Remember how my living room looked like this a couple of weeks ago?
Well, it still does. I have been living with the contents of my cabinets on the living room floor. To say that cooking has been a challenge would be an understatement but I’ve managed to make the best of it (along with eating out a ton). We ran into a little issue with the cabinet refinishing and they now have to be stripped and redone. God help me. Yoga breathing is coming in handy here.
Today is a very exciting day…it’s granite installation day! (Although I am NOT excited that the cabinets are going to have to be worked on again after the granite goes in.)
Considering I started this process two months ago, it’s great to see it finally happening. I’m already in love with the granite! The process isn’t over yet…I now have to pick a backsplash and have my painter come back to do some finishing work where I changed light fixtures and removed a wood piece over the stove. My mom and I were talking last night about how these things always take longer than anticipated and cost at least a third more than originally estimated.
And who knew faucets were so expensive!? But aren’t they beautiful? So excited to have an undermount sink and a big pretty faucet!
I bought this house a little over five years ago. It was built in 1955 but had undergone some minor cosmetic updates when I purchased it. I have slowly started chipping away at the heavy duty stuff and over the last few years I have replaced the roof (that one hurt), painted all of the interior walls, refinished the bathroom tub, had all the fascia and soffits replaced on the outside of the house and now the kitchen. This is a partial renovation. Hopefully I can get to floors and appliances next.
My wish list for the house is a mile long. There is ALWAYS something to do when you own a home. It can be overwhelming at times but I feel really fortunate to have this place.
All of the kitchen work has put a fire under me to work on the rest of the house. I am in MAJOR nesting mode right now. Yesterday I spent a solid two hours reorganizing the hall linen closet. I should have taken a before picture. It was overflowing.
On Sunday I made a trip to Homegoods (I’m convinced that store is as dangerous as Target) where I purchased a new bedside table lamp, new curtains for the guest bedroom and a fresh set of sheets for the bed.
I am on a mission to finally get my house to “sanctuary” status. I want to walk in and be so happy to be home and not think about all the things I wish I could be done. And I want to host many get togethers and fill my kitchen up with friends. I will do a house tour once I get there! 🙂
In the meantime Sullie is like, “Mom, when is this going to be over?”
What have you done to make your home a sanctuary?
LOVE the idea of making your home a sanctuary! I’m on the verge of giving my apartment a little makeover but haven’t started because I don’t know what direction I want to go … until now. Such a good way to think of a home!
Can’t wait to see the final product!
I also live in an older home and you are right, there is always something you want to do. We bought it as a short sale and while it was in decent shape when we moved in it definitely needed work. I hated the first few months there because nothing about it felt like home. My husband and I would go to bed at night missing our previous and wondering why we moved (we knew that answer… our small condo was not going to work with 2 kids) Well 3 yrs and LOTS of paint later our home definitely feels like “our home.” The biggest thing we did was changing out the outside appearance. Our house use to be a bit of the ugly duckling on the street, but simple things like painting the front door, changing out white shutters for black and having it professionally landscaped made a world of difference. Now all the neighbors tell us how cute out house and I love coming home.
I am so impressed with all you have done! I would guess that one project simply helps inspire the next. The manfriend and I are looking forward to purchasing a home together in a few years (we live in one he bought in 2007 or so) and I have dreams of making my home more of a sanctuary. For some reason, our current house just feels like a place we live in that I don’t really want to invest too much in as we won’t be here for more than another year or so.
I agree, I want my home to be a place where I can come in, relax, enjoy and host get togethers. The problem is that it takes some time, money and patience. I just kept focused on my vision and spent time shopping, going to antique shops and adding little bits here and there – and now I feel like my home is really me.
OMG it is sooo true that everything takes longer than they estimate and will absolutely cost more than you think lol. Whatever timeframe my contractor gave me, I tacked on three weeks and more dollars. But it’s so worth it in the end! Sometimes I am afraid to big one project because it leads to other projects. And right now, I am putting off cleaning out my drawers because I know it will lead to every other closet and room.
Arg… My house was built in 1952. I feel your pain. In the other hand, I saw that Emily Giffin book on your bedside table! Love all her books!
i’m in the same boat. my house isnt as old as yours but everything needs/ed redone. I’m almost 5 years in now and can’t believe we are not done yet ! thinks take forever and we’ve had to do a lot ourselves due to cost. the only thing at this point we both agree on is what a mistake it was to buy (more from a financial standpoint). we JUST finished re doing out bedroom and it feels more sanctuary-like which is very nice and helps me rest a bit more when i’m in there. That is…until i walk outside of it into the living room with paint samples all over and broken trim, etc. rennovations are very very hard to live through. i was interested in your repainting of your cabinets. we considered but heard so many horror stories about it not working out that we opted to replace and at this point i’m really glad i did. hope everything works out with yours !
We are currently renting, because we moved here a year ago and wanted to get a feel for the city before we bought a house. I have a list a mile long of things I would do to the house and the yard if it were actually mine — including setting fire to the yard and starting from scratch. Living with it until we can find our own home is driving me up a wall! I can imagine how impatient I would be if I was actually doing the renovations.
It took me a solid 5 years and WAY more money than I thought to remodel my home but now it is truly a sanctuary! So thankful! The book “Journey to the Heart” one of my favs! Love the new lamp! And the granite! And of course Sullie!
Your kitchen is looking great! My dream one day is to have a nice, relaxing atmosphere that I love to come home to! Need to buy a house first I guess 😉
You are so right, there is always SOMETHING when you own a home. I built mine brand new and STILL have so many things I want to update/change.
Good luck! Any type of renovation is stressful but it will be worth it. I’m a firm believer in creating YOUR home. Hang in there!
Love your choice of granite!! It looks awesome! Congrats! And….that lamp – perfect find!