2 Year's in our new House! Where we started, where we are.

We have officially been in our house for 2 years now. It's really odd because some days it feels like we've been here way longer and sometimes it feels like we just moved in! Either way . . . we're happy to be here and feel very blessed that we are able to live in a good neighborhood, with great neighbors.
I found some, TERRIBLE, before pictures (they were all cell phone camera pictures, and not 'good' IPhone picture . . . I'm talking Motorola flip phone pictures).

So grab something to drink and maybe a snack because this is going to be a LONG POST!

Outside:

I don't actually have a starting picture of the outside, but here's one from last year after we planted the hydrangeas and boxwood.

Here's this year:

Front hall:

My favorite part of the house has to be the paneled walls in the front hall.

After:

Office:

We painted all the of the Olive green paneling in Martha Stewart's Heavy Cream. Added some Custom Ikea bookcases.

 Dining Room:

 We changed the chandelier, added a barn door, and my favorite addition . . . the new jute rug.

Kitchen:

Changed out the pendants over the island. Used the space above the cabinets to store our Cookbooks.

And added some window shelves above the sink:

 After:

Living Room:

We filled in the weirdly shaped cut out above the fireplace with a piece of MDF on hinges for storage behind, and painted it the same color . . . most people didn't know that it actually opens up!

Laundry Room:

Super basic laundry room, we took away a cabinet, added a hanging rod, a counter top, some big wide stripes, window treatments. And now, it's my favorite room in the house.

Staircase:

We painted out the Olive Green paneling on the staircase as well, Added a couple of birdy prints!

Master Bedroom:

Did some DIY'd paneling on the wall behind the bed (one of my favorite projects to date)

Added a fireplace to the other side of the room.

Phew . . . I think that might be the longest post on Mini Manor! I hope you enjoyed it! 

If you have a second we would LOVE to know what you're favorite rooms or projects were !!!??

I Heart Laundry Room Organization

 I hope you get a second you'll pop over to I Heart Organizing where I'm guest posting all about our Laundry Room organization!

From the counter top tray, to the piggy bank! It's all happening Today! ;)

I hope you'll check it out! I have some new clear laundry bottles (that are actually old Milk Bottles from Whole Foods), as I mentioned before a new tray and of course a little piggy bank for all the Husbands change (what is with husbands and carrying TONS of change?).

The Importance of Decluttering

I think that because I spend so much time in our home, thinking about our home, working from home etc . . . the state of our home directly affects the state of me ;). Meaning that if the house is messy or cluttered, I feel messy and cluttered.
Both Lee and I are, self described, "amazing declutter-ers", we are cut throat! If I can't remember the last time we used it . . . it goes into a box and that box goes into the garage. It stays in the garage for a couple months and if we don't need anything from the box, it goes!
I've found that this is the BEST way to declutter because you are way more likely to get rid of things if you know that, if you suddenly need it you can get it back out! But if you don't need it in a reasonable amount of time (ours is 2 months) then you drop the box off at a second hand store, or a friend, or a consignment store . . . just get it OUT!
It just so happened that one of the items I have pictured here, was retrieved out of the garage box today. I'm throwing a girls night party on Saturday Night and our DIY'd tiered flower stand would be perfect!
THE most important tip should be:  When your ready to get rid of the box . . . DON'T OPEN IT! Believe me Do Not Open the Box! After a few months in the garage it's common knowledge that the box of stuff will have developed a deadly, airborne virus . . . you must quickly move the box from the garage, to the car and donate it! If you open the box, I am not responsible for what happens to you! ;)

Here's what's sitting in our garage ready to be donated:

1)An old Ikea print (actually the very first thing I ever bought for Lee and myself from Ikea). This is where the Ikea Madness began!
2) Our DIY tiered stand. Which I realized I could use this weekend.
3) A "fake" telescope that use to live in our library.
4) A homemade poof. It looks cool in this picture, but in real life it's pretty darn ugly. I knitted the outside myself, almost like a large scarf and cinched it together at the top and bottom. The result was two LARGE holes on the top and bottom. And a lot of saggy-ness all around.
5) Two pillows that came with our townhouse couch.
6) A basket in a weird shade of green that refuses to play nice with everything else in the house.

7) A set of pillow cases (not the pillow inserts).
8) A couple of Ikea boxes we had bought for our townhouse.
9) Another pillow case I sewed but have no room for. More and More I'm finding that it's less about the color and more about the TONE of the color (for example . . . not all shades of yellow get along).
10) A Boot for Halloween. We bought it a couple years ago I still LOVE it but I have never been able to fit it into our Halloween decor! It's oddly shaped and for some reason or another doesn't work.
11) Crutches from when I tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankle 2 years ago. We kept them in case I needed surgery on my ankle to repair the damage, but it's almost healed up. I have another scan for it next year, but it looks like I've managed to miss surgery, Yeah!  Time to get rid of the crutches!

12) A birdcage candle holder, I LOVE IT. I have never been able to find a place for it in our new house! Our dining table is round now and it looks a little odd. It was perfect when we had a rectangle table but just not working on our round table. (I also tried it on the coffee table but it was too big).
13) A print from Jysk. I LOVE Punch Buggies and thought that I would love a punch buggy print . . . turns out I only like to drive them, not hang them in the living room.
14) A set of pillow cases I made for the guest room. I thought that they would read RED and match the drapes, but they read orange, thanks to the orange flowers. They had to go.
15) These baskets live in our front hall console. I wasn't in love with the green so I've been on the look out for new, wood toned, wicker baskets.
16) The matching pillow to an old duvet cover we don't own anymore.
17) Curtain Panels I bought for the living room when we first moved in. I don't know what I was thinking.

18) A basket, again, Love it, but the tone of the basket doesn't match anything in the house, also there's a bit of a hole in the bottom.
19) A silly impulse purchase from the As Is section at Ikea. This vase was on sale for $1 I bought it and tried to like it . . . but I don't.
20) A couple of bolster pillows we used to use in our townhouse bedroom. I like 'em, Lee hates them. Because Lee hates them, they never made their way onto our current bed. For that reason they have to go as well.
21) Two candle pillars I bought from Homesense 3 years ago for $9 and $7 dollars. Again, something I really like but has never been able to find a place for.

We ended up going through not only our storage but also . . . our kitchen, our library, and our closets!
On top of all our Home Decor related items we were also able to purge . . .
50 items of clothing (that went to my favorite teenager :)
10-15 books
A set of tea cups we never used
An old coffee maker
A bread machine I never use (I started making it myself and it's so much better . . . recipe to follow next week).
Some old dog dishes (Max is picky about what he eats out of)
A couple of mismatched mugs

People ask me all the time how our cupboards stay so organized and it's because I purge regularly. How many coffee cups do two people need?? A set of 4 white coffee mugs can run you less than $10, for my cupboards it's worth the investment. Buy a matching set and do away with the mismatched chaos . . . unless that's your thing, then go for it! :)

I feel like I lost 10 lbs! The house feels lighter. I feel lighter! Never underestimate a good declutter it can do wonders for your home, your mood and if you donate it, it can do wonders for someone else! It's a true Win Win.

I hope you enjoyed today's post, it wasn't an easy one for me to write. No one likes to admit they've made bad decisions/ wasted money/ or just plain did something wrong. But blogs should be about the good, some bad, and some ugly. Today was the bad but this afternoon we have something GOOD for you. We're on I Heart Organizing, talking about organizing our laundry room!

Make sure to pop back later today! We posted on I heart Organizing, all about organizing our laundry room!! :) We'll have the link up here this afternoon.