One Year

Guys. It's been ONE year that we've been in our house!!! Can you believe it?! 

One year ago yesterday we started moving in but we actually reached the one year mark of owning our home on September 12th. Let's recap some of the changes that have happened in the last year of home ownership, shall we?

I shared the news that we had officially bought our house and I shared when we moved. 

Our first project (before even moving in) was painting all of the kitchen cabinets.

We brought Sophie home.

We went to Ikea and did a few small projects with Ikea organizers. and purchased some Ikea furniture. We bought some new kitchen appliances from Home Depot.

We decorated for Christmas, bought some new decor, and figured out how to deal with having no pantry.

I made extensive to-do lists for our house interior and the exterior.

I straightened up our office.

We updated our wall decor and bought some cool wall art for our kitchen. 

We installed new blinds- finally some privacy!

I organized some kitchen drawers (check back on Wednesday to see inside all our kitchen drawers and cupboards!)

Some small house updates were made, did some yard work, learned all about gardening, and Tim built a walkway all by himself!

Once that was completed I created some new front gardens. I managed to keep everything alive that I planted! I have been loving having gardens this summer and can't wait to add on next year!

Can you believe we completed all that stuff in our first year here? Tim is currently working on a project right now and I will drop a little teaser picture right here....

Any guesses what we are up to?

Cheers to another year of projects in our first home!

Outdoor Fall Decorating/ Life Lately

To every person who reached out to me through comments/emails/texts after my post last Friday, thank you. It means the world to me that you are here and while my world and story aren't always picture perfect  I am so thankful to have each and every one of you here for it.

On a lighter note today I'm sharing what we've been up to lately...which honestly isn't much! Are you still laying low where you are? In some ways it seems like things are a little more back to normal because I feel more comfortable going into stores, school has started in person/hybrid here, and it just feels like life is a little more normal. However, on the other end of the spectrum everyone is still in a mask all the time, I still work from home nearly all the time, and we don't have a lot of plans besides being around the house! I love being at home so I truly don't mind that part of it, but it leaves me with not too much besides house updates!

This past Saturday my papa and his girlfriend Vivian stopped by to visit us (well mostly Sophie) and it was so nice to have some visitors! Sophie was fairly well behaved and loved being fed a million treats and gaining a new toy. While they were visiting they mentioned stopping at a farm and once they left Tim and I decided to head to a local farm to pick up some outdoor fall decor. We love going to Shickasheen Farm and if you are in the South County area they are a great side of the road farm stand with awesome prices! Our friend Emma and her husband run it along with their family and we loved getting the chance to chat with Emma a bit and pick up a pumpkin and a couple of mums for our front steps. Emma mentioned that they were going to have some more pumpkins soon, so I will definitely be back for some more decor soon!

I love having a bit of fall sprinkled on my front steps. I also recently replaced my front door mat and bought a new buffalo check mat for underneath as well. Both were purchased on Amazon and I love them! Quick question for you, how often do you replace outdoor mats? I am finding that mine wear out super quick, but they are exposed to the elements (no overhang) so I suppose it makes sense. I just assumed they lasted a bit longer, but maybe I just paid no attention when I was younger and living at home!

Oh, football is back! Thanks Soph for the reminder! 

We have been busy drafting fantasy football teams and watching the first week of games. I was quite pleased that the Patriots won on Sunday afternoon and even more pleased when Tampa Bay had a terrible game. Brady and Gronk weren't looking great and I selfishly enjoyed watching those traitors suffer. If you've been around for awhile, you know I have always loved Gronk so I feel a bit betrayed by him. Brady I think all of New England is angry with but I don't know what he expected to happen.

It's nice to have football back on for another bit of normalcy since Tim and I spend most of our Sunday with football on the tv!

We are still going on a lot of walks around here! Tim said to me the other day that no other dog in the neighborhood seems to be getting two walks a day...but this girl does! I have been doing a healthy living program lately and I will talk about it soon, but it is definitely encouraging me to get out and be active every day! 

So that's what's been up around here lately. Let me know what you've been up to!

 

Fall Decorating!

Well it's officially September and you know what that means.... time for fall decorating!

This past Saturday was rainy and gross so it was the perfect day to haul my fall decor out of the basement and get it set up. I know it seems a little early but this year I was more than ready to change things up in our home since I am home pretty much 24/7 lately! Last fall was our first fall in our home and I didn't buy anything new decor-wise since I had to be so careful about what I had out with a new puppy. After I pulled out my one bin of decor I realized I had a ton of dish towels so I went through and decluttered what I didn't need anymore. Then I realized I don't really have that much decor. I know I don't have a huge space to decorate but I am going to try to start collecting some more decor. 

