of paint and change up the kids' rooms, but we're probably done buying big furniture for now. Here's what we've done recently:
Office
This was one of the biggest changes we made, and I couldn't be happier with the results. This room is now one of my favorite in the house and it feels like such a great expression of us.
A lot of hard work went into this update, and I'm thankful for my handy husband and my great neighbor (hey Marcus!) who provided most of the tools for this job.
We started with a builder-grade box. Not bad, lots of natural light, but nothing special. The room did have a great chair rail which gave us a starting point for this makeover. We painted the top of the room navy (Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik) and the bottom the same glossy white as the chair rail. Then Dan built picture moulding and added them around the bottom of the room. I think it gives such depth to an otherwise plain space.
We got these gold picture frames from Target after Sherry Petersik repeatedly mentioned them on her blog. They are gorgeous in person! I am absolutely obsessed with the finish. We framed pictures from a calendar my friend gave me (hi Kristiina!). They are all beautiful watercolors of towns in North Yorkshire where we used to live.
Mudroom
We are lucky enough to have this small room off the garage. Since we moved in nearly three years ago this has been a workhorse, but it hasn't always functioned very well. We installed some hooks and a basket for shoes and it worked OK. But we dreamed about a gorgeous built-in unit that had hooks for bags and coats, a space for shoes, a bench, and cubbies for storage. We even had a carpenter come out and give us a quote, but it was nearly $7,000! We looked at IKEA and Big Box stores to see if we could hack a built-in, but nothing worked quite right.
Then, Dan found a unit at Ballard Design that was almost exactly what we wanted. It fit the room great and would add a ton of function to the space. And it was significantly under the custom quote. A little paint from my two best helpers plus this new unit make the room work so much better!
Landscaping
A while back, Dan and I hired a landscape architect to plot a design for our yard. She designed our neighbors' yard and we love the way it turned out. It was fun to chat with her about color preferences, types of flowers and plants we love, the amount of maintenance we want to put in, and all the other things that go into designing a yard.
Using her designs, we bought four new trees for the backyard, including my favorite, an October Glory Maple. The kids named the trees: Flames (the maple), Bazinga, Bazuzah, and Joy (the Cryptomeria).
At the beginning of Covid, Dan had a lot of extra energy and time. Sidenote: remember those early days? He decided to tackle the front garden on his own. It turned out so much better than either of us could have imagined! We have peonies, catmint, dianthus, coriopsis, alium, a crepe myrtle, and a Japanese maple. So much color! The pictures don't do it justice. I love watching the flowers bloom and the leaves change. Every few weeks it feels like there's a new surprise in our yard.
Patio
Speaking of outdoor spaces, we finally bit the bullet and purchased outdoor seating for the downstairs patio. We've been researching pieces for years and finally came to the conclusion that we're willing to pay more for quality. It was a saga (big delays, lost items, cancellations), but we finally got our gorgeous chairs, table, and couch from Pottery Barn.
I don't love the price (even on sale), but it's clear how well made these pieces are. They're very comfortable and fit our space perfectly. I can see many happy days and nights out here for years to come.
Phew! We've been busy here. And I didn't even mention that we added insulation to the garage to make Zahara's room more temperate, and we got a new dining room rug, dining room chairs, and a living room chandelier. We continue to make this place a reflection of us, one room at a time. Now all I need is for this pandemic to end so I can have you all over for a drink!
See our other house updates here.
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