Office Gallery Wall / Office Floors

I started this blog post over a year ago and figured since I haven't posted since 2015 I should probably post something. 

I'm so excited to have my gallery wall completed. It really finishes off the room and makes it feel like ours. Which said a lot at the time of completion because it was the only room we actually had "almost" finished. The office now has beautiful vinyl plank floors, as will the rest of the house where there is carpet.

Back to the gallery wall... It's quite an eclectic mix of different items; Eric's moon walk picture, my diplomas, the Michigan dictionary print that I just got from Etsy. It even has our awesome Christmas present from Evan and Kari with our wedding date. Oh yeah, that's right... I haven't posted here since the beginning of 2015, probably before we were even engaged! So that happened.

Retirement

Now that I am officially "retired" I suppose it's time I do something with this blog...

Eric and I have decided that I get to be a stay at home dog mom, doer of all house things/projects, CEO of the homestead, etc. I'm in my first week of it and so far loving it. I had an interview scheduled for a new job, which I cancelled because I've realized that time is more valuable than money. I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to be bringing in an income but after looking at it with a different perspective I've decided it's okay. For us, it works; not everyone is in the same situation.

My first week hasn't consisted of much, except some decompression time and a little garden work. (I can't wait to show everyone what we have done with the "garden," if you can still call it that!) I am hoping as I ramp up the house projects I will have a lot more to share on this blog.

Stay tuned...

Closet Remodels

One of the first things we did since moving in was remodel three of the closets; laundry/garage entry, foyer, and master closets. There was little to no functionality to them due to how the wire shelving was laid out and after years of use, the wire shelving was looking pretty spent.

We decided to do a custom job of our own design. First we measured and drew out the plans to figure out how much wood we would need. Once we had an idea of how much wood we would need we bought the supplies and set up a staining room in the basement.This is where I spent hours staining and applying polycrylic to all the boards.

We also had to paint the closets since they hadn't been painted in years (much like the rest of the house). We chose Ultra Pure White Behr Premium Plus from Home Depot to make the stained wood shelves really pop. Little did we know that it was going to take 3 - 4 coats of paint. The wall colors before were not dark, they were more of an ivory; but I think because it had been so long since it was last painted, it just soaked up the first coat like it was nothing!

Here are some photos of the closets before and after:

Office Update

One room down, too many to go...

Last weekend we put the finishing touches on the office, minus hanging items for the gallery wall and my diplomas. It's amazing what fresh paint, a new light, and new outlets can do for a room!

It's really exciting to have a room completed, even if it's only one.

Here's some before and after photos:

Pictures Around the House

Most of our current projects are unseen projects but I wanted to make sure I documented what the house looks like "before" any major painting or overhauls.

The appliances have been changed out, so they are different than what is in these photos; so maybe I'll do an appliance only post later on.

Other than the appliances, the only major projects have been the closets (foyer closet, laundry closet, master closet), water treatment system, and changing out some old inefficient lights for new energy efficient LED lights (not seen in these pictures because they are old pictures.)

Here's what the house looks like now, well technically before Christmas, without major updates and painting.

All Moved In

We've been in the new house for 3 weeks; it feels like much longer to be honest. Looking at the calendar I can't believe it's been less than a month!

I've yet to take many (pretty much any) photos of the house and what it looks like before the projects start. I have a couple pictures of the Christmas decorations that I started to put up last weekend. The other pictures I have are mostly of the dogs enjoying their new home.

This weekend we are starting our first "real" project. It involves the 2 closets on the main level (foyer and laundry room), and the master closet. We were not huge fans of the layout or materials used because it just wasn't very functional and didn't utilize the space well. We are also starting to realize it's going to be a slightly longer project than first anticipated; oh the joys of home ownership... Lots of holes to patch in the closets from the old system so hopefully I will be able to at least get a coat of paint on it this weekend once all the repair work has been completed. Keep an eye out for a post in the coming month on the closet redos. I'm pretty excited about it and my visions for the closets.

Welcome to House 2.0

I've been holding back my excitement. Home buying is stressful. There seem to be 17 million hoops you have to jump through before you close and the home is actually yours. However, after a long, stressful few months we have cause to celebrate because we closed on our new house today!

We are beyond excited to start this new journey and have so many ideas for our new house. I can't wait to move in and get started on making it a home for both of us. It may not be our dream home now, but I know it will be once we do some updating.

A friend told me, "You shouldn't have your dream home in your early adult years." I couldn't disagree with this more. We are not prone to settling. We work hard for what we want. If we can responsibly have our dream home, without going overboard (which some people may do), then I say go for it.

For those of you that don't know Eric and I, we are very stubborn, and very picky. Most houses that we looked at online didn't even warrant a look. In the two years that we have been semi-looking at houses, we've looked at a total of maybe 5. Each house we looked at made us refine our outlook and priorities.

I'm happy to say that with our new home, we have not had to settle. We are getting everything we wanted and more! & with a little love and updating it will be perfect.

Here's some basics:

2 acres
4 bedrooms
3 bathrooms
Huge unfinished basement
Privacy
Open floor plan
Huge kitchen


I hope you follow us and share your thoughts and ideas.

Here's to House 2.0. Now who wants to come help pack?