Our Home


Last year, we embarked on the crazy adventure of owning our own condo. With the help of my amazing realtor Maria, I bought a place just three blocks from where I was living. At 600 sq ft, it was small, but just right for us with an open layout and a nice patio space out back. And being the crazy over-confident DIY-ers that we are, we quickly started putting our mark on the place, starting the very night we got the keys...

So today I'm taking a break from the sewing to share how we're doing a year in. It's nothing quite like Liz's complete home renovation (oh. my. god. that girl can do anything!), but it is a little slice of our life for the past year.

Because I love a good before and after, here's what the place looked like when we bought it. The older woman who lived here had a pretty bare-bones decorating style, but it really allowed us to see the potential of the place, and those beautiful floors! Of course, we could have done without the purple ceiling...

We started out painting the entire place ourselves. The previous owner was a smoker, so not only did we want a fresh color but we also needed to cover up decades of smokey odor. This included washing down the walls, applying a layer of heavy-duty (and toxic) primer, and adding on a few coats of paint. After grossly underestimating the amount of time it would take to paint every surface and go over every piece of trim, we spent our evenings for two solid weeks before our move-in day painting, painting, and more painting. If ever there were a trial by fire way for a couple to move in together, staying up 'til 2am rolling the ceiling is definitely it! Luckily the odor was masked and (most) of the painting was a success.

And then came the moving boxes...

Row one: The bliss of getting the keys was quickly replaced by painting and moving chaos. After two weeks of nightly painting sessions, we moved all the sh*t in. Things got even worse as we pushed everything away from the wall to finish the paint job (that never-ending paint job!). 

Row two: By the end of move-in week, a slight floor space was cleared and we slowly began to put away the boxes.

Row three: By the end of the month, we finally had something resembling a living room! And July 1st is my birthday so we threw a party ;) It was so nice to have everyone over after basically isolating ourselves for a month and a half.

Luckily, we emerged from the other end happy and healthy! And here is what she looks like today:

The kitchen, while a bit dark, is perfect because it opens up right onto the living room and has enough room for us to cook or chat.


You'll also notice the bar stools at the counter, which seat four. We do not have a dining table (which was meant to be on the left) because that became my SEWING SPACE! Obviously this was much more important than a dining nook.



The bedroom was the last to be completed, as we gutted the closet ourselves, installed built-in bedside tables and cabinets, and generally used the room to store all our extra junk as we figured things out.

Check out those newly installed (if not slightly crooked) closet doors! They were salvaged from Urban Ore for $29, spray painted, and attached to the outside of the closet.


And last but not least, our little patio. It may not be much for you country folk, but for us it's a little slice of heaven!


The most amazing part of this whole process, however, has been building a place together. I'm not entirely embarrassed to admit that, as I write this, we are both snuggled into the couch on identical laptops, enjoying some post-dinner downtime. Mr. Made is the better cook, but I'm not half bad at the laundry and keeping things in order. And sewing - I do a lot of that.

I am also very excited to let you in on one more thing that has been in the works since we moved in. After giving ourselves a year to settle in, this week we finally adopted a puppy!! She doesn't have a name yet, but you're about to see a lot more of her! (And some doggy outfits - lots of doggy outfits.)



Thanks for letting me share. Now I'm off to pet that adorable fur ball!

6 comments:

  1. Wow what a wonderful post!! Thank you for sharing it looks amazing!!! Can't wait to see more puppy posts too!!

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  2. Congratulations on your beautiful home and adorable puppy! My husband and I just moved back in together after two years in a long distance marriage for grad school. This post is so inspirational as we re-merge our belongings and make a new home together.

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  3. Wow! It sounds like you've had quite a busy year! Your space looks great! And now you get to relax and enjoy it :)

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  4. That puppy is so cute I want to make clothes for her. And a little tongue warmer.

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  5. OH. MY. GOD. THAT PUPPY. I WANT TO PAT IT. Your space is amazing, but that puppy!!!! You must be totally in love xx

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  6. Congrats on the renovations . . . but really, all I can look at is that adorable little face. So, so, cute - love from Tino to your little girl!

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