Happy 3rd Anniversary to our House! (alternatively titled: What Our House Will Probably Never Look Like, and yes, I'm okay with that.)

As of May 1st, we have officially been the proud owners of this, our lovely, and sometimes headache-inducing, HOUSE for three years. This is how it looked the day (or maybe a day or two after) we signed the papers and got the keys:

I don't have a recent photo of this view, but really, besides cleaning up the yard, it hasn't changed much. (I am thinking of painting the front door this summer though. Ideas?)

These last three years with the house have, at times, flown by. We've really gotten to a lot of projects done, but others that I sort of expected to finish in a weekend early on, well, they're not even on the radar.

Take, for example, our kitchen.

This is what it was like three years ago:

Good layout, great space, harsh lighting, dingy carpet, old appliances.

And here's our kitchen now:
 

Painted to lighten up the space, new light covers, shiny new dishwasher, and (most importantly) awesome new flooring (courtesy of Dan and his talent and infinite patience.)

I still have grand plans to put a large stainless steel fridge where Lana's kitchen is, a shiny state-of-the-art stove/oven/range/hood where our old white fridge is now, take out the florescent lighting completely, and refinish the oak cabinets and drawers 

Here's a picture from Pinterest of an absolutely gorgeous kitchen. Mine will never look like this, and I'm okay with that.

Here's what the dining room looked like when we first moved in.

Dated chandelier, dark purple and white paint, and worn, tired carpet.

Here's how we've improved:
 

New paint, a more appropriate light fixture, and more of that lovely flooring. I do still need to find some window coverings and a statement piece for the left wall.

Again, courtesy of Pinterest, here's a spectacular dining room that mine will never resemble:

 

I can say, for the most part, it's been a great three years in our house. Our list of projects just keeps on growing and growing, and we'll just get to them as they grow in importance. One thing I've learned in these three year is that we'll never actually ever be "done" with the house and everything will just be in a constant state of "in progress." 

And I am more than okay with that.