We closed on our new-to-us house yesterday! It still feels so surreal or maybe my long to-do list has helped keep me numb to a lot of the emotions that are running through my mind: excited, grateful, overjoyed, sad, stressed, nervous, overwhelmed. I’m feeling it all. Sometimes tears just start rolling down my cheeks and I know they are happy tears, but there are also sad tears mixed in. We’ve had so many questions about why we’re moving, especially since we just finished the house. “You didn’t even get to enjoy it!” they say. But, truthfully, we’ve been enjoying in every step of the way–every day, whole heartedly for the past 6 years. I don’t need a finished bathroom to enjoy my home. I just don’t. (although it did make it more enjoyable–haha)
Will I miss it–of course! I think that’s where some of the sadness is coming from. Leaving the familiar is hard. But after the year we’ve had, we realized we have been craving progression and space and creativity and land and trees more than the stagnant feeling of waiting and wishing.
The new house checked everything off our list and more. We’ll share more photos Monday, but here’s a sneak peek I snapped with my phone after we closed at one of my favorite features:
Eeee! We’ll be moving in Monday and Tuesday, but since both of our parents just moved and a friend (and we’re still wrapping up the Fullmer’s kitchen!) we decided to hire packers and movers for the first time and it already feels worth it. We get to just soak up our last weekend in our home with our friends right around the corner (okay, now I’m crying again) and leaving the heavy lifting (literally) to the pros. Ironically, we hired them after we sold our home but before the buyer asked to purchase nearly all the furnishings and decor. He is moving from out of state and requested the purchase of almost everything you can see down to the faux hanging herbs in the kitchen.
There were some things we weren’t willing to part with–Polly’s nursery furniture that we’re still heavily using, Chris’s Great Grandma’s piano, some art, the olive tree in the living room (haha) and a few other things. But the more we thought about all the other pieces in our home on the list, we realized we chose them specifically for this house and it took years to get it right. So as much as I’m attached to the Charly sofa (we’ll get another, I mean IT’S OUR LINE OF COURSE WE WILL) or the low round coffee table–I love them here and here is where they are meant to stay I think. Also! Our new house is a completely different style and many things (our oversized leather chairs and dining table come to mind) wouldn’t even fit or work the same.
Soooo we’re going to take the next decade tbh and settle in and take our time to get to know the house and find what works for our family. I’m excited to share the process and the triumphs and the failures just as we always have.
And since it’s the end of May (what!) here’s a recap of our busy May including getting our house ready to sell, wrapping up school programs, the investigation starting on the cabin, family time and a peek into our new house!
And lastly, we love to share the month’s favorite finds and buys all in one place at the end of the month. Here’s the best of May!
1. Cloe Wall Tile in White This month my DMs were infiltrated with questions about the tile we used in the Fullmer’s kitchen (we actually bought it for the cabin) and here it is. It’s perfect and warm and varied and like subway tile but make it fashion…it’s this.
2. Rattan Planter When Studio McGee came to style our deck out this month (May was truly the best!), I couldn’t keep my eye off this large planter they brought with them. And when I looked it up on their site, I loved how versatile it could be! Deck trees in the summer and Christmas trees by the mantle in the winter. In my cart!
3. Ben Soleimani Lenia Rug Before we knew we were even moving (!!) I got this new living room rug from Ben Soleimani and it’s stunning and will absolutely be unrolled at our new house. (Ps. Most of our rugs are coming with us!) He used to design all the rugs for Restoration Hardware and decided to leave and start his own line! Every one is gooooood.
4. Free People Tee Hi, this is the most perfect tee that you’ve seen me wear all month. (I wear a small)
5. Babo Botanicals Lip Tint in Wild Rose Also got a lot of questions about my lips this month. In Spring, I switch over to this tinted chapstick that’s a little more pinky than my fall/winter Burt’s Bees Red Dahlia. It instantly makes me feel sunny!
6. Swim Cover-Up We’re doing an adult trip to Mexico with my family at the end of June and I splurged on this cover up with no regrets!
7. Homebody Cap We launched caps at Propertee this month and I’m overwhelmed with the response. You are hat people and you are my kind of people! (Wearing mine all summer long!)
8. Our Color Story Filter Pack In continuation of the best month ever, our filter pack, INTERIOR, we launched with A Color Story was such a huge highlight. At just $3.99 for 17 filters (fun fact: we originally designed 22 and tried to work it down to 13 but couldn’t haha) we have loved seeing them in your spaces!
9. Wrist Sweatbands Okay, this is a random weird addition that just might change your life as it has changed mine this month. My friends and I were joking about how annoying it is when after you apply self tanner (this tanner is my ride or die! The best!) and you wash your face at night, if any water trickles down your arm it totally streaks and ruins your tan! Or! Even if you don’t have fresh tanner on, the trickle of water seems to always reach the sleeves on my shirt and I have to change because it’s so uncomfortable. And I said, “You know, there’s so much emphasis on terrycloth headbands to hold your hair back when washing your face and not NEARLY on wrist protection.” So I ordered these wrist sweatbands to stop the water and it works REMARKABLY well. If you nodded your head during any of this, you’re welcome. The water trickling down your arm while you wash your face is a thing of the past.
I definitely cried through most of this video starting with the cabin. Congratulations on this new step for you and your family! I can’t wait to see what you do with this new place!
I remember when you sold your other home and moved to this one. You did an outstanding job with this house!!! Thanks for letting us follow along on your journey. My husband and I are in the middle of our biggest reno yet. A complete overhaul on an old farmhouse. Your kitchen is what inspired my new kitchen design in our new home. I absolutely love it! I can not wait to follow along with your new home.
Congratulations on your new home!! I have a question for you… what is the name of the wallpaper that is in your master bathroom near the toilet? Thank you so much!
You can find that on our shop our house page for the bathroom! Hope that helps. :)
Congrats! I love Faye’s dress with the scoop in the back, do you remember where you got it? And Gramps had a sweet shirt on at the school performance :)
That’s his favorite shirt. He got it two years ago for his 95th birthday and wears it every day. Hahaha. The dress was a gift from here.
Okay… that wrist band trick, genius! Buying some right now hahaha!
I feel like a genius for discovering it. I go on about it EVERY NIGHT to myself in the mirror.