Moving Forward

I started this blog back in March for a few reasons. I was experiencing major real estate envy of my many friends who were buying super cute, single family homes while I was stuck in an underwater condo. I was feeling inertia about my space - not sure what else I wanted to do with it, decorating/renovating wise. The negative feelings I had about our "investment" were clouding the feelings I had for the condo as a "home." I decided a blog would help me work out those jealousies while spurring me into action on some projects. I would say it's been a pretty successful venture! I found the more positive I felt about the house, the more likely I was to do some of the stuff I was neglecting, which then caused me to be even more positive about the house, etc. I would say it's been a long time since I've felt down on the place I call home. Instead, I have positive, cozy feelings of being settled.

 

Which leads me to two major milestones: One, I just read the latest post on www.younghouselove.com, which features the new house the bloggers have purchased. A few months ago, I'd be way jealous of that massive, open space they get to work with (and the fact that they've now owned two great houses). Instead, I just feel happy for them, and excited to see how they rennovate their bathrooms, because I really hope to do ours soon too.

 

Second, we got some majorly positive feedback from a friend who hadn't been over in a long time. I think the last time he was at our house was in May, so we had painted our fireplace white, but hadn't changed anything else. He was amazed at our transformation, and was gushing about how much more open everything was. The new furniture (our low profile sectional that replaced two bulky couches), the dining room to playroom transformation and the mudroom makeover have really had a big impact. It's a little hard for me to see since we did a little bit at a time, and I live there every day, but it was so nice to hear that I achieved my goal of opening up our sort of awkward living room/dining room/entry way.

 

I look forward to what 2011 will bring for our house and this blog. Some of the things I'd love to tackle next year are spiffing up our kitchen cabinets and baseboards (we painted them almost five years ago, and they could use some touching up), addressing our carpets (do we need new carpet? Just a good deep cleaning?) and of course, the hideous bathroom. We'll also celebrate our 5th anniversary as homeowners in April! It will then be the place I've called home the longest in my entire life. I think that'll be a really neat feeling.