How it started...
the renovation that got away
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I want to spend my days. I have always had too many ideas and tried to cram them into too little time, and sometimes I can’t decide if that’s just my personality or if I just can’t decide on one thing. Right now, I’m doing residential (and some light commercial) architecture, I’m painting, and I’m beginning to follow an interest I have in surface pattern design. And throughout all of it, I have been designing our 4-year renovation.
There will end up being frequent posts about the interior design of our home, but where did I start? With the home that (thankfully) got away.
Back in 2018, Adam and I had just moved back to Virginia (and the U.S.), and we wanted to buy a home. We knew we wanted a place where we could finally make some changes and make it our own. The very first place we saw we both fell in love with, and we immediately put an offer in. I often feel like I have this knowing that something will work out, and I just knew that we would get it. So I started designing the downstairs rooms in Photoshop to convince him of what I saw and what could be.
From the front door, you walked into the living room (this is a view towards the front door).
Before:
After:
Then, if you turned around, there was a dining nook before you entered the kitchen.
Before:
After:
Lastly, I reimagined the kitchen.
Before:
After:
When it came down to it, the original owners had two offers, and even with a letter of how badly we wanted the place, they chose the other buyers. I was devastated.
After that, we probably viewed 30-40 homes, and none of them compared. Until we found our current home, which is better in every single way. What a hidden blessing!
It is still interesting for me to revisit these images 5 years later. My style has definitely changed, but some things remain - I still love soft blues, light spaces, and paintings of nature. The most important thing though was the beginning of putting my ideas down on paper and trying to convince Adam to go along with them. I’ve done enough of them now that he can often see what I mean when I describe it with words, but I still compose these as a way to validate my ideas and make sure everyone is on the same page.
I’d love to know what you think!
Anna