First Post of the New Year

Like the title states, this is my first post of the new year- 2016!
I said it in my last post and I'll say it again, I can't believe another new year is upon us. And how is it that it is already the 5th of January?! Doesn't it seem like yesterday it was Christmas?? 

As I was thinking about what to write for my first post in the new year (a lot of pressure, I know), I came upon some pictures of our current home when we first moved in just a little over a year ago. I wanted to re-post some of them again because I have already forgotten what things looked like around here since the move. My husband and I have been able to make some changes with the house, some big and some small, and are very pleased at how things have been coming along so far. It's really, really starting to feel like our home and not someone else's and it was fun to look back on some of the older photos of the place and compare them to how things look now. 

First up, the family room!

To recap, we have since replaced the green carpet, painted the trim and the walls, painted the fan white (yes, you read that correctly!) and rearranged some furniture around. The only major cost in this room was replacing the carpet for a cleaner/updated one. Everything else was updated with paint pretty much.

Next up is the glorious kitchen.
(It really looks like a hoarders house with all the boxes and stuff piled onto the counters- just ignore all that). These photos were literally taken right after we moved in, obviously. ;)

And yes, we still own that lovely fridge and stove...when we can save a little bit more, we would like to update those as well. The current ones you see pictured are about 25 years old... and no, I am not making that up! 

For this area, I painted the cabinets, island, trim, and walls. I also painted the fridge, of course. 
We replaced the ceiling fan with a light fixture and also replaced the 80's table light with a Restore light fixture. We also added a thrift store table and chairs that I was able to refinish.

The dining room is next up on the tour!

There weren't any major changes to this space, just small ones that made a big impact.
The walls and trim were painted. I added bead board wallpaper to the bottom half of the walls (that stuff is pretty awesome and inexpensive...fyi)
We traded the older curtains and blinds for some simple white curtains.
I was able to paint the chandelier- there was nothing wrong with it and I thought it looked pretty in here, so it just got updated with some paint and glaze.
And of course, we added our signature buffet table in here as well as an IKEA storage piece for coffee.

 The rails on our stairs were painted and so was some of the trim.

The next room (pictured below) is now the nursery. 
We were able to remove the window valance and added curtains. Originally, I wanted to keep the valance, but because of the shape, it was just really hard to recover.
This room hasn't been painted yet. I'm still decided on whether or not to do that. Haven't found a paint color that would work in here yet- but the original wall color works for now.

Next to the nursery is this little room that is now the reading room that houses all the kiddos' books (it's pictured below).
We added some rain gutter shelves to the wall opposite the window and also took down the valance in here. The girl's lemonade stand got moved up here and we also added a storage bench we made to keep books and art supplies.
That's pretty much it for this space!

I threw this picture in here because my daughter was walking her doll up the stairs and thought that was so cute! Just looking at this picture reminds me of how much she has grown in the past year!!

And this last room is the office. Wallpaper is still up and no real attempts have been made to remove it. :) That would be a project to tackle for another day- far, far away in the future! 
The valance has been taken down and a desk has been moved into here...but that is about it! 
The room has a door and stays closed most of the time (mainly so I don't have to stare at the ducks and stripes when I walk by)

Hoping to type up a post soon with more "before and after" photos. That way you can see the changes that we have made since the move.
Overall, I'm happy with what we have been able to accomplish since moving into this house. Can't wait to see what kind of things we can get done this year! 
Here's to another good year!!