Category: Our Home

We only have two more weeks in 2022 (!!) and next week I’ll be taking a break from the blog as I soak up lots of family time so today felt like a great time to check in on the goals I set at the beginning of 2022. I started the year with several house projects on my to-do list, as well as a few personal and family goals. Overall, I’m counting this year as a big success!

Goals for Our Home

While this year didn’t have any major renovations like previous years, I did make quite a bit of progress in some rooms in our house.

Update the Flooring

I’m giving myself partial credit for this goal. Justin and I decided to prioritize some different financial goals this year, which put the major flooring plans on hold for now. We have hopes to update the basement carpet in 2023 and address the entire main floor level in 2024, but we did proceed with updating the carpet in the nursery and LJ & Vi’s shared bedroom. It made a huge difference in both spaces! I’m excited to continue to update flooring throughout our house over the next few years.

Main Floor Powder Room

This project just never felt like a priority for me, and I don’t have specific inspiration for the room yet, so it got bumped from my 2022 to-do list. Maybe I’ll get inspired to tackle it in 2023? It also might just be on hold until the main floor level gets updated flooring – we’ll see!

Finish the Guest Room Stencil

I made some progress on this goal this year, but did not complete it. Part of the reason I stopped is because I’m still not sure if I want to continue the stencil all the way around the room or stay with just the two walls shown. Either way, I need to just commit some time to finishing up in 2023. We did upgrade the bed + mattress from a full to a queen with all new bedding and every guest who has stayed with us since has commented on how cozy and comfortable it is is so I’m counting that as a big win.

Update the Kids’ Bedrooms

This goal is approximately 95% complete! LJ and Vi moved into a shared bedroom this year and it got quite the glow up: matching twin beds, curtains, sconces, carpet, and updated storage, bedding, and artwork. The only thing left on my list to address is the wall behind the dresser – it was originally going to be wallpapered, but that project lost steam after a mishap with the order. I have a new idea for this wall now and I’m feeling very inspired so look for that to be one of the first things I tackle in 2023!

As for the nursery, I had so much fun preparing the room for a baby boy (it was the first time we ever found out the sex in advance!) and I love how it turned out. I painted the walls, hung curtains, collected artwork, hung bookshelves, updated the dresser, thrifted an amazing windowpane chair, and then recently tweaked a few things with some vintage brass items and a woven hamper. It feels finished . . . for now. 🙂

Have the Foyer Painted

I made zero progress on this goal, but rest assured it is a top priority for 2023! Our foyer has been halfway painted since March 2021 and I’m determined to get it finished before the two year mark.

Update the Living Room

It’s slow, but progress is happening in this room! I have painted the walls and ceiling and we installed a new chandelier. We’ve also spoken to an electrician about hardwiring some sconces above the couch and in the new year I’ll be painting the windows and replacing trim. I haven’t felt a strong sense of urgency to finish since we currently have our Christmas tree set up in here, but once that’s down in the new year I know I’ll be itching to finish up this room.

Patio Updates

We did not end up making any changes to our main patio this year but we did DIY an umbrella stand with storage for the little deck down by the pond and we have used that SO much! It’s so nice to have some shade since we spend hours out there each day in the summer; I’m definitely still giving myself partial credit for this goal.

Bonus Projects I didn’t Plan On

There were a few things I accomplished this year that I didn’t have on my original list, but are still worth celebrating. First up, I helped my sister with several projects in her home this year:

We laid down peel & stick tile in her kitchen and it pulled the changes we made last year (painting the cabinets and walls, removing some top cabinetry and installing open shelving, painting the backsplash) together to make the space feel fresh.

In April I thrifted a $20 dresser and upgraded it for her nursery. Justin and I also DIYed a frame for a frameless mirror to complement it. Now that my sweet nephew is here, this gets a ton of use!

Most recently I helped her with transforming her guest bathroom in a single weekend. Using mostly paint and a few simple DIYs, we made this room feel like a completely new space that reflects her personality so well.

I completed a few small projects throughout the year too but my favorite one is the dollhouse I bought and re-vamped for my kids’ Christmas present. I cannot wait to give it to them this weekend!

Personal Goals

Exercise at least 3x per week

Unfortunately, in my very full life right now, exercise is something that can too easily get pushed to the back burner. I am feeling really good after my third c-section and want to get back into regular exercise asap!

Buy thoughtfully and intentionally

I can honestly say that this goal has now become an ingrained part of my lifestyle. Whenever I need something, whether it be a gift, an item for my home, clothing for myself or my kids, or any other product, I first think: is there a sustainable or fair trade option? Can I buy it from a local business? Can I buy it secondhand and give new life to something? A few examples of things I’ve done this year are: switching to reusable fabric cotton rounds instead single-use ones, wrapping my presents in fabric, thrifting or renting nearly all my children’s clothing, shopping small, local businesses for gifts, and finding a gorgeous, fair-trade woven laundry basket and some vintage pieces for the nursery. Sometimes I can’t find something and I don’t drive myself crazy trying to be perfect. I have my fair share of big-box-store-bought items for sure, but it truly feels great anytime I can be a little more thoughtful with a purchase.

