Shop Our House + UPDATES!
Been waiting for an update or something or dying for sources from our home? I’ve got you covered today!
We’re coming up on FOUR MONTHS in this house (can you believe it?!) and I recently realized it’s high time I take care of a few housekeeping things and give you some updates on things around here!
We’ve been busy busy busy working on projects and moving forward, but sometimes things get lost in the shuffle and you’re left wondering how certain things are holding up or if we’re still liking projects we’ve done. So, I wanted to take a little time today to share a couple of updates – and some much-requested sources – with you.
I’m going to try to do this on a relatively regular basis because as much as I love sharing projects and fresh ideas with you, I feel like it’s just as important to tell you about how things are actually holding up. Because recommendations are fun and all, but what really matters is if it actually stands the test of time, right?!
So let’s jump right in, shall we?
shop our house
I finally got my crap together enough to update our Shop Our House page! If you haven’t ever checked it out, it’s your detailed guide to just about every single thing in our house. I include links to projects, paint colors, and sources for every single thing I possibly can. Anything that is linked on that page can be considered something we use and love. I won’t ever include links to anything we’re so-so on!
I plan to keep this page updated over time, so if you ever need a source for anything, it’s the place to go. You can also still access the source pages for our first two homes through that page, because I know some of you still use those pages as well. And, of course, it’s kind of a fun walk down memory lane!
How is ____ Holding up?!
Now the fun part – I put it out to my Instagram friends that I was working on this post and asked if there are any specific things you’d like updates on. I’m including the most requested things below – if I missed something you’re dying to ask about, just leave a comment below!
the cordless vacuum
We grabbed this cordless vacuum on Black Friday and we are still absolutely LOVING it. It’s a more affordable alternative to the Dyson vacuum, and I find that the battery life is way better than the one on our handheld Dyson. I can vacuum my entire house multiple times before I need to charge it, and it’s so lightweight and versatile – it’s not even a bother to clean the stairs! My one and only complaint about it is that it doesn’t have a wall mount – but I’m sure we could make something!
I would absolutely purchase this vacuum again, and wholeheartedly recommend it!
the spin mop
I can’t use my beloved steam mop on the flooring that we have in this house, so I had to do quite a bit of searching to figure out what would be the next best thing. Several people recommended the Bissel Spinwave and I LOVE IT SO MUCH! I’ve heard from several of you who bought it after I originally shared it, and we’re all pretty much obsessed with it.
I will say that if I were purchasing again, I probably would spring for the Crosswave, which is the upgraded version – but mine is great if you want to save some money!
the ruggable runner
Y’all, if you’ve ever even briefly considered a Ruggable rug, let me be the one to give you the final push – you have to try it! This rug is the absolute perfect choice for our kitchen because it’s washable, feels great underfoot, and stays in place really well.
I’ve only had to wash mine once since I got it, but it came out of the dryer in great shape, went right back down without any weird wrinkles or shrinkage, and it looked pretty much brand new.
I’m considering getting one for the game room (they’re not technically recommended to go over carpet but I’m a rebel), and if they ever decide to make them in 9×12 sizes, I’d grab one for the living room in a heartbeat!
the cabinet cleaner
Remember when we talked about my new deep-cleaning routine for our white kitchen cabinets? Some of you wanted an update and I can officially say it has held up great! There wasn’t any yellowing (which some of you were concerned about), and I feel like they have been a little easier to keep clean since I did it!
I do still need to do a quick wipe down every few days to get any food or other grossness off of them, but as a whole I think it was well worth my time to do the deep cleaning and I’ll be making it a regular part of my routine!
You can grab the kit I used right here, if you want to try it for yourself!
the old house?
Someone asked if we ever drive past the old house to check on it and I realized I honestly hadn’t driven past it at all since we sold it! When we lived in our second house we were very close to our first house so we used to drive past it aaaaall the time to check on it. We’re a little further away from both now so we haven’t checked on them in a while.
But, the last time I checked it looked great! I know that it’s currently being rented but that the long-term plan is for the new owners’ mom to move into the home so she can be closer to the grandkids. I think it’s being well-loved, and that’s all that matters!
our dining table
The dining room table that we have right now is actually the exact table that we originally purchased for our first home! It’s a long story, but it made its way back to us in this home, and we couldn’t be happier with it.
The table does have some nicks and scratches on it from the years and love, meals, and game nights, but I personally feel like they just add to the charm. I still get a little emotional every time I look at the scratches that came from Cullen’s little nails from the many times when he was being naughty and climbed on the table!
I can’t say enough good things about this dining room table – I’m sure some of it is just emotional attachment at this point, but it has served us so, so well and I genuinely think it’s one of those pieces that we will never ever let go of. We may need to sand it down and re-stain it at some point, but you’ll have to pry this table from my cold dead fingers.
hadley
This is something I’ve mostly only talked about on Instagram stories, so if you aren’t over there you may have missed it. Our Doberman, Hadley, has always struggled with anxiety issues but over the years they’ve worsened to the point that she really just wasn’t living a super functional life. The entire time we lived in our second home she would only enter our living room and master bedroom, and she’d go in the backyard – she wouldn’t touch the rest of the house.
We figured it was probably due to the size of the house (she’s always been wary of small spaces and has some issues with transitions, narrow walkways, etc.), and thought she’d go back to normal once we got here. Well, we got settled into this house and quickly realized that wasn’t the case – she was clearly depressed, anxious, and nervous to enter any parts of the house except for a few small zones, so we decided to explore putting her on medication.
She started on fluoxetine (essentially Prozac for dogs) in early December and she’s basically a different dog now. She’s still pretty quirky, very lazy, and a little bit tightly-wound, but it’s worlds better than it was before. She’ll go upstairs (with a bit of encouragement), she’s comfortable everywhere on the first floor of our house, and she has much more patience with the kids (she was never aggressive or grumpy with them, but tended to just leave the room when they were around).
It hasn’t been a cure-all, and I think to some extent she’s always just going to be a strange dog, but we are so incredibly glad that we decided to try this medication for her, and it absolutely improved her quality of life by leaps and bounds!
the hall closet
Another Instagram-stories-only project, I recently painted the entry closet a terra-cotta orange and added some cheap spotted wallpaper. It was an on-a-whim kind of project and, if I’m being totally honest, I’m not thrilled with how it turned out. It’s fine, but it doesn’t make me smile quite like I had hoped.
It’s not a huge deal – it’s just a closet! – but I do think at some point I’ll likely end up changing things around in there. I may end up just wallpapering the whole thing, or I may get ambitious and decide to actually re-paint. We’ll see where things land, but I do know that Corey can’t stand it (hah!), and I don’t love it as much as I’d like to.
This one is definitely low on my priority list, but I know many of you followed that saga closely, so I figured an update was due!