The official unveiling!

We've been in our house for about a month and a half now, and we've been working hard to make it feel like home. In a previous post, I mentioned that I would be posting pictures of the changes we were making, but I never got around to it. I guess I wanted everything to be done and perfect before I showed it all off to the internet world. While things are far from perfect (and will be for a long time), we got quite a bit done in preparation for our housewarming party this last Saturday. And I figure if I can show off my house to my local family and friends, it's about time I show some pictures to my distant family and friends. So...

This is the moment you've all been waiting for!

Some of the first things we changed after we got into the house (other than the magenta fireplace) were the light fixtures.

The before (top) and the after (bottom) of the hall, kitchen, and dining room lights. If you can't tell from the pictures, the old fixtures were brass and dark iron colored, and the new ones are brushed silver.

Not much has changed in the living room, but it looks different with our furniture and art in it.

It was exciting to put all my strawberry accessories up in my kitchen. While the green will not be permanent, it doesn't look too bad with the green on the strawberries.

Notice my beautiful mixer on the counter. She's happy there.

One of the changes I'm most proud of is in the dining room. The previous owners had some odd, mismatched curtains hanging, but I knew they had to go. So I made some new ones.

The before and after of my dining room.

Though there's really nothing special about it, one of my favorite rooms is the basement. We have our old college furniture down there, and it really feels a lot like our apartment we had in Emporia. Oh, how I miss college...

We didn't do much to the guest bedroom, and yet it looks pretty nice:


My craft room is definitely functional (see the pretty curtains I made above), but it's not the most beautiful room in the house. Though I'm sure it was loved by the little girl who lived here.

My craft room will not stay this color for very long. I promise.

It's crazy how much putting art on the walls can change the feel of a home. We put up all our vacation pictures in our hallways, and now it really feels like our place.

We only made minor changes in the bathrooms.

We added some art and shelves to the half bath.

I made a little "shower valance" for our master bath. Because there's no door, the air would just flow right into the shower making me cold. But not any more.

For outside, we purchased a nice patio set and fire pit. And Matt's gigantic grill, of course.

We still have some painting and other changes to make in a couple rooms, so I'll continue to post pictures as we continue to do work. But now you've seen most of our new house!

As for our housewarming party, it was a success. Yet again, I forgot to take a picture of the TONS of food we made. Matt grilled and I made sides and snacks. It was a lot of fun to just enjoy being in our new house.

Toasting to our new home, and many happy years in it!