I have completely neglected blogging about the house this year, even though there have been lots of big changes.

My only house detailed post this year includes the following projects:

• Glass in the fireplace (the now functional fireplace has been very helpful when the heat goes out!)
• Hardwood floors in kitchen
• New laminate floor in sunroom

Outside, we started with the patio, and the sunroom, since that’s the outdoor area we use the most. As you can see in the Before picture, it was looking a little unloved to begin with, but a bit of paint, lattice, and mulch, and voila! An outdoor space we can enjoy even more.

One of the things I missed most about our former home was my giant rose bush, so that was definitely on my list for landscaping success. I also added my potted herbs- mint, a citronella plant (now sadly deceased), and the third pot now contains a rosemary bush. As you can see, the mulch is currently not defined, but next spring I intend to put down a landscaping border to keep it all contained.

When fall finally rolled around, we pulled out the big guns. I’m extremely fortunate to have a father who not only owns a Bobcat, but is also proficient in grading and finds ‘small’ projects like ours to be fun. So as soon as it became cool enough to plant grass, my parents came up for the weekend and we reduced the backyard to mud dirt.

Husband stomping down dirt in his new truck

The husband’s brand new (to us) truck came in pretty handy that day, and we took 2,100 pounds of debri (rocks, weeds, unusable nature stuff) to the dump. Then I came in the next day to seed. Of course, the house is on a hill, and of course it was pouring so hard that a seed spreader couldn’t make it through the mud- so I donned a rain coat and spread seed by hand, swearing and sliding all over the place. I’m sure our neighbors found that a sight to see!

Since these photos were all taken from different positions, a star marks a couple trees that are consistent throughout.

Another view of before and after

After: Drake has grass to run around on!

In the front yard, a similar process took place. It’s so nice not to have the most embarrassing front yard in the neighborhood anymore!

The front yard- before: landscaping gone wild; after: bare but manicured!

Then inside, only a couple more projects have been taken care of since getting the hardwoods put in.

The first was the bathroom, which always reminded me of Mary Poppin’s carpet bag. I had a vision for a navy bathroom, so we essentially gutted it and began anew. For a 6′ x 6′ room, the bathroom reno took forever. Someone even walked out on us after giving up on the wallpaper removal. What a nightmare.

New paint, toilet, chrome fixtures, and black vanity

And then most recently, all those white appliances in the kitchen have been updated to shiny new stainless steel- thanks Black Friday for the good deals!

Hooray new appliances!

Whoo! That’s a lot done in 2014! Definitely a resolution for next year – be better about house blogging!!