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Creating A Sanctuary at Home (In Progress)

Remember how my living room looked like this a couple of weeks ago?

8.12livingroom

Well, it still does. I have been living with the contents of my cabinets on the living room floor. To say that cooking has been a challenge would be an understatement but I’ve managed to make the best of it (along with eating out a ton). We ran into a little issue with the cabinet refinishing and they now have to be stripped and redone. God help me. Yoga breathing is coming in handy here.

8.12kitchen

Today is a very exciting day…it’s granite installation day! (Although I am NOT excited that the cabinets are going to have to be worked on again after the granite goes in.)

8.12work

Considering I started this process two months ago, it’s great to see it finally happening. I’m already in love with the granite! The process isn’t over yet…I now have to pick a backsplash and have my painter come back to do some finishing work where I changed light fixtures and removed a wood piece over the stove. My mom and I were talking last night about how these things always take longer than anticipated and cost at least a third more than originally estimated.

8.10faucets

And who knew faucets were so expensive!? But aren’t they beautiful? So excited to have an undermount sink and a big pretty faucet!

I bought this house a little over five years ago. It was built in 1955 but had undergone some minor cosmetic updates when I purchased it. I have slowly started chipping away at the heavy duty stuff and over the last few years I have replaced the roof (that one hurt), painted all of the interior walls, refinished the bathroom tub, had all the fascia and soffits replaced on the outside of the house and now the kitchen. This is a partial renovation. Hopefully I can get to floors and appliances next.

My wish list for the house is a mile long. There is ALWAYS something to do when you own a home. It can be overwhelming at times but I feel really fortunate to have this place.

8.12closet

All of the kitchen work has put a fire under me to work on the rest of the house. I am in MAJOR nesting mode right now. Yesterday I spent a solid two hours reorganizing the hall linen closet. I should have taken a before picture. It was overflowing.

8.12bedside

On Sunday I made a trip to Homegoods (I’m convinced that store is as dangerous as Target) where I purchased a new bedside table lamp, new curtains for the guest bedroom and a fresh set of sheets for the bed.

I am on a mission to finally get my house to “sanctuary” status. I want to walk in and be so happy to be home and not think about all the things I wish I could be done. And I want to host many get togethers and fill my kitchen up with friends. I will do a house tour once I get there! 🙂

8.12sullie

In the meantime Sullie is like, “Mom, when is this going to be over?”

What have you done to make your home a sanctuary? 

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