To see previous years fall decor:

• Fall 2018 Apartment Fall Decor
• Fall 2017 Apartment Fall Decor
• Fall 2016 Apartment Fall Decor

I unfortunately didn't do a post last year on fall decor. I think things were so hectic with moving and getting Sophie!

Here's what my decor looks like so far this year...

 

On the bathroom shelf I placed this small Hocus Pocus pumpkin which I got at The Christmas Tree Shop years ago. I didn't want to do anything too crazy in the bathroom but putting one small little pumpkin brings a tiny bit of fall to this little room.

I know I didn't use this sign last year but I thought that placing it on the kitchen counter was just too perfect. Hopefully we can keep the kitchen counter clear so this is on display all fall. Does your kitchen counter become a collection area??

These towels look SUPER wrinkled but I had just pulled them from the dryer. These are my favorite fall dish towels and I believe they came from the Target dollar spot a few years ago. I only kept a few fall dish towels because my dish towel drawer is overflowing!

The leaves candle from Bath and Body works is my absolute favorite. It smells amazing and I need to place a Bath and Body Works order to restock! I only have one back up right now and that is not enough with how much I love this candle! 

This half wall between the kitchen and the living room is both fun and challenging to decorate. I love that I can do things like this with the leaf garland but I don't always know what to do with it the rest of the year. Do you have any challenging spots to decorate in your home? 

The table by our front door always is super simple because Sophie knocks into it sometimes. I am risking my Mickey Halloween pumpkin here, fingers crossed it makes it through! This little leaf tray is something I found a few years ago (I can't remember where...) but I love little trays and having them around my home!

I placed this glass pumpkin that my mom gave me for my birthday last year (I think from HomeGoods?), more leaf garland, and my little witch on the tv stand.  

Not fall decor related but I pulled this picture of Tim and I from our wedding out of the guest room and placed it out here. Since we got married in the fall I think it is definitely appropriate and I may keep it out here full time. I am still loving my fiddle leaf fig and despite getting a bit dusty it's still going strong!

I plan on decorating outside in a few weeks once the pumpkins become available. Do you have plans for outdoor fall decorating? I am definitely grabbing some mums, I'm thinking of white and a deep wine color. I will also be grabbing a ton of white pumpkins if I can find them and then maybe some mini orange pumpkins for the walkway. I will definitely share pictures once it's completed!

Let me know what you are doing for fall decor this year and what your favorite places to shop decor are!

New Solar Lights

 You guys, I finally ordered some solar lights to light up our front walkway! OneFrugalChick on Instagram posted a deal for Amazon for these solar lights and I was able to snag them for only $13 a 6-pack! I ended up needing 18 lights total so buying three packs worked out perfectly. Although I wish they were more of a white light instead of yellow I am thrilled with how they look for such a cheap price! I had been previously looking at Walmart for clearances out lights but they still weren't getting clearanced out. I was so happy to find these because I knew I wanted to get some in the garden before summer ends. 

The other night I noticed that the lights were starting to turn on one by one at twilight (ayo Twilight fans) so I headed outside to snap some pictures. You can see that some of the lights haven't turned on yet but I love the gentle glow they give off!

Also, the walkway is looking great! A round of applause for Tim on that one!

I think at this point I was just waiting for two or three lights to turn on. They are just enough to give off light if you are coming up our walkway. I'm picturing pumpkins lining the walkway this fall, leading kids up to the door for Halloween. If there is Halloween this year, who knows at this point!

One more light to go! If you head to my instagram (balancingonmytoes) in my home story I have a little video of walking down the walkway towards the house. You can hear the nighttime sounds that we get here in Rhode Island. I love the sound of summer nights here, it's so peaceful with all the wildlife sounds. I love where I live!

When all the lights were finally on I was so happy! It just looks so nice!

These lights are plastic, not glass. I know that may make them "cheaper" but I personally like that they can get bumped around and knocked over and aren't going to shatter. Mostly I prefer things that aren't too precious.  I worry less about Sophie running around like a bull in a china shop when things aren't breakable.

Look at that precious little face in the window! Also, this just reminds me of how far we've come. There were very few gardens, no walkway, no evergreens. We've come so far in such a short time!

Just ignore my heart eyes over here. I'm a little obsessed.

The design on these lights is so pretty too. Look at the glow it sends across the walkway. 

Okay, that's all for my new solar lights! What sort of outdoor lighting do you have at your house? I would love to add some solar lights in the backyard too, but we are still working on our plans for the backyard so we will see what we end up with back there. Tim recently finished part of a project he's been working on and it looks so good, I cannot wait to share it with you all.

