one year living

We just passed our one year mark of living in this house and so much has happened. My kids have grown a lot (I mean, look at this picture of Lulu taken the first time we saw the house!) and we've actually done a lot to the house.

When I look at my to-do list (which, by the by, is an obnoxiously detailed Excel list), I get frustrated because it still needs SO much work but when I consider how many changes we've made in the year we've been here, I feel proud of all the hard work we've put into it. I believe they are changes that will really increase the value of our home and that we'll be happy with for many years to come. I would be happy to stay in this home for a while - it has plenty of space for our family and we love our neighbors and the area, which is growing a lot and has been rated the "coolest suburb in Seattle". Plus with the demand for homes in Seattle as the new Silicon Valley, we are glad to have purchased this home when we did.

Here are some of the changes we've made (which you can see more in depth on all my home posts here). So far, we've:

- Removed the kitchen wall (here)

- Skim coated the entire first floor and painted in Benjamin Moore Horizon

- Removed wallpaper in entry (here)

- Did a mini remodel on the kids / guest bathroom (post here)

- Replaced dining chandelier (here)
- Removed the closet wall in the laundry room
- Expanded the laundry / mudroom door way (here)
- Ripped out the laminate flooring in the laundry room
- Closed in the closet in the downstairs bedroom

- Mini remodel on the guest bedroom downstairs (here)
- New drywall in the laundry / mudroom
- Added recessed lighting in the laundry / mudroom
- Got new washer + dryer
- Fixed a major leak in the master bathroom (here) / front of the house
- Removed about 8 trees in the yard (here)
- Painted the front door (here)

Still SO much to do but it feels good to do a recap and remember that we've made progress!