You've seen my kitchen and living room a million times, but I figured it was probably time to document the rest of it. Especially since (it kills me to say this) we're MOVING! Again!
We were intending to stay here for a very long time, but the winds of change have blown our way and we're moving clear across the country to the Boise area of Idaho. Our house here in Virginia is all packed up and we're a few days away from heading west.
We've been on the East Coast for nearly ten years now and we have really enjoyed our time here! It's very bittersweet to think of moving, and of course I'm lamenting having to leave this house that I've put so much heart and soul into, but I look forward to moving west too.
Until then, here are a few pictures of the house we built in Virginia!
By the time I got around to documenting all the rooms in our house, I had already taken down most of our family portraits in order to prep the house to sell...but these fun little snapshots remained on the office wall. Lots of warm memories there!
This is the cubby system I built when we first moved in.
That's a painting of mine on the back wall.
I installed the tile backsplash in the laundry area and painted all the cabinets in the laundry area a soft grey. They were the unfinished cabinets you can buy at a big box store and I added crown molding and some trim and painted them.
You've seen the kitchen before...
...and the dining room.
In the powder room I added the trim on the white wainscotting and did a faux finish on the walls that looks like grasscloth wallpaper...but it's not.
My studio never really did reach the finished stage, but here's what it looked like a week ago.
I built the closets on either side of my desk and added the sliding doors. It's hard to tell from the picture, but they're made of slats of plywood that I painted and sanded back through and then glued the slats onto a thin sheet of plywood to create the doors.
Our upstairs hallway was home to a lot of my quilts and artwork that I made for my girls years ago. They outgrew it a long time ago but that doesn't mean I can't put on the walls of the hallway!
I painted some blocks of wood to look like little European houses.
Here's the room above the garage, which was the kid's hang-out/TV room/ping pong area.
The girls shared this bathroom, so I pulled out all the stops and made it unabashedly girly!
My color choices revolved around this super cute print I found at Target years ago.
Here's Eliza's room. I designed it to have the arch above the window and I built a window seat that has three pull-out drawers disguised as paneling.
The dresser is one that I refinished with a chalk paint and lightly distressed. I love the graceful lines on that piece and the color is so fun!
There's the bed that I built, headboard and all.
It took me three days to draw out the headboard pattern, cut the wood and upholster that puppy. I love all the colored buttons.
Now we're in Hazel's room...
...and this is the custom loft bed that I built for her.
I built two shelves that the bed part rests on, then encased it with a skin of thin plywood and trimmed it all out. The curvy piece at the back is an old king size headboard that I repurposed.
I absolutely adore this painting of a chameleon that Hazel did a few years back!
Here is more of Hazel's artwork.
Ah, the backyard!
I'm trying not to think about all the TLC I poured into my backyard. It makes me so sad to leave it.
I made a circular herb garden right by the back door that's near the kitchen.
I never quite got around to finishing the flagstone walkway that wraps around the back of the house, but it's pretty close.
I used the leftover stone to make a curved bench that faces the house.
The stumps were from a friend's tree that they had to take down. They were great for playing leapfrog games with Hazel!
I guess that's the end, at least for now...farewell Virginia! Hello, Idaho!
Oh my, I adore your house. We lived in Richmond VA for exactly one year and while we were there, new empty-nesters, we decided we could stay there forever (born and raised in Texas). Alas, we ended up having to make a job change and ended up in St Louis, and then back "home" to Dallas. But I have such fond yearnings for Virginia. Your house is so wonderful! I envy the people who buy it from you. Best wishes for an exciting new adventure in Idaho! I look forward to seeing what you have in store for your new home.
Posted by: Lynne Tilley | August 10, 2017 at 04:30 PM
wow...is there anything that you can't do? you're so talented and i adore all your artwork and handcraft. from building furniture to upholstery to gardening to sewing and drawing, you make beautiful results. i'm so jealous. i like art but have so little time and sources to do so. here in malaysia we don't have extensive DIY store choices. and building something from scratch is way more expensive. i'm loking forward for your next house projects. do keep blogging ya.
Posted by: hazlin zainal | August 10, 2017 at 09:06 PM
Your house is just plain gorgeous and beautifully unique. I can understand how difficult it must be to say goodbye. We moved to the Boise area (an hour north in the mountains) and it has been a wonderful move for us. We are at a very different phase of life than you - we're recently, mostly retired. But I hope that your move is as good for you as ours was for us. Best wishes.
Posted by: Belinda | August 10, 2017 at 09:50 PM
I was gone from home last week so I just saw this. You're moving?! I'm sorry you have to leave your house but I'm glad you're moving west, closer to me!
Will you be in Boise in time for the eclipse at least?
Posted by: Edith Songer | August 13, 2017 at 10:37 AM