Three Months In: a house log

Dude, we have been here over three months! On one hand it feels like we have lived here forever, and on the other hand it feels like we simply moved in last week (was not it last week?!). We are certainly surprised by how much we have knocked out since moving in (new flooring upstairs, a bunch of exterior upgrades, a half bathroom and a foyer facelift, some fresh paint in the bedroom, and a freshly lofted sunroom) yet some of the fully untouched rooms have us itching to bounce around to them soon. But sufficient chatter, let us get to the photos. Here is a time capsule of how our house looks three months in:

– The Front –

We have had some dangerous trees took out, replaced the old leaky roof, got a new coat of paint on the repaired siding/trim, and painted the front door a glad color. The yard is still spotty and weed-riddled – and we’d enjoy to add some garden beds and more plantings to make things feel less bare, so we have a lot more to do out there.

Here is a before simply for lively (we thought we’d toss those in for areas that have changed the most).

– The Portico –

We took out the old slatted screen door and painted the cream-colored sidelights white (like the trim) along with painting the door. We’d still enjoy to get a bigger doormat, a new light fixture, and add interest to the flat triangle of plywood on the front (we think framing it out with chunkier molding might assist).

– The Garage –

The side of the house’s siding got repaired and repainted, and we’d like to paint the cream garage doors a darker color – either charcoal like the roof or black like the shutters.

– The Foyer –

We took down the dark wooden doors that blocked access to the kitchen, took out the wallpaper, painted all of that formerly blue trim white, and updated the walls with a fresh coat of paint. Then we hung a new light fixture and some art. We still have the staircase railing to redo (the spindles are blue)… not to mention some old carpeting on the stairs that we hope to replace with a fresh new runner. We are also thinking about painting a subtle color on the ceiling in here.

Here is a foyer before shot for old time’s sake.

– The Half Bathroom –

In here we have stripped the wallpaper, painted the walls and the trim along with hanging a new mirror, primed & painted the vanity, and hung a secondhand light and some art as well as upgrading the faucet. We are planning a more intense makeover down the line once we save our pennies (perhaps with some grasscloth wallpaper or a tiled accent wall?) but we liked that we could make a few low-cost upgrades for the meantime.

Here is a half bathroom before shot.

– The Dining Room –

The dining room is still full of blue trim and wallpaper galore. All we have done is drag in our furniture, but we’d enjoy to update everything from the walls and light fixture to those built-ins in each corner.

– The Living Room –

So far we have primed and painted the walls and whitewashed the brick fireplace. We enjoyed our first house’s den after all the brick, wood paneling, and trim was painted – and this room reminds us so much of that space – so next on the agenda is to paint all of the wood trim a glossy white. Coffering the ceilings and adding a soft blue tone up there is on our wish-list too.

It is far from wrapped up, but it feels a lot more like home than the salmon pink living room that we began with.

– The Office –

We have truly only plopped some furniture down in here and organized our bookcase, but we are planning to paint the blue trim, and we’d enjoy to add some built-ins and perhaps even a floating desk. Perhaps something like this?

– The Kitchen –

Before doing any major kitchen or bathroom gut-jobs, we like to live in a house for at least a year – simply to see how we use a space instead of rushing into anything. We are certainly taking notes about how we use this room and what is in the way in the hopes of a makeover that is open and bright along with being a lot more functional.

– Our Bedroom –

All of the rooms upstairs had old threadbare carpeting so in the bedroom we painted the cream doors/trim, laid hardwoods right before we moved in, and later painted the walls. We cannot wait to add some built-ins behind the bed (we think it’ll make those windows look centered), hang some window treatments, and shuffle some furniture around along with hanging art.

Here is a before shot from back when we picked up the house.

– Our En-suite Bathroom –

We have not done a thing to the sink nook, but we did take down the old glass shower doors and then we hung a pleasant high shower curtain in the bathroom to make it feel less closed in. Eventually we’d enjoy to do a large remodel to combine the sink nook and the rest of the bathroom for a more spacious and less chopped-up feeling with a double sink instead of a single sink in each space, separated by a wall.

– Our Closet –

Our closet is now packed with stuff and in desperate need of some organization. We’d enjoy to add some built-in drawers and shelves to pack it with function and that old carpet has got to go! We are planning to carry the tile from the bathroom reno in there so the whole “off-the-bedroom wing” has seamless flooring and feels less choppy.

-Upstairs Hallway –

We ripped up the old carpeting, painted all the blue doors/trim, and laid new hardwood floors in a mad dash before moving day. Still need to paint those blue spokes on the bannister along with the walls and ceiling in the hallway.

This is one of the areas that has come the furthest so far, so here is the before.

– Clara’s Room –

We painted all of the blue trim in here and then we laid new hardwood floors and moved in Clara’s furniture from the last house. We cannot wait to paint the walls, get an overhead light fixture, and hang some art. We also have a feeling that a few things in here will get tweaked and shifted around, so it’ll be lively to see where everything lands. We are still in that switching-stuff-around phase for sure…

Clara’s bedroom originally had old carpeting like our bedroom, but this before photo was taken after we ripped it up.

– Spare Room / Possible Someday Nursery –

We painted all the mauve trim and then we laid new hardwood floors. After that not much has happened – we simply plopped down a few random objects in here and called it a day. We are not planning to do anything in here until we are sure how we will use this room (so if we have a baby on the way, it may jump onto the to-do list at that point – but for now it’ll simply stay like this).

This room began out with more old carpeting and pink trim and doors.

– The Guest Bedroom / Craft Room –

Once again we painted the trim and laid new hardwood floors and then simply dragged our furniture in here. We did hang the curtains from our last house’s dining room in here, simply to make it feel a little more wrapped up, but we still have to paint those stripey walls and figure out some long-term furniture things.

Here is the before.

– The Hall Bathroom –

So far we have only hung some faux wood blinds for privacy and dragged in some bright accessories to glad things up. We also hung the shower curtain pleasant and high, which helps to cover up some of the broken shower tile.

– Laundry Nook –

The blue trim is now white and the old carpet is hardwood flooring but that is as far as we have gotten. We are saving up for some new appliances and down the line we’d enjoy to add cabinetry to the nook and perhaps even bring in some sort of frosted doors to block the sound (and then perhaps even add a tiled accent wall in the back?).

– The Sunroom –

Since moving in, we have stripped the old carpet away and we have taken down the old broken doors to create an indoor-outdoor space that no longer fogs up and seals us off from the deck. We also lofted the ceiling and got some electrical work done (more on that soon!) and we cannot wait to add light blue beadboard on the ceiling and tile the floor to create a room with this vibe. Perhaps even with an outdoor fireplace…

Here is the before shot from when we moved in.

– The Back Deck –

We got the dangerous tree outta there (we thought it was charming and sweet but the inspector and an arborist friend of ours said it had to go) and got the siding/trim painted. Then we patched the hole left by the tree and stripped and re-stained the deck.

It was in rough shape when we picked up the house, so it is truly pleasant to have reclaimed such a strong outdoor space.

So there you go. We have stopped doing monthly recaps (woops, we fell off that train when we moved) but it is certainly pleasant to have posts like this to freeze time for a second and capture exactly how crazy (and exciting) it was after 90 or so days of getting settled. Do you folks ever snap photos or write journal posts or make Flickr albums to remind you how your house looked at a certain moment in time? Our House Tour page is consistently getting updated with new “progress” photos, so posts like these are the ones that we look back at and say “holy cow, remember that?”