in five years

in 2006, a mere 4 months after i graduated college (and on my 22nd birthday) i bought my first house.*

i spent the next three years wishing i had never bought it because i (thought i) wanted go to the art institute in san diego or open my own b&b in jamaica**, but ultimately knew the house was keeping me grounded. i had even less of an idea of what i wanted to do with my life then than i do now, and being forced to stay employed was a good thing.

since receiving the keys on that fateful day, i've been renovating the house (it needed it!). the carpet was disgusting, there was spray paint down the kitchen counters, across the fridge, on the floor and out the side door, and ivy was growing in a couple of the windows. i still cringe when i see houses with vines covering part of the house.

in the beginning i decorated each room separately which resulted in a rainbow bright house. part of this was because i often found $5 cans of "oops" paint at home depot and i figured i'd take advantage of the bargain. the kitchen was bright orange and yellow striped (sadly i have no photos of this), the dining room was pink and brown, the living room a bright spring green, the foyer purple and gray, and the master bedroom a grassy green. what was i thinking?

as i've matured, i admitted to myself that it's ok to paint the walls neutral instead of pretending i live in mexico. the kitchen became buttercream yellow, dining room is neutral and brown, and the foyer brown and gray. eventually i'll repaint the living room an off-white/very light beige (probably) for a more grown-up beach vibe.

a lot more than painting was done; there isn't much of the original-ness left other than the "bones" of the house really. the master bathroom and walk-in closet still haven't been renovated, we'll probably hire out the tile work for the stand-up shower (in case it's holding hidden surprises) and haven't gotten around to hiring anyone.

so, in celebration of five long years of being a homeowner, here's a look at some of the "before's", "during's" and "current's" for your enjoyment (and because i'm proud of the work we've done, my dad and josh included of course).

foyer

of course there was wallpaper under the paint

hallway

hall bath

a full bath, but hard to photograph because it's small

living room

this ivy was growing through the window... yeah.

no more nasty carpet!

you can see skid marks in the sawdust from where my friend

and i would run and slide across the room - we were so cool

dining room

during the rainbow house phase

it's no longer these colors, but it's messy right now

and i didn't feel like tidying up for another picture

kitchen

yes, that is ivy wallpaper

you can see ivy overtaking the patio

had to show off my vintage oven

(that i actually kinda wanted to keep)

the outside has gotten it's share of updates too

personally i think i'll always want to buy fixer-uppers - i love rehabbing and making things beautiful again. i'm pretty sure josh does not feel this way as he is a little tired of the never ending house projects.

happy 5th birthday house!

(and if you paid attention and did the math you'd know that means happy 27th to me!)

*i'll admit this may not be the right time in anyone's life to be making such a big purchase, but i was stubborn in my "it's an investment" mindset.
**i was (still am) all over the place sometimes.