Vandy: One Year In (Downstairs)

Wow! I can't believe it's been a year....officially May 21st...but of course it has taken me a while to get this post up.

Let's take a look and see what we have been up to around the house...and I just realized I never took any photos once we moved in...oops! And I realize I never posted any because I wanted everything to be "finished" before I posted pictures. Well, it's a year later and I am nowhere near "finished" but if I wait until then, it might never happen. So,  I just decided to go ahead and post where we are now.

Front of House

The picture above was probably about a week before we moved in. 

And here we are today.

Entryway

Wall Paint: Benjamin Moore Silver Fox

This was one of the first areas that I actually had "finished".  Everything (for the most part) is from West Elm - oh how I love WE. 

Parson's Console Table in white

Parson's Small Wall Mirror Bone Inlay

Mia Table Lamp in white

Accessories a mix of West Elm and stuff that I already had. 

I found the table and ordered but had no idea how to decorate it. My mom saved the day with a quick shopping trip and we were ready to go. We still need to hang the mirror...one day...one day.

Mudroom

Wall Paint: Benjamin Moore Silver Fox

Not a ton has changed in here...just the addition of our stuff. 

I'm still looking for some type of basket for the open cabinet on the right side. Was thinking it might make sense to put a door on it and just make it a cabinet. Oh also, we added Bob's crate in custom built space - he is quite happy in there. 

Currently we only have two hooks...gonna need to add a third for Hayden! I recently just finished the growth chart that is hanging on the wall and I love how it turned out. Now we just need to get the kids measurements documented!

Dining Room

Wall Paint: Valspar Fly By Night

Our dining room was empty for quite some time but I kinda liked it. I threw Ryan's birthday, a shower for my friend Susanne, and Grayson's birthday during this time and it was great having a big empty space to decorate. 

In September we decided to add a dining table and chairs that I found at Restoration Hardware. Yay! Seating for 10!

And just recently we made even more progress. When I was in Houston over spring break my mom and I went shopping and I found this buffet at High Fashion Home. It's rustic which ties in with the RH table but I like that it doesn't match exactly. I found the lamps and mirror at Zgallerie and really like the mix of modern with rustic elements in this room. 

I love my new curtains. I fell in love with the fabric when I saw it on the cover of the Jonathan Adler Spring catalog. I was bummed when there was no mention of the fabric name anywhere in the catalog but after showing my mom she was able to track down the name...and to my surprise the price wasn't outrageous (which I had assumed it would be since it was featured on Jonathan Adler). Anyhow, we ordered the fabric and had them made at a workshop here in Dallas. They just came last week to install and I absolutely love them! I still would like to add a few more accessories to this room but haven't found anything yet.

Kitchen

This is the night before we moved in and honestly not a lot has changed here. I try to keep it clutter free...because let's be honest...the kitchen tends to clutter up quite easily. At least it does in our house. 

Our table doesn't exactly fit in the space. Since we custom built this house you think we would have measured our table...but we didn't. I thought our table would fit with the extension piece in...but that makes it too big. Oh well. I am sure we will eventually replace it but with young kids I am not rushing to replace it anytime soon!

We did make the brown leather cushion covers - I just used this tutorial. They are great - super comfy and also easy to wipe clean! I am also currently working on some subway artwork for the wall. I hope to have it done soon!

Living room

Here it is the night before we moved in

And here about a week after moving in

And this is today. In my imaginary world I had planned for all the kids toys to stay upstairs in the playroom but basically realized that wasn't realistic from day one. We spend most of our time in this area so of course we have to have toys! We also use three of those cabinets to store toys as well! This room will probably change dramatically once the kids are older but for now its functional and family friendly!

We bought the rug shortly after we moved in and it already needs replaced. My mistake for buying such a light colored rug! Lesson learned!

Craft/Office/Guest Room:

Wall color: Sherwin Williams Pavestone

So when we moved in this room was the office/craft room. Now we are adding another functionality to it - guest room!

We had to get rid of the desk and filing cabinets that we had in here. I think we are also going to need to sell the hutch/cabinet as well - doesn't really fit anymore. 

We just ordered this bed from PB Teen and I think it is adorable. It will eventually be Hayden's big girl bed but for now we will use it down here in the guest room. 

And some clutter...I am still working on going through everything. I am excited to get this room functioning...hope to post "finished" pictures soon!

Courtyard

I don't think I took any pictures of the courtyard last year - oops! It was the last area to be landscaped after we moved in so I probably just forgot. As you can see above, onc of our Cherry Laurels didn't quite make it though winter...it was replaced but apparently by a miniature one. We are hoping that one day it evens out. 

Most people were skeptical of our "courtyard" and thought it would be an area that was never used and basically a waste of space. And for a while it kinda was....which was basically because we hadn't done anything out there. This spring we did a little work out there and have been enjoying eating dinner out there!

Excuse the easter eggs...

Anyhow, we had the cement stained and found this outdoor dining set at none other than West Elm. I would love to add some fun lights out here at some point but we need to figure out the best strategy for that. 

Backyard

I didn't really have any pictures of the backyard either...this one was taken during Grayson's birthday party in September. 

And here is one standing in the backyard looking at the house (right after we moved in).

And today. The boys love love love their play set...we play on it every day!

Here is our sitting area - yet another area where we plan to buy new furniture for. We haven't seen anything that we absolutely love so we are just waiting until that happens. Eventually we plan to change up the concrete back here - either stain it like we did the courtyard or maybe even do flagstone. 

To the right we have toy storage! and even more toys that don't fit...I think we need a shed. Oh dear. Kevin's grill also lives over here. It still works great but he has mentioned how he kinda wishes he would have just done a built in one...oh well!

And the view from the back of the yard. 

Like I said, can't believe it's already been a year. We have done quite a bit but obviously still have a lot to do! It's nice knowing that we aren't going anywhere soon so we are in no rush to get everything done. We have loved living here and look forward to many more years!

And I will be posting a part two soon - the upstairs!