The last home tour I offered up was about one year and two months ago – just a few days after we moved in. Things certainly look different now, and I like the idea of marking our house’s progression for posterity (roughly) once a year. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to share so openly before our space is completely “done,” but hopefully it will be an encouraging reminder that not every home is transformed in a week, and not every homeowner has an unlimited budget. We’ve tried to make changes with thoughtful consideration, and purchases with our budget priorities in mind (and with hearts of contentment). There are definitely things we’d still like to do (and I’ve noted several of them throughout this post), but for now, please enjoy a peek at our home!

P.S. “Before” photos are included where I have them!

The Front Porch:

This summer, our front porch has really grown to be one of our favorite parts of our home. We’ve sat out there for hours in the evening, chatting, eating peaches or cherries, and living life slowly. Yes, rocking chairs really do make your life that idyllic. Since moving in, we’ve hung our American flag, added solar lights around the stairs, and added the rockers. Future plans include painting our front door, and growing something up a trellis on the side for a little more privacy.

The Foyer:

One of the first things we hung after moving in was that little plaque by the front door. I love it! Before moving in, we painted the entire downstairs main room Benjamin Moore “Simply White” colormatched to Behr No VOC paint in eggshell. If I was doing it again, I might have gone with a truer white – Simply White can look a touch too creamy with the amount of sunlight we get. We’d like to replace the light fixture and add a console table and a rug.

The Kitchen:

I love the bar in our kitchen – it’s where I sit when John is cooking! Since moving in, we’ve purchased a refrigerator, added the wire shelf, hung art and our rotating instagram bulletin board, painted a chalkboard wall, added new bar seating, and replaced the pendant lights. One more major improvement we are considering making is adding a vent hood with an exterior exhaust – we cook almost every night, and I don’t love how the smell lingers. Vent hood owners, do you think it makes a difference?

While we are considering other cosmetic changes, like painting our cabinets, switching out the tile for white subway tile, or replacing the cabinet doors with a simpler style, I think we will ultimately hold off and save that money.

The Dining Room:

“Dining room” is a bit of a generous term, since our table is really just situated in the open space between our kitchen and seating area! The only real update we’ve done in this space is to replace the chandelier with a lantern. Down the road, we’d like to get new chairs (our current ones were free hand-me-downs!), replace the blinds with plantation shutters, and maybe add curtains.

The Powder Room:

This teensy room received a fresh coat of paint (Sherwin Williams “Tidewater” colormatched to Behr No VOC in eggshell), a new and improved towel ring and new hand towel, and some art in honor of our home state. We’d like to replace the mirror with something more interesting, and maybe replace the light, as well – or just switch the finish to oil-rubbed bronze, like the towel ring. By the way, hardest room to photograph!!

The Living Room:

Y’all know our rug was one of the first big purchases we made after moving in, and we’re still pleased with it! We also hung our gallery wall, added a few new couch pillows into the mix, and hung a landscape canvas from our wedding day (our Christmas present to each other last year!). Down the road we’d like to move the trunk elsewhere and replace it with a larger, square coffee table.

The Hallway and Laundry Room:

This unassuming area might end up being the site of our biggest improvement down the line! I enter our home through the laundry room every day, since it leads to our garage, and the door swinging in from the garage and the door swinging into the laundry room from the hallway do not play nicely together, especially with full hands. I’d love to convert the hallway door into a pocket door, then knock out the two walls of the closet to create a mudroom area with seating and lots of hooks. I would definitely paint the pocket door a fun color!

The Master Bedroom:

Our bedroom was one of the only rooms the previous owners had painted, and we liked the soft gray, so it stayed! Otherwise, this room looks pretty similar to our bedroom in our apartment. A headboard/frame is on the top of our purchase list, so hopefully that change should happen soon (see my monthly goals!).

The Master Bathroom:

Not much has changed about the master bathroom since we moved in, but it’s on my radar! We’d like to paint the walls (I’m thinking Ben Moore “Sea Salt”) and frame out the mirror with wood.

I’ll be back with the upstairs soon!

P.S. How many times can you spot our cat Jack in this tour? :) She is quite the busybody, and was following me around the whole time I was taking these photos.

Holy moly, what a month! We celebrated John’s birthday, Natalie and Joe’s wedding, and then, to cap it off, our nephew was born earlier this week!!

I had to chuckle when I looked back at my July goals, because I said I was “keeping things simple to hopefully have a 100% success rate.” I clocked in at 80%, which I suppose is not so bad, but I feel like I actually got even more done last month than my list implies, so I’m pleased!

July goal recap:
Install a rain barrel. (It recently occurred to me we could buy one for less on Craiglist… have started the search.)
Finish taking house photos and post tour. (Photos are finished! Tour should go up next week!)
Finalize and print last third of household maintenance doc.
Clean out our “art storage room” – hang everything we like and organize/donate/sell/get rid of the rest.
Pick blueberries. (We tried several times, but farms were always closed or picked out!)
Celebrate John’s birthday! Among other things, we went to Bida Manda in Raleigh, and it was delicious!

August goals:
— Sort pile in small bedroom. (When we moved to NC we didn’t know how long we’d be here. Once it became clear we had moved for the long haul, I began sorting through my childhood bedroom on trips home, deciding what to keep and what to toss. The unsorted pile finally got small enough that it could be packed into several suitcases and boxes, which were trucked down by my parents and deposited rather unceremoniously in our spare bedroom last month. Now I need to make keep/sell/donate/toss piles and take action on them.)
— Plant a few hardy bananas against our backyard fence.
— Make a trip to the Ballard Designs outlet and possibly buy a bed, if the one we’re interested in is there.
— Get our summer dinner party on the calendar.
— Make plans for our two year anniversary!

Considering we’ll be in Maine for over a week this month and I have an additional work trip, I think that’s quite enough! I would love to take a peek at your monthly goals if you posted them!