Hello friends, hello family, and hello 2020! It's hard to believe another year has passed and a new decade has begun, but when you add in a complete house renovation and moves, it's really not that surprising. Now that the holidays have come and gone, and the Christmas decorations have come down, it's officially time to start the new year fresh and rejuvenated and ready to work! 

As I have mentioned before,  I wanted to post more regular updates of our house progress as they took place, but all of our efforts and energy went directly into the house and keeping up with our everyday lives. Now that things are a bit more settled, I'm excited to finally share more details  behind the design of our house, starting with the heart of our home--the kitchen! 

It's been about six months since my last blog post and a little over six months since our beloved home renovation project began. I fully intended to post regular updates on the blog throughout our project, but fully underestimated how taxing this project would be on us, both emotionally and physically! All of our days were spent working at our full time jobs, our evenings were spent keeping up with day to day duties and chores while finalizing plans for the new house, and our weekends were spent working on various projects at the house alongside our hardworking contractors. As the saying goes, "The days are long, but the *months* are short." The days felt very long, but in exactly six months, we were finally able to move in to our new home. 
We are so excited and so thankful to be here, and to enjoy the fruits of our labors and see all of our plans and visions truly come to life!
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While we did move in in early October, the house is not completely finished. There are quite a few projects left on our punch list to finish out the spaces like built in features, baseboards and trim, landscaping, not to mention decorating and furnishing a new house. I have also recently struggled with whether or not to share more photos of the house until it's totally finished and "perfect," but like my sweet husband reminded me the other day, we have our whole lives to finish this house (Lord willing!) That was such a comfort to me, knowing and trusting that this house will be the home we have truly made our own, the home we host Thanksgivings and Christmas mornings in with our families, the home we bring our future babies home to, and so many more life changes and memories! With that, I was reminded it's not about perfection but about progress, and I am SO happy with our progress. We have already enjoyed delicious family dinners at our dining table, cozy fires in the fireplace, and  lazy, relaxing weekends.  As we do finish out spaces in the coming months, I would love to share those jaw dropping Pinterest worthy interior pictures, but for now, enjoy these never before seen photos of the progress and journey of our new home!

 With our demo well underway, I thought it would be so fun to share a few of the images and designs I have discovered during this process that are serving as major sources of inspiration for our renovation. The deigns are stunning and the designers behind them are nothing short of brilliant, in my humble opinion.
​As you scroll through these images, you'll notice a few common themes: southern cottage styles, traditional fixtures, coastal colors, and light and bright spaces with clean, natural elements. These are the styles that I love and am most drawn to, and are many of the terms I have used to describe my overall vision for our renovations.
​Take a look at all of the beautiful images and designs below:

Photo via Love & Specs