House Update: Projects Everywhere

It’s hard to believe, but we have been in our house for a full-year.

I admit that I have not done a great job sharing much house-wise with y’all, but I hope to change that in the coming year.

Honestly, we didn’t too a ton of big projects the first year, so I didn’t have a lot to share. We organized/added shelving in closets, replaced a few light fixtures and did a little painting (master bedroom, hallway and bathroom), but that’s about it.

You see, we wanted to take time to get used to the house, figure out how we lived in it, determine what we wanted it to be and be inspired (thank you Pinterest). We also needed to save some money to do some bigger projects.

That desire combined with the reality of Matthew writing an all-consuming book and me working on a book proposal in the same year and you have survival mode – not massive hours to tackle big house projects.

This summer we talked a lot about goals for the next year in terms of remodeling and redesign. From big purchases we hoped to make (like a new bedroom set for us) to paint colors, we talked about it all. Last month I decided to take the bull by the horns and get started.

Project 1: Bathroom Remodels

While Matthew was in Guatemala, I surprised him by having our downstairs powder room and the upstairs kids/guest bath totally remodeled. This was always the plan to start with these projects – he just thought we were doing it in October.

And this was no little remodel – rather a big remodel with new toilets, vanities, tile, beadboard in the powder room, knocking a wall out of the other bathroom and new lighting. YEOW! I felt like I was on HGTV.

It was amazing. We pulled it off in four days and Matthew was so surprised.

If you live in the Nashville/Hendersonville area, I can’t recommend Unique Builderz enough. Their pricing was so affordable, they were so kind and talented AND they got everything done in four days!

We still have painting and some decor to do, but I can’t tell you what a difference having these projects nearly completed has done for our motivation and excitement for the coming months. More importantly, they helped to really make the house feel more like ours. I can’t wait to share it all with you – hopefully next month!

Project 2: Dining Room/Kitchen Painting

I also had Unique Builderz remove some unnecessary molding in the dining room to make the room appear bigger (thanks to advice from Amy of Bradford Avenue, who is a design genius). Bright blue paint was beneath one row of molding (this was also the former color of our master bedroom when we moved in) and wallpaper was beneath the other row. Awesome, huh?

Today we are having that room and the kitchen painted. We were going to do it ourselves, but there aren’t enough hours in a day and I found an awesome deal on Groupon. It was a no brainer. I have learned that sometimes, you just need to ask for or hire help. This is one of those seasons.

The color we are going with is Benjamin Moore Healing Aloe. It looks green on screen, but is totally grey blue in our house. It is so beautiful.

Eventually, we would like to do all new cabinets and new appliances in the kitchen, along with a tile backsplash, but that isn’t in the budget this year. The new paint will at least make it better. I’m also adding a small chalkboard wall for menu planning, grocery lists, etc. It’s going to be great!

Project 3: Hanging Decor

I feel like I have frames and wall decor leaning against a wall in every room of the house right now, so Matthew has been working hard at hanging a bunch of big items this week.(He’s much better at getting things straight.)

It’s amazing how much homey a room feels when there is something on the walls. I think I often get design paralysis. I want things to be just perfect. But like my friend Nester says, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

This past weekend I followed her advice and decided to tackle the gallery wall I have wanted to do going up to the stairs to the bedrooms. I didn’t do any planning. I just started hammering nails into the wall and hanging things.  Did you see it on Instagram? I have added a few more frames and printed photos for the empty frames and it looks really awesome. I still have a few more spots to fill in, but it is coming along and makes me smile every time I see it. (Check out my Pinterest board for tons of gallery wall inspiration.)

Other Projects on Our List for Fall/Winter

The list of projects is a mile-long for our house, but here are the next items we hope to tackle this fall and winter.

• Scraping popcorn ceilings
• Paint fireplace
• Replacing light fixtures in Elias and Adeline’s rooms
• Stripping wallpaper and designing a Star Wars room for Elias
• Stripping wallpaper in living room
• Adding new lighting in living room

SO, lots of fun projects going on all at once. I am very thankful for our home. We absolutely love it and it is so fun seeing it slowly transform. I hope this encourages you to start something that has been on your home list for awhile.

Let’s chat about home projects today in the comments. Are you working on any home projects these days? Do you ever get paralyzed when it comes to decorating your home?