Hello friends! What a summer this has been — so much has happened around our home in the last few weeks that I wanted to share a “life lately” renovation update. Grab a cup of coffee or tea; this will be a long one.
- Before the update: HomeBody Gathering Place is open briefly to new members. We begin the fall season with our community on September 1. If you love creating a sanctuary for your family or want inspiration, we open only a few times a year and would love to have you join us.
We are thrilled to be approaching the tail end of this renovation!
The last few weeks have been one of the more tiring phases of the whole process. If you’re planning a renovation, I’ll explain why so you can prepare. If you enjoy seeing the process, I’ll share a peek at the messy reality and the pretty moments that are starting to show.
Living in your home during a renovation has benefits and challenges. Large projects require changes to daily routines and frequent shifts of furniture and belongings as different rooms are worked on. Often you end up moving items multiple times a week to accommodate contractors and installations.
Please note the spaces I’m sharing here are still in process — we still need to sweep, dust, and complete paint touch-ups, install wood heat registers, and finish trim work.
The past few weeks were spent emptying closets, moving furniture, and carrying boxes into and out of every room so contractors could install flooring on the upper level and staircase. It was challenging and not very fun in the moment, but completely worth it.
We absolutely love our new floors. They are light, beachy, warm, and welcoming — European white oak engineered hardwood. We purchased them locally and don’t have an online brand link to share.
Our living room received a fresh coat of paint and we are thrilled with the color: Benjamin Moore Beach Glass. It’s a complex blue-green that shifts beautifully throughout the day — moody and happy at the same time.
If you expected the house to be finished, cleaned, decorated, and photo-ready by now, I’m afraid it’s not. We are close, but as often happens the final stages can feel more chaotic than complete. After six months of projects, the finishing touches and settling in are the slowest part.
Last week offered a candid view of the mess: if you like seeing the reality of renovation or if it helps you feel better about your own chaos, enjoy the photos. If clutter makes you uneasy, feel free to skip ahead.
Why the ongoing chaos? We’ve been shuffling everything repeatedly so contractors could paint main-floor rooms, finish the staircase, and install upstairs flooring. It felt like moving several times this summer.
Contractors helped with heavier items, but we still did a lot of the moving ourselves. Our backs are reminding us we’re not as young as we used to be. We’re in the process of putting things back and deciding what to keep and where each item should live. Progress is slower than I’d like, partly because of sore backs and life obligations — and a quick beach trip last week that was a welcome break.
We are also waiting on the final phase: paint touch-ups and punch-list items. Until those are completed, some spaces remain unusable or unorganized, which adds to the feeling of disorder. For example, our mudroom is still filled with boxes until shelves are finished; I’ll share the painted mudroom and powder room in a future post.
Remember that creating a home takes time, thought, and intention — it’s not a one-hour makeover. Even after contractors finish, we’ll continue to tweak and plan additional projects over time. Try not to fall into the mindset that you won’t be content until everything is perfect. For us, the slower process of shaping our home is part of the journey, and we’re grateful for the head start on many projects.
We’ve finally begun putting rooms together. It’s exciting to see our style emerge as we add layers and repurpose items we’ve had for years. I’m enjoying being in the house and sensing what feels right. I take my time to try different colors, textures, and accessories, adjusting until the space feels right. Small changes over time are my process.
Our style tends to emerge and reshape over time. The pieces I love remain consistent, but how they’re showcased evolves with each home. Getting settled can’t be rushed; we’ll continue to change things as we live in each space and move through seasons. My husband and I are used to moving things around until we both love how it looks.
Small things bring joy — hanging art, adding a linen pin board in the new guest room, and finally having a real guest room and bathroom. It feels like the house grew, and we’re excited to make these spaces ours. My sister’s family is visiting this weekend, which motivated us to pull things together and make the guest room welcoming.
We’re also repurposing items throughout the house. My husband was happy to finally display vintage fishing floats on a closet door. A reader once told me she enjoys spotting familiar items in new places — like a game of Where’s Waldo — and that’s always fun to hear.
Our dog Lily loves cozy spots around the house. A small blanket helps keep her comfortable and keeps the chair clean. We also still love the rug my daughters and I designed for Annie Selke Dash and Albert — it remains a favorite and a lovely reminder of a fun design project.
Although the summer has been busy with home projects, we’ve made time to enjoy the season. Perfect weather has allowed for many walks, and we’ve been returning to familiar rituals like making coffee and preparing meals in our actual kitchen — a welcome change from microwave or bathroom coffee setups. Our new stove has been a delight to cook with so far.
Savoring quiet mornings with a cup of coffee has felt especially peaceful now that contractors are winding down. We’re also planning the backyard and have started planting — our new jasmine on the porch is thriving and fills the air with a heavenly scent. I’ll share more on plants and backyard progress in another post.
This week we launched a new book, Simply Home, which combines Simple Decorating and Simple Organizing into one hardback. It contains hundreds of practical tips and realistic ideas for creating order and beauty in everyday life. It’s been a labor of love and a guide I hope many will find helpful.
We also took a short trip to one of our favorite beach destinations, Seabrook, and stayed in a brand-new charming home. It was a lovely break and I’ll share more about that stay in a future post.
Thank you for following along with this renovation update and for being here. It means a lot to share the process with you.
See previous ‘Life Lately’ posts in my archive.
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