House Updates: Summer 2020

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.

Annual Holiday Party 2019

Winter was a whirlwind! Only a few days after I got back from my short trip to England we hosted our annual holiday party. This has become such a fun tradition that I look forward to each year. 

We try to make this as easy as possible, but you know Dan and me. We sometimes go over the top with food and decorations. Still, we limit the food to mostly Trader Joe's goodies and use decorations we keep from year-to-year. I think they skew a little Christmas-y, but, they sure are pretty.

Not pictured, the rest of the house full of food and drinks!

The best part of the evening, other than the company of course, is the white elephant exchange. A white elephant, also called a Yankee swap, is where everyone brings a gift and you pull numbers to determine in which order you select a gift. Gifts can be stolen and re-stolen, leading to a fun, but controlled chaos. 

We ask our guests to bring a silly gift under $15. Dan is one of the best gift-bringers, and each year he outdoes himself. I still wear the personalized socks he had made with his face on them--hilarious to open when no one was expecting it. 

This year he had a custom pillow made with his sleeping face on it. It is equal parts horrifying and adorable. It made it's way to our friends' children's bed. Not sure if that's a good thing, or future cause for therapy. 

Other great gifts this year included the horse head mask (pictured on me, above), the full-sleeve super realistic fake tattoos, and a couple of chia pets. 

I'm so lucky to have an amazing group of friends to share these memories with. Until next year!

Life Updates

I know we're already well into winter, but we had a really busy fall. Here are a few of the highlights:

Zahara's New School
This year we moved Zahara to a new school. Her last school was tiny--only three kids in her kindergarten class! And, while we loved a lot of aspects of that school, we thought Zahara might do better in a bigger environment where she could practice social etiquette and have more structure and stability. So far, we were right. She is absolutely thriving there. We feel so supported and amazed at watching her progress.

Starting a New Job
This fall I left my last job where I was for the past four years. I'm really excited about my new company and the opportunities I've been afforded. It's really challenging, but I know I'm up to the challenge. I've only been there five months, so I'm still in that awkward point in a new job where I love it, but am scared of how different it is and how much hard work is ahead of me. One of my colleagues, Mina Seetharaman wrote a piece that describes exactly how I feel now. It's definitely worth a read.

Broken Wrist and Elbow
You might have noticed in the picture above that I'm wearing a sling. The week before I started my new job I was painting our bedroom (more info on that soon), and I fell off the ladder. I was only on the second to last step, but I fell in such an awkward way that I managed to break both my wrist and my elbow. And, in a case of when it rains it pours, that morning before the fall, I had left both of my phones on top of my car and then drove off, meaning I had no phones! Luckily, I was able to call Dan from Skype on my computer and asked him to come home. Long story short, I was in a cast for three weeks, then had a surgery to repair the wrist, then physical therapy for three months. It was a rough time, and I'm so thankful for all the help I got from my family, my friends, and my religious community. Since I couldn't even dress myself, I gratefully and humbly accepted all the help I could get.

Bedroom Updates
There have been lots of updates in the bedroom, including new paint (see above for the less fortunate outcome of that project), new bed frame, new nightstands, new lamps, and new art. It's looking SO GOOD! I'd still like to add a seating area and some more art for the long wall, but I'm really happy with the direction so far.

11th Anniversary
Dan and I celebrated our eleventh anniversary this fall. It was a much more low-key event than last year's trip to Peru(!), but we still had a good time. We went to dinner and drinks at Cooper's Hawk Winery and it was delicious. I'm looking forward to many, many more years with this guy!

And, I'll leave it there for now. I didn't cover everything--sorry, Asher! You were here in the fall too :) But lots more to come soon!

Our House: One Year Later

It's hard to believe that we've been in this house for more than a year already! In some ways it feels like we've been here forever, but in other ways it still feels like we just moved in. This place definitely feels like home, but there are still some big ticket items I'd like to check off before really calling it done--not that a house is ever really "done."

