As I was driving home tonight, I pulled into our circle drive, rather than the garage. I entered our home through a different door, and with a fresh perspective. One of the only reminders of where the home started is the front door itself and the blessing written in chalk just above it. I walked in and realized I was thankful for so many things – so many little decisions that once felt overwhelming, but collectively, feel so right.
Our home is not perfect. It’s a work-in-progress. While I’ve shared a lot of before and “afters”, truly, they’re all durings, which leads me to one of many choices in our home that I am happy with. I thought I’d share the choices that I am beyond excited 1-2 years later. {Originally posted August 30, 2016.}
- I am glad that we are taking our home room by room rather than trying to complete our home “overnight”. Charm comes through being lived in, function is found when you have the time to experience the space and see how you utilize it. Decorating over time rather than filling your home with pieces at once can allow you more opportunity to add pieces that are significant to you. Take a deep breath, take your time and don’t allow photos online to make you and your home feel insignificant.
- I love our sand and stain hardwood floors. After talking with our flooring guy, he advised me to go to a flooring wholesaler who showed me so many beautiful engineered hardwood floors that were indeed beautiful, but nothing has the look and feel of true, genuine hardwood floors. Knicks and scratches only gracefully age them and if you really want to, you can sand and stain them time and time again as your taste changes. I am glad that we weren’t swayed and invested a little more energy {a short move out of our home}. Not long after we had our wood floors installed, our new roof leaked and the floors warped. Eek! Not too worry, our flooring guy came by and said “I’m glad you went with sand and stain, they’ll fall back into place when the weather changes.” Guess what? They did.
- About one week into our last home I had wished that I had painted our main level in a cream rather than grey, but couldn’t justify paying to have it repainted. I did however love the upstairs which was painted Zurich White – it felt light, bright, but warm. When we purchased this home, we had it painted in various shades of cream and I am head over heels in love with it. It’s warm, inviting, open, spacious and easily transitions with the seasons.
- Can we talk about door knobs? I know, boring, right? WRONG! We replaced builder’s grade nickel door knobs with crystal and brass door knobs, giving our home a timeless depth that adds to otherwise less than exciting areas like a hallway.
- We have the luxury of spending a little more in our current home and decided that one way we would “invest” in it would be to select authentic lighting and as it has aged, I am reminded that the return is tenfold. The patina adds much needed interest to our home. I always say that faux metals come and go, but real metal is timeless.
- Another decision that we’ve never regretted is updating our screened in porch, defining the space as a dining room. It has extended our living space and allows us to enjoy the beautiful views and a glimpse of the sunset.
- When we first purchased our home, I considered whitewashing the fireplace, but it turns out that leaving the brick and minimizing it with a mantel is one of the best choices we have made. It connects the exterior of our home to the interior. It is also original to the home, which adds instant character. We even added brick floors in our mudroom, which connects it and makes it feel fresh.
- I’ll never regret removing the heavy vanities that once stood in both of our powder rooms. Unless you really need the storage, they consume a lot of space in a tiny room. Eliminating them nearly doubled the footprint, instantly making the powder rooms feel larger.
- I’m also thankful that we found several ways to make our older home function in a modern world. By utilizing an old armoire, updating a linen closet and turning a bookcase into a dry bar/bar cabinet, we made our home work for us. We also add storage systems to the garage and removed a couple of closets to allow light to flow and make hanging coats one less step.
- Finally, I’m glad we finished the basement. It not only extended our living space, but likely my life. I wish I were a little less crazy about the chaos that comes with being a mother of 3 girls, but when your daughter draws on your linen ottoman with bright green chalk, what are you to do? PANIC. No, really, you just use a little upholstery cleaner, take a few deep breaths and equal drinks of wine, but having a designated “just about anything goes” space is priceless! We painted the walls and previously carpeted stairs, added a stair runner and a versatile floor and pretty much said “go for it”. It’s been fabulous!
More Home Tips You’ll Enjoy
Of course there’s always a regret. For us, it’s painting our garage floor with an epoxy. After properly cleaning it and waiting 4 days for it to cure, it has peeled up in multiple places. What was once just drab is now a source of frustration. I’m hoping to find a remedy that won’t consume an entire weekend – fingers crossed! If you have any ideas, I’m all ears!
What do you love about your home? What are some of your favorite decisions?
LET’S CONNECT!
instagram | newsletter | facebook | pinterest
All so lovely Julie! I’ve followed you on IG for awhile now, but first time to your blog and I will be camped out for awhile catching up 🙂 We just bought a new to us home in May and your style is exactly how I hope to update ours. Simple, timeless, beautiful!
Ah, thanks Becky! You are so sweet, I love timeless design and am happy to help. Have a beautiful day!
I love all of it. It is always such a treat to look at your blog, and you have made a beautiful home. What I like about your approach is that you are willing to tell us how you arrived at a decision, and you actually take your time getting there. This helps so much for all of us in blogland; we are often going through the same thing. I also like that your blog isn’t filled with “look at me and all of this stuff I bought.” Sorry, but that gets old out here because many of us cannot afford to do the major things many bloggers apparently and frequently can. You are thoughtful about what you do and it has resulted in a lovely and tasteful home. I would love to know where you got the bathroom sink that is only partially shown in the photo. Congratulations on a fabulous house and blog, and thanks for sharing it all!
Judith
Thank you Judith for your kindness! I truly appreciate it. I found it at Menard’s for a fraction of the price that most Parisian sinks are, you can also find it here. Have you read my post about shopping for your home? You may enjoy those tips…I like to maximize my budget, still attaining the same aesthetic. Have a beautiful day!
I truly enjoyed reading this post, especially your discussion on your floors. I am also grateful for our home but it is such a long, long way from looking the way we hope it to be. Your beautiful home is so calm and serene and if we can achieve even a little of that in time, I will be one very happy lady. Your comment about decorating over time with pieces that are significant to us has had quite an impact on me, as I am easily influenced by decorator catalogues and TV programmes to “get the look” in my home. I’m going to take a deep breath and slow down and enjoy our the process of our home becoming our own all in good time.
Have a wonderful day 🙂
Thank you, Min. I need a place to relax, unwind and feel at peace, which is in large part why I decorate with warm neutrals. I find that the “get the look” approach leads to a lot of redecorating. Have a beautiful day!
all your changes look wonderful and certainly add your stamp to your home!! Lovely!!
I had to go back and look for a picture of your living room brick, and although I tend to be too eager to paint brick, I agree that it looks stunning and updated with all of your cream. Such a great “pop” and it give balance!
Everything is superb. I primed & painted my interior ceramic tiles with oil based paint and coated with 3 coats of (oil) polyurethane. Cannot believe how they stand up to the traffic!
Oops! I completely neglected to include that…I’ll find one now. Thank you, Cherie! It is amazing what a little paint can do.