Prioritize Sleep

I’m not sure what I was thinking including this as a goal in the same year I have a newborn, ha! Ollie surprised us though and it our best sleeper by far so my sleep tank isn’t as depleted as I expected. I don’t always go to bed as early as I hope, but it has helped tremendously to be conscious of timing falling asleep with my REM cycle so I don’t wake up super groggy. I’ve also started using an actual alarm clock instead of my phone to check the time if I wake up in the middle of the night so that helps to not stimulate my brain and disrupt sleep too much. These little habits have definitely helped me sleep better!

Update the Blog Menu

This goal is finished! I updated the entire blog menu earlier in the year AND I’m giving myself an extra gold star because I’ve actually been able to maintain it and keep things updated as new posts get added. It’s now more organized and streamlined and (hopefully) easier for readers to navigate.

Family Goals

Take our first family vacation!

I’m giving us extra stars for this because we did a few trips this year! We went on our first family-of-four vacation to Disney World in February and had an incredible time.

In June, we went to the beach with Justin’s family AND took a trip with one of Justin’s high school buddies and his family to Maryland. We swam in the ocean played in the sand and went for hikes and took boat rides and just enjoyed adventuring as a family – it can be exhausting to travel with kids but it is also so much fun and I’m looking forward to more of it in our future!

Dates with Our Kids

Justin and I are really good about this . . . kind of. Ha! It has kind of naturally fallen into him doing lots of dates with LJ and me doing lots with Vi, which is great! But I also want us to switch and me take LJ and he take Vi for more one-on-one time in those combinations.

Now that we have Ollie I’m also very proud of my “me + 3” dates where I take all three kids to do something. Our favorite place to go is the zoo but we also hit up lots of playgrounds and parks for picnics and little adventures. So fun!

Be Intentional with Making Life Feel Special

I’m a work in progress here, but it has been really fun to try to incorporate fun little things into our life this year. Holidays are so magical for our kids in this stage of life and I’ve enjoyed adding everything from simple Lucky Charms cereal at St Patrick’s Day to an incredibly fun and memorable advent activity calendar this month. It’s also been fun to try to add some special things into everyday life – I’ll take a blanket and picnic supplies to our playground trips and we started a family campfire tradition every week this fall. It’s been a really special year!

I’m ending this year on a grateful note – 2022 is the year we did many things, but the best thing that happened was welcoming Ollie into our family. It was a wonderful year and I’m looking forward to all that 2023 will bring!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been making a few small changes in the nursery. None of them have really warranted a full blog post on their own, but now that they’re all in place it felt like a good time for a little collective update!

First up, after three years in this house we finally have a laundry hamper in the nursery. Can you believe we never had one the entire time Vi used this room? Whenever we had dirty clothes I would just carry them into the kids’ room and toss them in that hamper. I found this lidded woven basket and it was love at first sight – the leather handle is a great detail, it’s well made and very high quality, and it’s fair trade! I also love how the woven texture brings an organic, natural feel to the room. It feels like the perfect fit. Since we have a diaper pail on the other side of the dresser, the hamper is currently sandwiched between the dresser and the door but once we’re out of the diaper stage, it will go on the other side of the dresser.

I also found this little brass elephant at a local vintage sale. I thought it was so sweet and a perfect little detail to add to the nursery!

Speaking of brass, when I first put the nursery together, I bought two vintage brass planters. I loved the look but felt like they were too small for the wall, so over the past few months I’ve been searching Etsy and purchasing more as I find them. I now have five and the wall feels much more proportioned! I love the collected look of various shapes and sizes.

This room doesn’t get great natural light (I had to turn the lights on to take pictures of the planters), but my first attempt with a real plant lived! Now that I have more planters, I decided to try adding another real plant. Can you guess which two plants are real?

I know the nursery will continue to evolve as Ollie grows and his needs change, but for now it feels like it’s at a good place! Although . . . is a room really ever done being tweaked? I think not 🙂

I’ve enjoyed taking a slow and steady approach to decorating for Christmas this year and have added bits and pieces to our home over the last week and a half. As of last night, I think I’m pretty much done (at least with all the major decorations), so today I thought I’d give you a little tour of our home decked out for Christmas!

I want my kids’ memories of Christmas in our home to feel magical so I definitely upped my game this year and concentrated on a few areas where I felt we’d get the most bang for our buck. I didn’t add things to every room. I didn’t add a single Christmas item in our basement. I specifically focused on the areas our family, particularly the kids, use the most. One of the biggest things I did was add ribbons and ornaments to existing decor – it was such a fun way to make things feel extra special without actually swapping out everything and since it’s higher than they can reach, it’s very kid-friendly.

This year my kids wanted to contribute a lot, especially with decorating the tree and dining room – it’s not perfect, but this house is our home and it feels festive and magical to us, which is the entire point. 🙂 I didn’t take a picture of every single Christmas item in my house, but this will give you a very good glimpse at our home this season. Enjoy!

