Happy Houseiversary! ~ Celebrating the first year in our home

Here we are...celebrating our:

It's hard to believe it's been a year since we moved into this amazing and ridiculous house.  We moved in the first week of August 2016, during the week that many of us Pagans celebrate Lughnassadh (pronounced Loog-nah-sah) or Lammas; the first harvest and the winding down of Summer.  It's a time to reap the seeds we've sown, and enjoy the fruits of our labors.  I realized too, that this is the week we moved to New Hampshire from New York 6 years ago, and ALSO the week my mother moved from my childhood home and started a new chapter in her life.  It is a fortuitous time for new beginnings.  This is our houseiversary AND our NewHampshireversary!

So much has happened and yet the repairs and updates and decor has been slow going, but we have three kids and some health bumps along the way, so no worries as far as I'm concerned.

After basic clean up, I set out to make the first real change to the house to make it OURS.
I painted the front door purple.  It was my birthday present to myself.  I LOVE IT.

BEFORE...

AFTER!!! 

For the front door, I used Modern Masters front door paint, in "Spiritual". (Click here for more info!) In some lighting it looks a little more blue than I'd like, but I wanted a deep bold purple, and it gives the effect I'm happy with.  This stuff is easy to work with and took a one day, no fuss no muss.  I did use over three coats though...BUT...I still have more than half a jar, so I can paint another door!  

Also, as the primary cleaner of said house, I am very in touch with how HUGE it is...given that it takes me a week to clean all the floors.  I only did that once.  Now, it's as needed, and spread out...because who has time for that.

The next job I tackled in design was my 5 year old's bedroom.  We called it: Project Neverland
This was the first birthday in this house, and I thought doing his room would be perfect.  It ultimately will be shared by the Bubs AND the Cheech, but for now, it's his room, and he wanted Peter Pan...SO I started pulling together what I had and what I envisioned.  The room is not 100% finished actually, but will be by his birthday THIS year.  I am waiting for a few more things to come in.
The basic update now is this:

BEFORE...

 ...AFTER! 

BEFORE...

 ...AFTER! 

BEFORE...

...AFTER! 

The map is my favorite part of this room.  I ordered a tan colored chalk board paint, and painted on the map, accenting with brown acrylic.  Then we took chalk and drew a little "treasure map" together.
The quote decal was ordered, and is actually from the musical Peter Pan, "So come with me where dreams are born, and time is never planned.  Just think of happy things and your heart will fly on wings forever, in Never Never Land" 

Our first winter here came shortly after we settled in, and we went BIG.  We ended up hosting the bulk of my husband's side of the family for Christmas along with my mother who had her first stay with us for the month.  We attempted to get a photo of all 10 grandchildren with their Grandmother...with some success!

We survived this HUGE housewarming event (with 21 people a dog and a cat!) and fully realized how ENORMOUS OUR HOUSE IS.  It didn't feel crowded.  21 humans.  In my house.

We rang in the new year, and survived our first winter, snow and ice...discovering a few housey blips along the way.  WATER was the theme of 2016 with needing to replace one of the pump tubes for the waterpump and a leak in our beautiful bay window which we have patched at the moment, but needs to be completely ripped out.  All that aside, we've been enjoying the seasons the land we now call home.

We planned and executed our first BIG birthday party in-house, not the first birthday had here, but the first time we utilized the space for birthday celebration.

SPRING finally arrived, and as expected in most of New England, it lasts about 2 weeks and then Summer hits!
I LOVED investigating our property every day to find what new flowers would appear, naming the plants and shrubs around the house, and finding new birds and berries around.

Then came SUMMER...and the summer project!
My sister came to visit again, same time as last year.  Last years she helped us obtain our HUGE couch and transport it here.  This year she helped us get the deck railing put in so our homeowners insurance wouldn't penalize us for not having a guard rail on the lower deck.

My sister is not in these pics, but I assure you, she did most of the grunt work on this project.  It was a huge help.  I managed the basic design and she executed our adjusted plan fabulously.  Cheap and efficient railing.  Boom.

A few more summer moments, and we are up to date! 

So here we are!  We have lived here one year, and made a pretty good dent in making it our own.  I aim to paint at least 2 more rooms before our next houseiversary, and really setting up the den, and hang family pictures throughout the house as I frame and prep them again for the space.  

Thanks for catching up with us and all of my goings on.

~Namaste~