Fairview Cottage One Year

Guess what was happening one year ago? I was moving into my house (that I lovingly call Fairview Cottage)!

I’ll be honest, when I think back, this was a really hard point in our lives. We’d moved from Florida and were between houses for over a month and a half while waiting to be able to close on the house (it was slow since it tested positive for meth). We were staying with friends and family. I felt stuck- that feeling of being in between was awful. I wanted a home more than anything.

Once we closed, we quickly moved in. It was finally time to make this 1905 Victorian ours! The relief and excitement that this house was finally ours was insane!

fairview cottage one year- house tour

I thought that it’d be fun to show the changes from when we moved in until now. A lot has changed! First up- how about a video tour of my house? I’ve never done a whole video tour, but I think this’ll at least a yearly thing. The time it took to clean every room at once was a bit much, but I think you’ll love seeing the flow of my house!

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. P.s. I’m trying to build that page up, so if you’d subscribe, I’d really appreciate that!

now & then office

When you first walk into the house, you enter in the office. This is technically a bedroom, but we love it for our desks and a little sitting area. This room hasn’t had many updates beside painting all the grey walls white. I’m still planning on painting the ceiling with stripes one of these days! It’s such a cozy room that I really love!

now and then husband bathroom 

The small bathroom off of the office is the room we’ve redone most recently. I’d like to eventually paint the floor tiles and possibly stencil them. This room received a $400 budget makeover. One day we’ll totally gut it. For now, the budget makeover is looking pretty nice!

p.s. I missed this room on the house tour video- sorry! You can see it on the reveal post here.

now and then living room

Even though it might not look like it, the living room has had a bunch of changes. We removed all the plaster walls and replace them with drywall. The stone fireplace got painted. And we installed a wallpaper mural. One day we’ll tear out the wall between the living room and kitchen and redo the flooring in both rooms. For now, I love this pretty room! 

now and then stairs

The stairs are hands down, my favorite project in my house! I don’t have a great before picture of them, but the above show it after we’d done a bunch of work with replacing the plaster and painting (the walls used to be a horrible red). The treads were doubled up and so we removed both sets and spend a ton of time replacing them so they didn’t squeak. Now they’re rainbow heaven!

now and then Kitchen

The kitchen has had some major changes! They’re mostly cosmetic. From painting the cabinets, to removing an upper cabinet and putting in open shelvings, and peel and stick backsplash this room feels like a different place! Again, one day I’ll tear out the cabinets and wall and do a whole new layout. That’ll be awesome especially because it’ll let so much light in!

now and then laundry room 

The laundry room was bad! Dark and crowded! Last fall I did a huge makeover on it! From painting to raising the ceiling- it was a really fun transformation. My favorite detail is now the floors or maybe the wallpaper or the tile- ok, don’t make me choose! 🙂  It’s seriously a joy to do laundry now.

now and then bathroom 

My bathroom is right off the kitchen. Since my husband and I have separate bathrooms (which is the best thing ever), I got to go crazy with pink in here! A big change we did in here was replacing the small window with a much bigger one. One day I hope to replace the flooring (right now I’m using peel and stick tiles). I mostly love it now!

now and then playroom

I feel so spoiled to have space for a play room for Don! This room was a massive transformation! First, we added a closet, next paint and wallpaper, everything got finished with gorgeous molding. It was such a relief the day that red dominating paint was covered up! We spend many hours playing in here. I adore this room just how it is!

now and then Don’s room

Speaking of big transformations- Don’s room was the scariest when we moved in! There was a huge built in fort and the paint left a lot to be desired. After tearing out the fort, painting and redoing the floors, this is such a happier space!

Side note, this is the only room where we used the original flooring. I went for a white washed vintage look and they wear so well and hide dirt amazing well! If you want white floors, I’d 100% suggest this distressed look!

now and then master bedroom

The master bedroom used to be a game room before we moved in. Now, it’s one of my happiest spaces! My favorite part is the built in shelves with the rainbow colored books. The big project in here was relocating the closet and making a much bigger one. I really love the wallpaper and kind of wish I’d done it on the opposite wall too! The shiplap ceiling and trim really finish off the space.

Ok! So there’s all the rooms we’ve worked on! As you can tell, we still have plenty to keep us busy! As long as it’s warm outside, we’ll be working on the backyard. A lot of the rooms were done as “phase one” and need some massive work to get them where we want them.

And when we’re done with this house, maybe one day we’ll buy an Air BNB to decorate and then rent out. That could definitely be fun! Another big goal we have is one day possibly buying a Florida winter house and being snow birds. Then we’d have a second home to do (which I’d love).

One way or another, I’ll keep redoing fun rooms even when my house is done. People always tell me they’re worried about what I do when this house is done- it definitely isn’t a worry for me. Just more possibilities open up!

I’d love to hear in the comments you favorite spaces from this house! Can you believe it’s already been a year?!

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