Home Sweet Home!

There are few things in life that leave you feeling more nostalgic than an anniversary, regardless if it’s an anniversary of a wedding, an anniversary of a goodbye, or the anniversary of a fond memory.  This week is the one year anniversary of our new (to us) home and I’m flooded with memories of the last 365 days!   For some people, this is just a real estate transaction and a series of paperwork, but for Denny and I, our home is so much more!

I can’t believe that it’s been an entire year since we spent countless weeks packing our first home.  There were sleepless nights, there were major feelings of doubt and nervousness, and there were some serious snot sobbing sessions.  But now that we’ve been here a year we couldn’t imagine calling any other place Our Home!

Ironically Makenzie brought these pictures home this week of how she views our House (ignore the dirty windows).

Although my blog posts have been nonexistent (I promise I haven’t forgotten about my blog!), the past year has been a whirlwind of making memories, managing meltdowns and tackling projects!

As for the house itself, we’re slowly making it our own.  We’ve painted walls and shutters, we’ve hung lights fixtures and pictures, and we’ve undoubtedly made Home Depot shareholders very happy.  But beyond shingles and shades of paint, we’ve turned these empty four walls that once housed a bounce house (how else do you keep the kids entertained on moving day?) into a cozy place where we eat pizza, run late (some things never change), have dance parties, and welcome the people we love most!!  Our much-needed extra bedroom has welcomed 18 different guests, and there are more to come in the next 52 weekends!

Moving Day – April 2017! The bounce house was the first item to move to the new home.

Moving Day pizza party – Mitchell’s crib box doubled as a table.

Midway through one of the many house projects – Hello new cabinet color, goodbye oak!

And along with the changes in the house, come the nonstop changes and fun with the kids!  We’ve met new neighbors and found new adventures taking bike rides around the block.  In these four walls, we watched Makenzie prepare for her first day of kindergarten (insert more snot sobbing) and we watched Mitchell start to put together words and now sentences.  In these four walls, we’ve had our first round of holidays, we’ve sipped 365 morning coffees and we’ve had just as many bedtime stories.

My baby boy getting so big!

Ready for Kindergarten!!

Makenzie Ruth, age 4 – September 2017

(Listen closely, you can hear the snot sobbing)

1st Halloween in the new neighborhood with Poppy & Cookie Monster! So many kids. 🙂

Buddies – Christmas 2017

Christmas morning 2017!

Mitchell’s 3rd birthday weekend!

CAKE!!!

Neighborhood exploring!

As the first year of being in this house comes and goes, I’m reminded of how important it is to focus more on the people in the house than on the countless messes created by them.  Denny and I believe that our job as parents is to give the kids roots and wings, and we couldn’t be more grateful that this home is where M&M will develop their roots!

I mentioned messes, right?

Bedtime giggles. 🙂

Who knew that four little letters – SOLD – could have such a great impact on our lives.  Here’s to having the courage to make changes and here’s to the people who helped us make this decision!  Here’s to (hopefully) more than one blog post per year.  Here’s to another trip around the sun in the place you love most!

With Love,

Erin

PS  The unexpected surprise of all of this is that our first home is now the first home to a sweet young couple who kindly keep us updated on the memories they are now making in those four walls just a few miles away.

Home-iversary! Our favorite projects – Part 2

Denny and I are back for Part 2 of our Favorite Projects!  We’ve been homeowners for five years this month so we are taking a walk down memory lane.  If you missed the blog last week, check out Our Favorite Projects – Part 1.

Kick off your shoes and let’s continue the tour…

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Bathroom – Land of tub toys, squirting starfish and a happy little rubber ducky!  Stop by any evening at about 7:15 and you’ll see the happiest little bather on the block who will gladly show you her belly button.  🙂

before Bathroom pic monkeyWhat we did:  A HUGE addition to ensure bright beautiful sunlight would glisten off the custom marble and granite we imported from Italy and hand installed a few weekends ago.  Check it out…

after funny bathroom

What we really did – Not much.  Our bathroom is not exactly our dream bathroom just yet.  Over five years we’ve taken down the wallpaper and painted the bathroom a blue shade then realized we didn’t like the blue shade so we painted it a gray shade.  We switched out the light fixture and softened up the room with some new rugs and a fresh white curtain.  Stay tuned on the bathroom, we keep hoping that one of these days the granite fairy will fly by and fancy up this room.

after bathroom………………………….

And Finally, the Kitchen – Even though it’s only been 5 years we’ve already made many really wonderful memories in the kitchen – parties, family reunions and lots of conversations with friends and family.  We’re fortunate we’ve been able to update it, but regardless of how it looks, our kitchen is a special spot in our world.

before Kitchen counter shot before kitchen eating area

What we did – This was a HUGE project for us, and it would not have been possible without some project-savvy friends.  Over 5 years we’ve neutralized the wall color and switched to a white trim.  We added hardwood floors, painted the cabinets and added a new back splash.  We ditched the green countertops thanks to the discovery of the incredibly amazing Rustoleum Countertop Transformation Kit .  Lastly we replaced the appliances one at a time as they each died over the past few years.  The kitchen updates were more challenging than we anticipated but worth the blood, sweat and tears.  I think we’ll keep it!

