Two Years in This House

Today marked two years since we moved into this house.

I talked last year about how it felt like absolutely everything lined up perfectly for us to buy this house and we’ve loved it from the moment we moved in, sculpted shag carpet and all.

Now, two years later, this house looks quite a bit different than it did that first time we walked in with the realtor.

I like tallying up the changes we’ve made each year since in real time it can feel like progress is SO SLOW. It’s nice to see a concrete list of improvements and see that, yes, we’ve definitely come a long way in the last 12 months.

Since last November, we’ve:

• Painted the bathroom cabinets and replaced the hardware
• Removed the double row of towel bars and replaced them with modern hooks
• Closed the open half-wall in the kitchen
• Replaced the kitchen countertops, sink and faucet
• Replaced the kitchen backsplash
• Added kitchen cabinets including a floor-to-ceiling pantry
• Added a microwave and replaced the stove and dishwasher
• Had the kitchen cabinetry painted
• Replaced the kitchen hardware
• Tore out the peach tile ledges on all the windowsills on the main floor
• Added new trim (baseboards and door/window trim) to the entire main floor
• Replaced the old, battered air conditioner vents in the living room, hallway, and office
• Had the entire main floor of our house painted
• Tore out the linoleum in my office and had the wood floors underneath refinished
• Replaced the light fixture in my office
• Installed new carpet in our bedroom and Tally’s bedroom
• Had the exterior of the house painted
• Built garden boxes and added weed barrier and wood chips to the side yard
• Removed the chain link fence that divided our backyard in half
• Took down the chicken wire and extra post around the back patio
• Had two trees removed from our yard
• Added shelving to Tally’s room

To be honest after all the house projects this spring and summer, I needed a little break but I’m ready to dive into some new ones in the next few months.

I’m hoping by this time next year, we’ll have remodeled both bathrooms, replaced all the exterior and interior doors, had the fireplace trimmed out, and redone Bart’s office/gym.

The major stretch goal would be getting new carpet in the whole downstairs – I’m not holding my breath for that one. There are just too many other project that need to be done first (carpet is one of the last things to get fixed) so it’s unlikely.

The trick is to just keep moving forward, one project at a time.

With or without any of those new projects getting done, I love this little house every single day.

Especially this year, as we’ve spent so much time at home, I’m so grateful we live here.