Also, I am going to work on my plans for this front garden for next year....and what other plants and plans I have for the yard next spring. Oh, the projects just keep on coming to me!

Our Guest Bedroom

Getting real today!

Our guest bedroom is nothing special. The furniture in it is the furniture I grew up with in my bedroom. The mattress is on the floor and it's Tim's old mattress (although super comfortable!) 

I store my vacuum fleet (yes, I have more than one vacuum and I want more...) in this room. The decor is just kind of thrown in there. 

So yes, nothing special. But to be honest we haven't ever hosted anyone in this room. This is a three bedroom house and when we turned one room into an office, we set up the second bedroom as a guest room. Eventually if we have kids I imagine this becoming a nursery. But for now it's just an extra bedroom in case someone spends the night!

When you first walk in the door you see the dresser with the tv and DVD player on top and my vacuum fleet. Also a signed Gronk picture that is making me a little sad lately.

As you can see this was just a typical day where I didn't clean up for you for pictures. #keepingitreal 

Donations and items listed on poshmark were just sitting on the bed.  

I love this ladder bookshelf but there just wasn't room for it in our living room so I stuck it in here. Maybe if we renovate someday or if we move it will fit out in our living room again. Do you keep furniture even if it doesn't work for you currently?

A look back towards the door. So, as I said at the beginning...nothing exciting! But this room is basically filled with things that didn't work elsewhere in our home. 

Do you have a guest room in your house? How often does it get used?

Our Kitchen

Hey everyone!

Today we are talking about our kitchen! If you've been reading along you might have noticed that I'm slowly sharing with you each room of our house. Our kitchen is used daily and along with the living room is the place we spend the most time.

When we first moved in we immediately painted the cabinets and then bought new appliances. Here's what it currently looks like:

Our island is where we sit to eat all of our meals. There isn't room for a kitchen table in our house currently so we spend our meals at the counter. In our apartment we sat on the couch so at least this is a step up!

Eventually we would like to replace the countertops and floors. I could see us also redoing the entire kitchen if we decide to make this our forever home. For right now it works just fine but seeing a quartz countertop would be so nice :)

I love the appliances we picked. Tim was the person who actually pointed them out. I was so set on getting stainless steel but I never thought about the black stainless and I honestly like it better. It looks so good with the white cabinets. We have loved our LG appliances so far and I would definitely pick them again in a future home!

All of our KitchenAid supplies and other teal decor is my favorite! How nice would it all look with a grayish quartz countertop on both the regular counter and the island?!

This is the main door we come in and out every day. I really love how homey it feels. As many improvements as I can come up with, I love this being our first home! I know we will probably outgrow it someday and need to make a decision whether to add on or move but I do love coming through that door into our home every day. Especially when a little furry face greets me :)

What is your kitchen like? Do you have any big plans for it?

Our Home Office

Growing up both my parents always had offices in our home. My mom was a teacher so hers was full of crafting supplies and for some reason I got it in my head that I would have an office in my house when I grew up too.

Tim pointed out that it wasn't necessary because neither of us work from home. Well... now, with everything going on, I do. 

Our office was outfitted with Ikea furniture and mostly just holds office supplies and everything else we aren't sure what to do with but I love that we have this space. We still need some serious organization systems in here and definitely need to do an overhaul at some point, but for now it's working.

The desk is from Ikea and I would love to get a new office chair since this one squeaks constantly. Right now I have quite a few work related items on this desk but usually it is just where I house my items for paying bills and my coupons.

The Alex 9 drawer from Ikea used to house all personal items like makeup and lotions. Now it houses those items in the top few drawers and then office supplies in the bottom. I plan to eventually make this full of all office supplies.

It certainly isn't a perfectly organized and beautiful space but it has come so far! I love collecting books and it makes me so happy to have all my favorites housed on the bookshelf along with some of our personal decor we have collected. 

I haven't found a solution for my scrapbooks so for now they are just stacked here. This small organizer has some office supplies and also holds all my hanging files. I try to not keep extra paper but we do have quite a bit that I think is important to save.

I love my Martha Stewart wall organizer where I house my "TO DO" and "TO FILE" papers. It's nice that Tim and I have a place to toss things and I can set aside time each week or so to file and do the items inside. I find that this saves me time in the long run instead of constantly filing!

All my jewelry (aka all my Wet Seal and Kohls jewelry) lives in this jewelry armoire along with my collection of free sunglasses and sewing supplies. What can I say? I'm not an expensive jewelry girl. I don't take good care of sunglasses so I will never spend more than $5 on them and I know I will break all of my jewelry so it's not worth it for me to spend money on it.