Kids’ Bedroom

I really wanted LJ and Vi’s shared bedroom to have some Christmas magic and one of the top things I wanted was a small tree with twinkle lights. I was pretty particular about size/looks (and I wanted to try to find one secondhand rather than buy new) so I started my search early and scoured thrift stores for a couple weeks. I eventually scored this cute little tabletop tree at a local vintage shop and is so perfect! I had fun thrifting cute kid-friendly ornaments and also bought a few new ones at a local small business.

LJ and Vi came with me to a local vintage sale and one of them spotted this little set of bottlebrush trees. They both insisted we get them and honestly, it was not hard to convince me! I think they look so cute on the dresser and the kids really love them.

We also have several Christmas-themed books that I always pull out in December and this year I’m keeping them all in the kids’ room for bedtime stories.

Main Floor

This year’s tree is very bottom-heavy with ornaments, but the kids had a blast hanging up as much as they could! Our big tree is always filled with sentimental ornaments and I love it.

I’ve never had a real tree or real garland before but I spotted some fresh cut cedar garland for sale at Costco and decided to give it a try. We made a dried orange garland as a family (well kind of – the kids did help for a few minutes ha!) and I hung it up around the cased opening between the living room and playroom. I LOVE it! Safe to say this will not be the last time I do this.

Normally I display the Christmas cards we receive but this year I’m keeping it simple with a vintage basket on our kitchen counter to collect cards and flip through them at our leisure.

On the first night of December we spent time as a family making paper snowflakes. It was so fun! I thought we’d hang them up on the windows but LJ was adamant that they should hang down from the ceiling and eventually he won me over. I’ll admit, there is something magical about the overall effect in person! I also love how perfectly imperfect the snowflakes are. The kids were so proud of their work and every snowflake, regardless of how it turned out, got hung up. It might not look picture-perfect but it makes us all feel warm and fuzzy so it’s just right for us.

I put together an advent activity calendar for our family thanks to some free printables I found and it’s hanging in our office. It’s been so fun to do!

And of course, Macie enjoys snuggling up with our Christmas-y blankets and pillows.

Now I’m off to sneak upstairs and try to start wrapping presents without getting caught!

Back in September, I went on a home and garden tour in my favorite neighborhood in our city. I loved getting to see so many beautiful historic homes and had many takeaways from the experience. Two things that stood out to me on the tour were artwork and attention to details. These homeowners were all appreciators of art and it showed! I loved seeing how their choices reflected their unique personalities and especially enjoyed seeing original art on the walls. I also found myself drawn to the small things that were clearly so intentional -art placed in a thoughtful or surprising location, a little nook made into a special moment, etc. These little details made the homes feel so consciously cared for and it left me feeling inspired to make our home feel this way too.

I’ve been making small strides around here to curate more art that speaks to me and reflects our family well, all while trying to be intentional with the details too. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my recent changes to the far left side of Vi’s gallery wall:

Previously, I had a little print on the top left that I received as a free gift with purchase of one of her dolls. It was fine, but I used it because I had it and not because I chose it. When I saw this girl in a mask print, I immediately felt drawn to it. If you know Vi, you know this print fits her personality so well! I placed it in a thrifted frame and it immediately made the wall feel more like her. I also had the idea to take a thrifted frame of an unusual size, remove the print that came in it, and use it to create a double-framed look around the picture of her and LJ. It’s a simple little detail but I love that it brings some fun and whimsy to the wall!

I loved the idea of a double frame so much that I used that again in my office! My sister is an artist and I loved this moody little flower on canvas she created. I decided to place it in an unique spot to showcase it and used command strips to place it on the trim work of the office built ins. That alone was a fun look, but adding a square frame that Justin made from scraps of trim from our house bumped it up several notches in my mind! I also added a vintage print I snagged at a sale recently to the top shelf – this might move somewhere else eventually but for now I love the peek of landscape up there.

I’m trying to reframe my ideas about what “art” is – anything can be displayed as a special thing. I’ve propped up meaningful books, added one-of-a-kind pottery from a local artisan, and even displayed the cute little card that came with a plant-related purchase. I love the collected, unique look this brings together.

When I purchased the masked girl print for Vi’s room, this unique print caught my eye. It’s not my usual style, but I instantly loved it and decided to roll with that feeling and purchase it in a large size. I love it just propped up against the shelves – it feels both casual and thoughtful at the same time.

Choosing to add these new items in front of the shelves, rather than on the shelves where everything else it, brought a new dimension to the built ins that I’m very into. The layers feel fresh and interesting, and maybe it’s not noticeable to anyone but me, but these shelves reflect our family and our history in so many ways. It makes our home feel like a cozy little haven – a home that gets used and loved and is lived in – and that’s a feeling I have always wanted for this house.

I’ve always been a fan of slow, intentional decorating and these small changes have strengthened my passion for it. I know I will continue to add and tweak and pay attention to the details for years to come!