Kitchen DURING

A rough day in the McGee Kitchen

AFTER  kitchen Countertops

After Kitchen full view

I still remember the butterflies we felt when we signed on the dotted line to become homeowners.  Like all good things in life there was excitement, uncertainty and a lot of learning.

Sixteen gallons of paint, eight rooms, five years and countless memories later,

we’re so glad we followed the yellow-brick paved road to this house…

There’s no place like Home!

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Home-iversary! Our favorite projects – Part 1

On February 23, Denny and I will have our five year Home-iversary!

(This is where you throw confetti on us and sound your noisemakers – woo!)

Our new home 122

Only 300 teeny tiny payments until complete & total financial freedom.  Denny, pack your bags… Aruba awaits in 2039!

It’s really fun being homeowners, and over the past five years we’ve learned a thing or two about turning a house into a home.  We’re not exactly the Property Brothers so before you go any further, please lower your expectations for the updates that you’re about to see, but we’ve added some sweat equity to our humble little abode and it’s fun to look at the changes over the years.  So come in on, take off your shoes and try not to trip on the toys, it’s time to look back at some of our favorite projects:

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Fireplace – They say it’s the heart of the home so it better look good!

before fireplace

What we did – The fireplace renovation started over some wine with the neighbors (isn’t that where all great ideas begin?).  We all agreed the green had to go… half a bottle later there were sledgehammers and demolition.  Cue neutral tile and some white paint and it’s like a whole new fireplace!

After fireplace

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(Now we’ll hop the baby gate and move upstairs, we’ll go back down next week)

Master Bedroom – Where the magic happens (and by magic we mean sleeping through the night on occasion).   We went from a green space to a cozy gray place to lay our head at night.

Before Master bedroom

What we did:  We changed out the carpeting from green to a soft beige, and we updated the ceiling fan, blinds and curtains.  We painted the walls a calming gray and accented the trim in white (can you tell we LOVE white trim?).   Check it out…

After Master bedroom bed

After Master bedroom

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Nursery – Land of an awesome little girl!  Can you tell we’re kind of crazy about her? 

This was my all-time FAVORITE project since moving into our home.  We don’t have any before pictures of this room.  But if you want to see where Kenzie calls home, check out our post from a few weeks before she was born.  Going back to this post makes me teary.  How is she getting so big so fast?

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Guest Room aka OU Room – This is our way of saying Come & Visit!

 before guest bedroom

What we did – This room was a pretty simple makeover.  It required some green paint for the walls and some white paint for the trim (yes, we love that white).  It’s now our guest room/OU room but not just because of the green walls.   We have a college-style guest bed aka mattress on the floor (don’t judge) and the wall is covered with our favorite poster of all time – Pubs of Athens.  You’re welcome to visit, have a few drinks and pass out in here.  You wouldn’t be the first.

after guest room

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Thanks for stopping by!

See you next week when we tour the rest of the house.

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50 Shades of (every color but) Gray

This post is long overdue, but I haven’t forgotten about it.   Way back when, Denny and I committed to a few items on our To Do list.

They were List Items #81, #82, #83 & #85.

  • Commit to re-painting front room. 
  • Select color. 
  • Buy paint.  Paint.
  • Buy fluffy area rug.

Surprisingly, we did them.  But let me start at the beginning…

Over the past few years our front room has been experiencing an identity crisis – rightfully so – but I think we’ve finally figured out its purpose in life: a relaxing family room and play room.   Check it the experience to get there.

Feb 2009 – Purchase house, yeah!  At time of purchase, front room is bright blue color and used as a sitting room.

Sold!! (But not sold on the color inside)

Photos from final walk through of house (that’s not even our stuff in this picture)

Another final walk through photo of the front room

Feb 2009 – Decide we like sitting room concept but decide we need to repaint it.

March 2009 – Do nothing except change mind of what we want to do.

April 2009 – Decide room should be a dining room – add crown molding and chair rail and paint top half of room red.  No, burgundy.   No, brown.  Yes, brown.  We finally decided on a chocolate brown color.   Move small table into room with non-matching chairs.  Hmmm, we don’t love it.

Sometime in late 2009 – Finally replace non-matching table set with my grandparents beautiful dining set!   Better.

Holidays! (Blurry picture apparently taken after wine consumption)

2010 & 2011 –  Put down hardwood flooring on the main level.    But despite new floors, dining room didn’t get used for anything except  storage.  Maybe a dining room might not be a good way to go?  We decide we’re not dining room people.