I love my tall bookcase from Ikea. It needs a little work but as some point I will put aside the time to get this done!

Another look back at my small bookcase. 

I love having some decor from our wedding in here! I hated the idea of buying things for the wedding and then getting rid of them so I made sure things like our card box and our decor (MR&MRS sign) were things I would include in my house. My brother made our card box and I found a decal on Etsy to attach and it turned out amazing. He is truly talented!

Do you have a home office? If not, where do you keep all your office supplies and paperwork??

Have a great day!

Our Master Bedroom

Today I am sharing with you our bedroom! Again, as I think I said during our living room tour this is what our house looks like right now. Things will change as we update our home, especially if we turn this into our forever home, which is still up in the air!

We chose the biggest bedroom for our "master bedroom" although it is only slightly bigger than the other rooms. All of the bedrooms are quite small but we managed to fit all our bedroom furniture inside this room.

Here is the view when you enter the room...

I am still torn about curtains, I'm not sure if I want them or not. When I see a picture like this I think it looks empty and needs curtains but on a day to day basis I like the simplicity of just having the shades.

When you walk into our master bedroom you see our bed immediately which always holds Sophie's blanket and "Piggy" the stuffed animal pig that Sophie sleeps with every night.

This view is from the closet in this room. I love our Pier 1 headboard and as much as I would love to have a king sized bed someday I would be so sad to not use this headboard anymore! I laughed while looking up the headboard link because I remember Tim commenting on how I made such an expensive purchase. It's on clearance right now so definitely go check it out (it's 50% off currently!) but even when it was full price it's not as expensive as half the stuff we have to buy for the house nowadays. Oh my how things change :)

Our nightstands and both dressers are from IKEA. They have held up really well and are quite sturdy. I love that there are super deep drawers but if I could go back in time I would have purchased the white ones instead of the brown-black color. These show dust SO easily and I think the white would've been a little bit easier to hide dust.

Looking back towards the doorway you can see the closet door and our tall dresser. I love the decor on top of the dresser. I just set a few things on top and ended up loving it! The let's stay home sign has never been so relevant.

Our long dresser holds our tv and some personal care products. I also have two hampers, one for clothes and one for towels, blankets and sheets. I purchased these off Amazon and they are the XL and L size respectively. 

One more view back up the bed. Our comforter was a wedding gift and it's so soft! Our lamps were purchased at Target and are so simple but I like them that way. 

So that is our bedroom so far. Like I said, we will continue to make updates to our home so I'm sure someday you'll see this room and it will look totally different!

Our Living Room

Happy Monday everyone!

I promised pictures of each room of our house and today I am delivering! We are going to start off in the living room. 

Speaking of the living room I am sitting on the couch writing this and I just had to stop typing because Sophie jumped up into my lap to get some cuddles and then just as suddenly jumped back down to go back to her watch at the front door.

Our living room is the number one most used room in our home. We spend almost all of our time in here. This is where we watch tv, where we cuddle with Sophie, where we play games, etc. Basically if we are in the house and awake we are in the living room. 

Sophie is ready to show you around!

The view above is from the end of our hallway, entryway to our kitchen.

Here is the view from our front door. We keep things pretty casual in our living room. It's a cozy place with throw blankets and we very quickly move the throw pillows around to make ourselves comfortable. Sophie climbs on top of everything and doesn't hesitate to lay on the couch after digging in the dirt in the yard so we don't get to be super precious about anything. I would love a white couch but that will never work with our lifestyle. Don't even suggest dogs shouldn't be allowed on the couch because then where would we cuddle? :)

When I took these pictures I was watching Gilmore Girls obviously. I wish we had room to do a whole tv stand setup like Alexandra Beuter had on YouTube but unfortunately we just don't have the wall space. Someday when we rearrange the house that may be a possibility. 

My favorite wall art in the house is my it's so good to be home sign. I purchased this on Etsy and I think it works so perfectly in our home. Nowadays it is so good to be home with everything that's going on. I'm thankful to have our home and have a place we can spend time during this crazy time. 

Sophie's bed is right under the window and she doesn't often lay there but I like to leave it here as an option for her. It does make the room a little more crowded but it's nice to give her a place to lay if she wants it. 

Fun fact: In her bed you can see a little pink toy. That is piggy, the first toy we gave her on our ride home. Piggy comes to bed with us every night and often she will go get him and bring him out of bed during the day. It is so cute when she goes to "wake him up"

I am still trying to keep my fiddle leaf fig alive on that table in the corner. Fingers crossed!

One final look towards the front door.  Thank you all for stopping by and taking a look at our living room! Is your living room the most used room in your house?