Our First House

I've been writing for 7 years about "our house," but now we're selling it and looking for something in the same area with more space. So it's no longer "our house" but instead, "our first house."

When Devin and I moved in, all we each had a suitcase and free furniture from relatives who were downsizing. We had empty closets and sparse rooms. And 7 years later, we were listing random things on Facebook marketplace, donating old toys to the thrift store, taking boxes of winter coats + toys to storage, and trying to pare down four people's worth of stuff so that the real estate agent's pictures would look good.

THE EARLY RENOVATIONS: Part 1 and Part 2, What it looked like when we moved in

This house was full of firsts. Our first years of marriage, when we came back from our honeymoon and ate our first dinner together and you could see all the pipes in the bathroom because there wasn't sheetrock on the walls yet. The first dog we got together (and please, Lord, hopefully the last. I'm not cut out to care for small children AND a dog). The time he pooped diarrhea all over our first Christmas tree because he still had parasites and was only partially housebroken. The first time we hosted both our families over. We had our first baby here. He took his first steps down the hallway, just outside the bathroom. This is the house we hosted our first married friends in, the place we had small group, the place we had a million bonfires.

This house is full of memories. Aiden and Emma running from room to room because one has a toy and the other thinks chasing is fun. Devin doing the tile backsplash for the first and second time. The tools piled everywhere, us dancing to the song Book of Love. Turning the office into a nursery. Painting and repainting everything all the time always. Redoing our kitchen cabinets in the dead of winter. Playing cornhole in the backyard when the kids go to bed.

THE LIVING ROOM: Part 1, Part 2 

THE BATHROOM: Original, from the first renovation to the second renovation

THE KITCHEN: The first renovation, then painting kitchen cabinets

These pictures don't have any of us in them, which feels a little weird because I can only picture our house with us in it, and it's never quiet or still like the pictures make it seem. Head over to my Instagram Stories to see all the "before" photos, the ones that were online when we first bought the house! How funny are all those in process photos I linked to above?! The bad photography and scary mid-renovation shots are hilarious to me! We've come SO far! haha. I only took like 3 of the photos in today's post (and I'm sure you can tell which ones.) Thanks to our amazing photographer from Diane's office!

Have you done any house projects or renovations? How has your decorating style changed over the years?