a year of homeowner-ness: the changes

I can't believe how fast time flies... I know it's cliche, but so true!

I've been a homeowner for over a year! I closed August 27, 2009. Crazy!

I've learned a lot in the past year, I've done a few projects, and I've become even more grateful for the relatively painless process I went through to buy my home.

I haven't done a lot to the house or the property yet. I wanted to live in it for awhile, figure out how things work, before I made any drastic changes. (Plus, I've been busy!) However, I did have some time to make a few changes in the last year...

• PAINT! Definitely the biggest change--and the most needed! Yellow living room? No thank you!

The Before Color: "Harvest Yellow" with darker yellow trim. (Yuck.)

The After Color: Behr’s Laurel Mist with Behr’s Off White trim. (The trim that was dark wood is still unpainted, but I want to go back and finish it all in the Off White.)

(This is what my house looked like right before moving in, and this is a post with more before and after photos of the paint job, including photos of the kitchen that went from a "peach melba" color to Behr’s Blue Fox. I just realized it's been awhile since I've shown more updated photos of my home... I'll add it to my "to-post" list!)

• A new door bell! Another simple change but also a great learning experience. I learned that directions are quite helpful (especially when dealing with electrical things, which can be scary). I went from old sixties to new crisp and white! (Read more about it here!)

Old:

New:

• Door knob makeover! Yes, I spray-painted my door knobs... and thus began my growing obsession with spray paint. (Check out how they turned out here.) I want to give a similar treatment to my vent covers, but just white so they'll blend in with the ceiling.

I also re-caulked my bathtub, recently replaced a fixture in my kitchen (last weekend--I'll have photos soon!), fixed my toilet that was always running, built a daybed for my office/guest room (read about that process here: Part I, Part II, and Part III)... among many other little things that always seem to add up to much bigger things (or price tags).

Hm... maybe I did do a lot in the last year! I guess it just doesn't seem that way since there's always more to do!