This April marks one year since we moved into our little white barn house. The plan we had when moving into a smaller house was to take the money we saved (and will save on heat etc) to really make this house our own. Here is how we have done that over the past year.

First thing we did after removing window curtains and carpets was knock down a wall between the dining and living room. It was amazing how this changes the whole feel of the house. It is so open and warm.

The second thing we did was have the asbestos tiles removed from the outside of the house. Not as exciting as knocking down walls, but such a huge relief.

One of the things I learned through all this is just how adaptable kids are. They barely made a peep through all the dust, the noise, the men everywhere. Me, on the other hand, not so adaptable. It was a loooong summer.

Then we got a floor! This was a good day.

I really wanted to go with a black stain for the house, but we went with a white wash instead.

I still think the black would have been cuter… I have been promised it will be revisited when the house needs repainting.

We squeezed a second bathroom in where there was a hallway before. It is the first time I have lived with a second bathroom since moving out of my parents’ house, talk about luxury!

I am a slow-taking-off-the-bandaid kind of person. I had made my husband promise me that the kitchen would be next year, but I came home to this one day…

Let’s not think about that. Instead, let’s look at what it looks like today. I love the kitchen. We all do.

We paintined the wall with chalkboard paint. We are constantly changing the drawings, but always have a huge calendar. I don’t know what I would do without it now!

 

We also started building storage in the dining room, there will be much more to come. We also decided to paint the bricks, which were old and crumbling. The bright blue makes me happy.

Speaking of happy, this amazing light makes me super happy. Our dear friend Josh made it for us out of an old washing machine drum.

This is our most recent adventure. While looking for wallpapers online I came across this photo mural and fell.in.love. I have always dreamed of having one… so we took the plunge. The kids think we are crazy, but I LOVE it.

I love the whole house actually.  It is quite a small house (1000 sq ft) but we never feel crowded or couped up. It has such a happy warm energy.

So that is the end of the little tour. There is still so much more to do. This summer we tackle the yard and garden. Over the next few years we will work on upstairs and the attic, plus we still need to figure out what to do with the giant barn in the backyard. We flip back and forth on whether to keep and renovate it or tear it down.  Needless to say we will be busy for a while!

As soon as it is no longer painful to be outside, all I want to do is be outside.

And outside we have been…

We even brought a little of it back inside with us.

At this new house we have lots and lots of leopard slugs. The are HUGE, like hot dogs. They terrify me.

Unlike me, Sosi is quite in love with them. The other day she found some tiny white eggs nestled in the moss in our backyard. We did some googling and found that they are slug eggs, and then we found this. It might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen… I’m convinced they’re aliens.