I feel like we're entering the maintenance phase more than the start-from-scratch phase. It's a good feeling to be really comfortable in your own house. And we really are. I couldn't love this house more. It's fulfilling every single hope I had for it--tons of entertaining space, great kitchen, open feel, separate work space...it has it all.

Here are some of the things we've done lately:

Kitchen

This room is mostly complete. We added four stools to the counter and they've added so much function! Dan and I were in a design debate over what type of stools to get. I lobbied for a chair with a back, since I envisioned the kids sitting there doing homework eventually while we cooked, and I wasn't sure how comfortable a backless stool would be. Dan argued that the sight-lines are much better with a backless chair and that the kids would get used to it. If they didn't, the dining room table is two feet away and they could work there instead. In the end, I conceded, and I have to admit he is right. These chairs are awesome, and so cheap! I highly recommend them. They're comfy, sturdy, and tuck in easily under the island.

Dining Room
We found it! The perfect dining room table! It's a gorgeous 8-seater that extends to seat twelve. We bought it during a crazy sale at Arhaus (who's surprised?), so we got it for 50% off. We also got a matching bench. I'm not sure we'll use the bench every day (though we have been so far). Eventually, I'd like to get chairs and a rug to go under the table. I haven't seen anything that I love yet and I really want to be deliberate about that choice.

Living Room

Again, this room is mostly done. Eventually I'd like to add some greenery (probably fake), some floor cushions, and way down the road--when I'm not constantly thinking about sticky hands--a new couch. In the meantime, we added this small table from World Market, and I LOVE it! It's the perfect place to set a cup of tea while I'm reading a magazine.

Office

Oh, Arhaus, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. Dan and I couldn't find the perfect piece for the office that would house our printer and our files. Then we went to the Arhaus showroom on a whim, and BAM! There it was. Isn't she lovely? I'm eventually going to get some boxes to use as a filing cabinet and get rid of my existing one. But is already so functional. I love it.

Deck

I can't say enough what a good decision it was to do our deck in the late winter, meaning it was ready for use when the weather got warmer. We enjoyed this deck all summer and fall. We got an 8-seat table plus a deck box that doubles as extra seating.
 

Patio

Same deal here as the deck. So functional! I love that there is enough room for a shaded area, but also for a fire pit. And, we specifically designed the patio to be large enough to hold our sukkah, which we got to use this year!!

Decor
Dan is a bit of a perfectionist, which means he is in charge of hanging any art in our house. I have slowly been forcing asking him to hang things on the walls so they aren't completely bare. We're getting there. And, I got an AWESOME piece of art for our bedroom that I am totally in love with. We need to find some furniture in there before we know it's permanent place, but right now I can see it from bed and it makes me happy.

Lighting
I think we're done with lighting for now. We got gorgeous pieces for all of our bedrooms (our chandelier, Zahara's petal semi-flush mount, and Asher's industrial-style). I couldn't be happier with these. Eventually we'll add a big statement light in the living room, and replace the builder-grade lights in the dining room, kitchen, and foyer. But that's down the line.

We're making great progress on our to-do list, but there's still quite a bit. The largest items are the dining room and bedroom, which are still largely untouched. We've got time though. For now, I'm loving my house even more with each passing day!

• Kitchen backsplash (we're doing this ourselves over winter break!)
• Kitchen bar stools
• Dining room table and chairs
• Office furniture (have a desk, need a place for printer and files, etc.)
• Mudroom build-out (need a place for coats, backpacks, shoes)
• Basement organization (bookshelves, toy storage)
• Basement guest room curtains
• Master bedroom bedframe (we put our old one in the guest room )
• Master bedroom curtains
• Master bedroom furniture (probably a bench for the end of the bed and a chaise lounge)
• Master bedroom light (it's roughed in, but we need a fixture)
• Asher room light
• Zahara room light
• Guest room curtains (bedroom and bathroom)
• Guest room nightstands
• Decor throughout the house (nothing is on the walls yet and it's starting to drive me crazy!)-
• Patio furniture --got chairs for fire pit, but still need something under the deck (lounge seating)
• Deck furniture
• Fire Pit