Two Years Home...

 

                Two years ago today was a STUNNING (and freezing) Saturday that served as our moving day into this little house on the lake. 

                My goodness, how we have come to love and appreciate this spot and all the memories we’ve made in a short time. We’ve invested a lot of time and resources into honoring this home that had been neglected a bit in the world of updates. We sure think it’s awfully pretty and cozy, and we smile every time we come home.

                I wanted to honor this day on the blog by celebrating our home, and I decided to pull from this post for inspiration. I decided to answer the same survey questions the couple in the post answered! (The link is also a fun post to read with pictures to peruse if you want!)

Our Style: Is Farm/Lake Thrift Store a style category? I’m honestly not sure that any decorator or designer could categorize us definitively, but I think we lean toward something in the coastal/farmhouse category with a little eclectic thrown in for good measure. We have always said we want everything in our home to tell a story, and over the years, I think we’ve done a good job of curating our belongings to make sure each one tells a story from our life together. Whatever that equates to in the land of style…that’s our niche.

Inspiration: I pull a lot of inspiration for our home from the blogs I follow, Instagram, and Pinterest. I never want to fully duplicate anything I find online, but I do pull from ideas I see and tweak them to fit our space and style. Before we moved in, I began a whole secret board called “Lake House Dreams” and then made a sub-board for every room.

I think my favorite inspired change from the past year was when I set up our Hoosier Cabinet as a coffee bar. I love how it looks!

Favorite Element: My favorite element of the house was – and still is – the location. Life on the lake has not disappointed in ANY way. When we bought the house, one of our dreams for the future was to redo the patio area beside the lake to make it larger and more usable for outdoor entertaining – and for our own everyday use. We didn’t imagine that would happen for several years, but the project unexpectedly moved up to last summer after we learned we needed to add drains to the backyard. It was an unplanned project in terms of the timing, and it was certainly frustrating in the moment, but the end result was gorgeous, and even we were surprised by the difference it made for our daily lives and our entertaining abilities.

Biggest Challenge: This is a hard question to answer, because the fair answer is…none. We don’t find the home challenging, and it works really well for us every day. But if I had to get nitpicky, I’d say that when we have company, the layout of the house can be a bit tricky. Our main bathroom is off the dining room, which is fun when we have people over to eat. We only have one FULL bath, so when people come to spend the night, we have to coordinate showers and sink/mirror time so everyone gets a turn. We don’t have an ensuite bathroom, so when people come over, we don’t have any bathroom private just for us. And we have main rooms on different floors, so when older people come over, it’s sometimes tricky for them to navigate the stairs. But those challenges are only occasional, and we absolutely love this space for daily living.

What Friends Say: Can we move in? I guess that proves that even the biggest challenges don’t seem to bother too many of them. We’ve had nothing but positive feedback from friends and family who have come to see us. They all love the tranquility of the lake. They love the views from inside and out. And now they love boat rides!

Biggest Embarrassment: I don’t feel embarrassed about anything. I love our home and am proud of it, quirks and all. The closest I come to embarrassment is when we have overnight guests and offer the air mattress. No one has ever complained, and we are more than willing to sleep on the air mattress (or couch!) so they can have our bed if needed. We are adamant about living in the way that makes the most sense for the 99% of the days when we are the only ones here, so not having a full, real bed set up all the time IS the most practical solution. But it’s true that when guests arrive, I sometimes feel a twinge of guilt about that air mattress.

Proudest DIY: I’m proud of ALL the DIY projects we’ve done in this home since we’ve owned it. But if I’m picking my proudest one from the past year, it might make you laugh. I love the bed risers we put under the island we brought from Mom and Dad’s house. The island was custom made for Mom, and she’s several inches shorter than I am, so it was hard to use without bending over unnaturally. I asked Ryan if we could find a way to elevate it, and he came up with the idea of buying a set of bed risers for it. It was an affordable solution that brought the island up to the perfect height for me.

Biggest Indulgence: I wish they would have used the word investment instead of indulgence, because I feel like that is really what it was for us. The patio we installed after the drain project was a true investment in the life of the home. We went for quality that would last for the rest of our lives, and I believe we got that. Our friend from church installed it, and he does excellent work. We love how it turned out. No regrets, even though the timing of it all was a big surprise.

Best Advice: Our home is our home, and we choose everything we do for it/with it based on that foundation. We don’t make choices based on resale value. We don’t make choices based on current trends. We don’t make choices based on what works every now and then when company comes. We make our choices for what works every single day for us as the full-time, permanent residents of this home. We choose the things we love to see and use. We choose things that work well for the daily – and if they work well for company, too, that’s a bonus. But if we must choose between what works for daily life and what works for every now and then, we choose daily. We choose what reflects our life and story, and that makes home a cozy and comfortable place to be!

                Happy two year house-aversary, Ryan! I’ve loved sharing each of our homes with you, but this one is special beyond words. I’ve loved transforming it into home…with you!