Photo taken one year ago.
It’s hard to believe, but today we’ve been in this house for a year! Living here has been everything I thought it would be and more. I’ve loved the get-togethers: inside and poolside, the regular day to day life, and the renovation process with Micah (and help from family – thanks John!)
I think we’ve accomplished a lot, but at the same time I look back at what we’ve done versus what’s left and it doesn’t feel as triumphant. There are still so many spaces to infuse ourselves into. I know that I typically only share the process and more finished spaces, so today I thought it’d be fun and a bit scary! to show you some of the unseen rooms in all their unstyled, real-life glory. You can see all of the before here, here and here. Bloggers are really good at hiding the not-so-sightly, but today I thought I’d embrace it. These are the spaces we’re living in as they were, but keep my mind spinning with ideas every time I’m in them.
Thus far we’ve tackled the dining room, the wood room, and Xander’s room pretty much completely there are still things that I’d like to upgrade or furniture I’d like to find and we’ve improved some spaces that still need work.
I painted our bedroom walls white for a fresh start, but the ceilings will need to be scraped, and I want to get a new bed. This queen size has done us well, but a king would be wonderful and something more traditional in style is what I’m hoping for. It’s one of those rooms that I don’t necessarily have a clear vision for yet, but it’s decent for now…I don’t dislike being in it.
I also painted our master bath, but I don’t have the same feelings towards it. The terrible 80’s lighting, patched flooring, and worn sinks (the seashell shaped beauties are literally flaking) don’t make it a space I want to be in or put makeup on.
The playroom is about 80% done. We still need to scrape ceilings it’s just so lovely against the fresh white – yikes, figure out a few more storage solutions, replace lighting and the baseboards, but it’s really functional and a pretty happy room to be in as long as you don’t look up. 🙂
Poor Milly. Xander got a great looking space and all she’s got is a leopard print towel as a curtain. Ha. I know I’ll have a blast with this room when we get to it, but she really only sleeps in here at this point, so it hasn’t been high on the priority list.
And then there’s the upper sunroom. Where this little blog gets written. It looks super inspiring, doesn’t it? It’s definitely a room where things get dropped and piles grow. It’s always been my little piece of the house, but as you can tell by the manly recliner Mr. Makerista has moved in. For good reason.
There’s one room left at the front of the house that has yet to be touched. It’s the room that you see the moment you open the door, and for right now it has been the place where homeless furniture has lived and Micah has played Call of Duty.
It’s not an eyesore, but the first impression certainly demands more than beige.
So like any normal couple, we’re taking the busiest time of the year to tackle it. I don’t envision the whole space being done by the holidays, but my goal is to have the bones of the room finished by New Year’s Eve. Christmas is ideal, but I’ll give Micah a little more grace than that. It’s one of the spaces I’ve had an overall vision about since the start, so I can’t wait to see it come to life. I’ve already scraped the ceilings and they’re being refinished as we speak. Then we can move on to built-ins and trim. I look forward to sharing more with you soon!
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and please know that each one of you has blessed me greatly this year. Thank you for reading and following along!
tomsgirl1129 says
Great job! I am so excited to see your upcoming projects!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks, I'm excited to see them too, Wendy. 🙂
Kelly L says
Im so inspired by this! LOVE the yellow fireplace in the play room!!!
I love the white you used in the master bedroom…funny, you would think white is easy to find, but all of them look very yellow in my house….Id love to try yours if you can remember! TIA
themakerista@gmail.com says
Hi Kelly! Thanks for your kind words. The white is Simply White by Benjamin Moore. It's warm but not yellow. Hope that helps!
tera says
I think that is very impressive progress in a year! Look forward to seeing the next project 🙂
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks, Tera!
Ocpio says
Lovely and super fantastic! Love the dark color for the wall.
http://www.ocpio.com
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thank you!