2012 – Decide a sitting room is the way to go.  (I wonder if the former owners did this journey too?)  Move out dining room table and add dark rug and couch.  Hmm, not loving it, but functionality has improved.

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Getting there, but too dark and too serious.

May 2013 – Commit to function of room in a new color.  Beige?  Gray?  Yellow?  Green?  Ahh, yes, let’s pretend we’re not beige-aholics and try green.

August 2013 – Buy paint samples.  Test paint samples.  Commit to a color.  Change mind.  Commit to another color.  See if parents can visit and keep busy baby away from wet paint.  Make it happen.  Yay!    “Painting with a very busy baby is fun!” – said no one ever

Sept 2013 –   Celebrate completion but wonder if we should have gone with beige.  Darn!

October 2013 – Realize we like lazy weekends more than we like to repaint.  Commit to green and take pictures.

fron room 1

Cozy couch view (end table still needed)

front room 2

Full room view, The wall above the brown chair will eventually become our family picture wall.

Nov 2013 – Finish this post.

Dec 2013 (maybe, possibly, hopefully) – Finish off room with a picture wall

I know we’re not exactly the team at Young House Love, but we’re pretty happy with the change.

What do you think?

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The McGees have gone Green!

Hi.

My name is Erin… and I’m a beige-aholic.

I enjoy beige.  I relish beige.  I cover my house in beige.

And that’s not all.  I find other neutrals to be very habit forming.  In addition to being a beige-aholic, I’ve even considered myself a gray-aholic too.  Both colors are so safe and comfortable that I can’t get enough!

But this weekend, I switched it up a little.  Our formerly dark brown front room was too dark and too drab and I had the itch to brighten it up.  So I did.  With the help of my parents (Dad to lend a hand to paint, and Mom to keep an eye on our busy little crawler) Denny and I brought green into our typically neutral house.

So after 2 rolls of frog tape and 11 hours of non-stop work, the room was transformed.  Talk about quitting neutral-aholic’ism’ cold turkey.  But now I’m having concerns and sweats… Is it the right color?  Do we like it ?  Is it too green?  Too minty?  Too bright?  Too springy?  Hmmm…

Overall I’m glad we did it.  The room is much more cozy and definitely brighter, but I can’t seem to commit to hanging pictures just yet.  I’ll get there eventually.  Perhaps I need some inspiration that can only be found during a trip to Pier One or a visit to Pinterest.  Hmm, after perspiration comes ‘Pin’spiration (is that a quote somewhere)?

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions to finish off the room, please pass them along.  The path to no longer be a neutral-aholic isn’t going to be an easy one but let’s be honest, we’re way too tired to re-paint.  So it looks like we’ve gone green and we’re not to looking back!

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Pictures of the finished room coming soon!

In the meantime, find out if we stay neutral free by following us on Facebook

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Pictures of the Week *It’s baaaaaack!*

It’s baaack!  After a very long hiatus my interest in doing home projects has returned.  Step right up Home Depot shareholders, your time has come.

In the fall of 2011 we finished a pretty big kitchen upgrade (part of which we did on our own), and I swore up and down that after all the blood, sweat and tears, I was not going to do another home project, ever!  Stick a fork in me. I was done!

We got pregnant with Makenzie a few months later (yay!) so I stood true to my no more home projects rule (with the exception of excessive nesting) and we pretty much managed to continue the strike against paint, backsplash and any type of physical work altogether.

But all good things must come to an end… and so is the case with our no home projects rule.

Perhaps it’s because we’re finally getting into a good routine with Kenzie… perhaps it’s because I fell back into the arms of Pinterest … perhaps it’s because we have a very big 1st Birthday party at our house coming up in a few months… but regardless of the reason, my interest in home projects has been rekindled.

This weekend we managed to cross some items off the To Do list.  Check it out…

# 42 – Install cat door — CHECK!

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According to Denny the cat door installation is purrrrfect!

(On a side note this was my favorite step of the cat door installation.  I can’t make this up!)

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Hilarious!! But Lex did not think so.

# 63 – Take down broken shelves in kitchen.

#64 – Spackle holes and repaint OR just cover them up. (clearly I chose the latter)

#65 – Find artwork (thanks Etsy).  Print artwork.  Frame artwork.

#66 – Hang artwork.

Awww yeah, Check, check, check, check, check and check!!!

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Pretty cute and all for less than $43!

And finally, we committed to To List Items #81, #82, #83 & #85Commit to re-painting front room.  Select color.  Buy paint.  Paint.  Buy fluffy area rug. 

Hooray!!!!   It’s not a done deal yet but the fluffy rug is purchased and color samples are on the wall.  Which means we either have to move forward with the project or risk looking like idiots with big sample splotches or green and blue paint on a brown wall.

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Trying to find some color inspiration!

So that’s what the McGees have been up to for the past 48 hours.  Oh yeah, and LOTS of fun with Kenzie girl.  Weekends really are the best.

Stay tuned, it’s going to be a fun few months!

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