One year in our home!

This past month we celebrated one year since we moved into our current home. 100 million projects later, I'm sitting here wondering how it passed so quickly! I thought it might be fun to share a few stories and memories from our first year in this home. I shared our home buying story back in February, but so much more has happened since then.

One giant, crazy project that happened in this space (and in Emma's home too) was we started and finished a home decor book! It was an incredible experience and honestly one of the projects I am most proud of to date. It will be released next summer (we're in the editing phase now). We decided when we started that book we wanted it to have 100% new photos, which means none of the images have been shared here on the blog. If you're a blogger you're probably either eye rolling or high fiving us right now, because you know that is a CRAZY goal. We decided to use new photos, because we blog so much about our homes here that all different photos was literally the only way to ensure that the book feels super fresh when it comes out next year. It was paaaaainful to keep so many rooms in our homes and giant projects hidden. Hopefully it will be more than worth it come next summer when the book launches! 

So now you know the back story there, you understand why I've only shared one room tour on the blog this year (our living room). We had to wait until our book deadlines had come and gone, but now that they're mostly behind us we are starting to restyle and re-imagine each of our rooms so that we can (FINALLY!) share them here on the blog without spoiling content from our upcoming book. Double yay! Plus I'm not complaining that I get to restyle my rooms again… I'm addicted now!Elsie's Living Room (Before + After!)

On a personal note, this past year our home has been a space for Jeremy and I to dream as a family. In addition to being our temporary office, it's been a space for family and friends to come and hang out for a fun night or weekend. We loved our first holiday season here. I'm not sure if I ever admitted this here or not, but I did something really stupid last year. I was overly excited about our new high ceilings and I bought a Christmas tree online that was WAY too large for our living room. It was touching the ceiling—like, really touching the ceiling. I bought it online, and it was non-returnable. I was so determined to love it that I left it up, but it's hard to pull off a tree smushed into the ceiling. 😉 Ooops. Already got a smaller one for this year. 

We started a few new traditions, including a nightly cocktail (or scotch and wine… whatever) on the back porch. We decorated a room for our (5!) nieces and nephews to play in. We grilled on the back porch. We took lots of walks around the neighborhood. It was a good year in this house. We bonded. 🙂We planted our first garden. What an experience! We learned a ton for next year. I'm really happy we decided to just do it!We started and finished countless projects. Home ownership is no joke. In addition to all the pretty projects you saw here on the blog we had our fair share of not-so-pretty plumbing problems and rooms filled with boxes for way WAY too long. If I've learned anything so far it's that taking care of a home could easily be a full-time job, and people with beautiful, cared for homes are hard workers. 🙂The best part of being in our new home is having guests often. We LOVE it. We've hosted friends almost every single month and it's been amazing. (Dolly likes it too, as you can see!)

Here are a few of my favorite projects (big and small) from the past year. Looking at all of these together makes my head spin a little. I'm so proud of the progress we made, even though my list is still a few miles long! 

Vintage Planter Cacti Garden, Hand Printed Pillows, Blueprint Copies, Yellow Painted Chairs. 

ReStyled Bar Cart, Honeycomb Shelves (made with this DIY), Vertical Bike Storage, Custom Stenciled Wall. 

Handwriting Statement Wall, DIY Dining Room Table, Family Photo Bookshelf, Anchor Statement Wall. 

Instax Wallpaper, Handprinted Quilt, Metal Crate Side Tables, Painted Patio Tiles. 

Mudroom Organization, Jonathan Adler Inspired Vase Set, Guest Room Cart, Colored Kitchen Cabinets. 

Vintage Brass Planters, Washi Stripe Doorway, Ladder Display Makeover, DIY Light Up Headboard. 

One of the things I love about owning a home is the ability to just try things. We've already moved our furniture from room to room several times, re-painted quite a few walls and traded items with friends that weren't working in our space. I love that it's a continual process—a never ending hobby, if you will! I plan to keep on painting and sanding and adding and changing my mind for as long as it's still the. most. fun. thing. ever. I don't see that changing anytime soon. 🙂

In year two my big goal is to share all our rooms with you here on the blog. I think that will keep me pretty busy! 😉 Thanks so much for sharing in our journey. This home is a special place and as our family begins to grow (not a hint, sorry). I have the feeling it will become more and more special each year. Can't wait to share more projects, progress, messes and happy memories with you! xo. Elsie