What a Year.

Christmas Eve marked our one year anniversary of living in our house.  You may remember that even though we bought it in August 2011, the major renovations we took on didn't allow us to move in until the holidays.  I can't believe how quickly this year went by, and even more than that, I can't believe just how much our home has changed in such a short time.

Here are pictures of our house from Christmas Eve 2011...

And here it is Christmas Eve 2012...

Quite the difference, huh?

I'm so very proud of the hard work that hubby, my parents and I have put into this house.  Every single thing we have done turned this old house into our home.  I cannot wait to see what we can do in the year to come!

Oh, and before the holiday season is truly "over"...here is a little recap of our wonderful holiday, spent with both sides of our families.  First up, we travelled to Connecticut, with my parents, to visit my sister's family and to see their new house.

Then it was time to go to the in-law's and spend time with hubby's family.

Hubby and I didn't exchange gifts this year...which isn't something super new to us.  {We didn't exchange when we were saving for our house in 2010 or when we bought our house in 2011.}  We chose to pass on the holiday gifts, and do other things....like, say make an investment in lots of Christmas lights so hubby could go crazy outside....buy three extremely discounted rugs that we need for our house...and scoop up an awesome deal on Craigslist'ed campaign dressers.  We even decided to go nuts and get our lawn aerated and over-seeded this past fall.  Doing these "house things" makes us extremely happy, so we are okay knowing that since we are tight on money, Christmas gifts may have to wait until another year.  Heck, just creating our cozy home together is a gift in itself.  {Way cheesy, but 100% true.}

But we did manage to buy a couple gifts for some family members.  My favorites happened to be these UH-MAZING wood pieces that we got for our niece and nephews from the Smiling Tree Toys shop on Etsy.  Their handmade, organic stuff is totally worth checking out.  They even managed to rush my order and get it to me in time for our trip up to CT before Christmas.  In short, they rock!

I hope you all have a wonderful NYE...and a BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to each and every one of you for taking the time out of your day to keep in touch with me and hubby and our home.  It means the world to me, and I appreciate it more than you know!

I'll see you in 2013! :)

Freshline Prints

Little by little, I added some touches to our entryway so that it wasn’t so “bleh” when you glanced towards the front door.  First was the mirror that took entirely too long to hang, then I added a fun pop of color to the front door and now I’m revealing what was in those frames hung to the right of the door.  I realize that it looks like there was already something in them, but what you don't know, is that I didn't change anything from the second I bought them.  Yup, I hung them with whatever pre-packaged "photo" came with the frames.  Classy, huh?  At least they weren't banished to our guest bedroom with the rest of the frames I purchased during a 50% off sale at Michael's. ;)

After a very non-scientific evaluation of the space between the end of our barn door track and the front wall of our home, I figured that two 8 x 10 frames would be the perfect fit next to our front door.  I knew I wanted some grey and yellow “home-themed” prints, and I also knew I wanted those prints to come from an Etsy shop that I love, Freshline.  I poured over the many beautiful things the shop owner, Colleen, has to offer, and carefully narrowed my choices down to just two prints… the Skeleton Key with Your House Number and the Welcome Sign – Home Sweet Home.

The pictures were already in the exact colors I desired, so I just had to request for them both to be printed in landscape orientation.

I placed my order and impatiently waited for the prints to arrive.  They were definitely worth the wait.  Both were just what I was looking for and fit perfectly into our home!

If anyone is looking for some beautiful, modern prints to hang in their home, I highly suggest you check out Colleen’s Etsy store!

Now, if I could just find a fun doormat for the entryway, I’ll be all set!!

Anyone else have a favorite Etsy store?!?!

Call Me Crazy...

I finally did it - I opened an Etsy shop! Many of you have told me I should start an Etsy store or become a designer. And I am now doing the first of the two things. Probably doesn't seem like a big deal to some, but to me it is the start to a much bigger dream of opening my own store and being and interior designer. And this is a wee small step hopefully towards that dream. Lavish Home is officially open...even though there are only a hand full of items listed!!

You see, I have always loved art and home decor. When I was a kid, I loved school supplies. It was one of my favorite things...new pencils still make me smile. But when it came college time, I didn't pick design as a major. Nope, I picked Emergency Management. It is probably the farthest thing from home decor and decorating. My day job involves planning, safety, and training - no where close to interior designer. So although my job isn't what I dreamed it to be as a kid, I still have that passion inside of me. I think about it all the time.

This blog helps me to share my passion of remodeling and decorating. And maybe the Etsy shop will light a fire under me to become that designer and store owner I've always wanted to be. There are a limited amount of things I can sell on Etsy (homemade), and I've got big ideas in my head. Once I get ideas in my head, I want them to become real. I'm going to work hard towards my dream.

You can call me crazy now. I just poured my heart out to y'all. Thanks for the therapy session.