Unknown says
Thank you for showing all of the spaces! We just moved into our first house and are inching along our to-do list because we have a tiny budget. It is so wonderful to see your in progress spaces, because I really admire your style and blog. It helped me put our house back in perspective!!!! 🙂 I look forward to your future progress updates!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks! Yes, perception is everything, and while I want to mostly show pretty things here, I want to keep it real too! 🙂 Thanks for following along!
ruthie says
I love what you have done so far. You have such fantastic vision. When will we get to see the kitchen?
themakerista@gmail.com says
It's funny you mentioned that! I actually took a picture of it and meant to include it but somehow it slipped my mind. It's probably the one space that I loathe the most too. 🙂 But I'm praying we will tackle that space this next year and in that case it probably deserves it's own "before" post. 🙂 Have a great week, Ruthie!
Emily Kuhlman says
Kevin's old call of duty chair is now living in the garage but it took YEARS. My painters are coming today to finish the foyer! I'll send pics. Thanks for all your help, you are the best and so inspiring!
Julia Konya says
Love what you have done with your house so far! And the leopard towel looks better then when I used to duct tape Lilly's window shut. Any type of light made her wake up immediately 😉 Love the leather man recliner by the way
themakerista@gmail.com says
Ha! Thanks, Julia!
Megan // Honey We're Home says
What you have done so far (in just a year!) is amazing! I've never seen that shot of the playroom and it's so bright and cheerful! You really know how to make bold color work.
Jennifer @ Dimples and Tangles says
Well, I'd say you've definitely made some great progress! I think it's probably better to have completely finished rooms that a house full of half-way done projects. BTW, do you have 4 fireplaces? I was noticing as I looked through photos, what a huge bonus!!
Patricia says
Love this post Gwen, so familiar. We've been in our home about 1,5 year now and while I'm so happy with many of the things we've done, there's still so much left to paint and improve! It's nice to see a fellow blogger's home this way, because when I look at your posts I always think "wow so much has happened so fast, and there's still so much on my to do list" but then you also have those spaces that still need some love 😉 I guess it's always easier to see progress in someone else's home! I'm going to try to tackle the next room over the holidays as well, can't wait.
PS: I have that New York poster you have in your playroom too 🙂
themakerista@gmail.com says
Isn't it such a cute poster? 🙂 I'm glad you can appreciate the good and the not so great, ha.
One good Indian girl. says
Scraping a popcorn ceiling isn't so bad, just water and a wide scraper. Get an industrial strength spray bottle, soak the ceiling with water one area at a time. Play some tunes LOUD. Get scraping. Grab Advil for your neck. Finish scraping. Book a massage. Then paint. 🙂
Unknown says
Thanks for showing EVERYTHING (your house as is- done and yet to be done)! It's so true that we want people to only see the best, but sometimes it's unrealistic. When our lives are so busy, to have each thing complete, is a major undertaking (although I realize this, I am currently checking off a list of things to finish before our holiday party Sunday-ahhh). But honestly, this post was great to see!
themakerista@gmail.com says
Thanks so much, glad you could relate. 🙂
tnic says
Thanks for showing your entire house, including the less-than-decorated parts. This is a great great house, you are really lucky! I love the kids' room and I actually love your bedroom, including the bed. And glad to see I'm not the only one who has a blanket/curtain in a child's room (my daughter's playroom). Can't wait to see the other rooms as they unfold, especially your daughter's room. I'm sure it will be great. (Wonder if you are like me…the possibilities are endless with girl's clothes and decor and I honestly back away at times just from the sheer overabundance of choices. I decorated my daughter's room last year and still haven't put up as many pictures–or other things on the wall–as I would like just for this reason.)
themakerista@gmail.com says
We are really lucky! It's true, there are so many different directions I'd love to go with her space!
Kristen says
Hi! I just found your blog and am loving it! We bought a 70s home a year ago and are slowly changing things bit by bit. We are just a few steps behind ya'll in our kitchen remodel, so you know I'll be soaking up your advice! I have a question about your popcorn ceilings. We have them too and had them tested for asbestos. They came back at 1% or something, really low, but still considered in the zone that needs to be disposed up "properly." Do you have any thoughts on that? I see posts right and left about scraping off the popcorn and I've DESPERATE to do so, but also nervous that we will have to hire a professional. Anyway, I would love to hear what you think.
heidi says
Gwen, you keep scraping ceilings. are they popcorn or textured/swirly?
themakerista@gmail.com says
They’re popcorn. Textured we probably would have just left but these definitely date the home. 🙂