Before We Move In

All the projects we’re working on and the wallpaper samples we've ordered so far

Welcome to House Notes, my series where I share the behind-the-scenes of designing our new home. If you’re new here, we bought our third home, and we’re trying to do as much as we can before we move in. I have a million decisions to make and have been back on Pinterest which has been a little nostalgic.

We’re doing as much as we can upfront. It’s going to be a little scrappy since we’re going to live through a lot of the work, but we demo’d our primary bath when my third baby was just 10 days old, so it’ll be fine.

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Here’s everything we’re working on:

Exterior — We are replacing all the exterior windows and shutters (already ordered), adding a portico, a new front door, painting the house, fencing the yard, and landscaping. The exterior is the thing I’m most excited about, and we actually have a pretty clear (and aligned) idea of what I want it to look like.

The one area where we haven’t seen totally eye-to-eye is the exterior color, but Conor has agreed to defer to me and Kira, who’s helping us with a few projects. We are moving from a white brick house with black shutters to another brick house with shutters, so I want it to look different.

I’d like to do off-white with beige shutters and a beige front door. He thinks we should do blue or green. I love the look of blue but it doesn’t feel right. Kira agreed with me (and she’d tell me if I was wrong!) so we’re probably going with that.

The primary bath and closet — My MIL suggested doing the demo before we move in since demo is the worst part. I loved the idea, and it felt like a lot to Conor. I personally don’t think it’s a big deal to use another bathroom, and I’d rather avoid the mess that comes with tearing an attached bath out.

Since my MIL, Kira, and I all think we should do it, we’re going to do it before we move in. I’ll be sharing a bathroom with the kids. I’m trying to be a good sport about it. I shared our vanity here, and we decided on walnut cabinets and wallpaper which for some reason, feels very grown-up. It’s also not like I’m not entering my mid-40s.

House Notes: Our Bathroom Renovation

Once our bathroom is done, we’ll move onto the kids’ bathrooms.

Upstairs — We are replacing the bedroom carpet with wood, which we’ll stain darker than the floors in our current home. I don’t have an exact stain yet but will share when I do.

I need to select wallpaper for the bedrooms (more on that below), which I’ve had some trouble with, so Kira is helping with that, too. We’re keeping pretty much all the kids’ furniture. Margot is getting a new bed and keeping the current dresser, and Kate is keeping her Jenny Lind and getting a new dresser. Jack will eventually need a bed, but everything else stays the same.

We also need a new upholstered bed for our room since our bed is too large for the space, a new dresser with larger drawers, and nightstands.

Basement — The flooring is currently carpet, and it’s fine, but with three young kids, a dog, and two cats, it will be trashed quickly. We’re going to go with vinyl “wood” and are adding an off-season closet down there.

And next spring, the kitchen, mudroom, laundry, and pantry! — We’re finalizing kitchen plans now and ordering cabinets, which take at least three months to arrive. So the actual kitchen renovation happens next spring, and that’s when we’ll redo the flooring on the first floor.

This will be a huge project since we’re adding a laundry room, mudroom, and pantry, all of which I am so excited for. I’ll share more about the design in the coming months. Melinda has been working on the plans, and I think we have it all figured out.

Other Projects — There are lots of little things, the guest bath, guest room bath, a fireplace mantel, closets, and our patio, that we’ll eventually redo, but we don’t have a set timeline.

A lot is happening at once, which is a little overwhelming and also kind of exciting, too. I’ll be sharing updates as we go. The decisions, the mistakes, the things that take longer than expected.

And now, onto the wallpaper and fabric samples I’ve ordered, the ones I loved, and the ones that didn’t make the cut.

Wallpaper and Fabric Samples

We have the Thibaut print above in the girls’ bathroom (top right, green) but I love it, so I ordered each color way. I really like the top middle and left, but don’t have a specific place I want to use them yet.

Then there’s Chloe by Anna French (Thibaut). I prefer the top colorways to the bottom. The white on the darker colors just isn’t doing it for me. I think the light blue/grey or brown are so pretty, and could see doing the wallpaper and an upholstered bed in a matching print.

These Soane samples are gorgeous. I think the wallpaper is like 1k per roll so it’s probably not happening.

It’s probably too busy, but how pretty would the scrolling fern be in a bedroom or bath? Or both? Either way, it’s too expensive for both, especially when we plan on moving again in the next 3-4 years.

This is not the same, but has a similar vibe and better price point. I love this, too. It’s a bit more geometric but so fun.

I have no idea where these would go but they’re beautiful. From left to right, they’re Lucknawi Flower in Blue and Pineapple Lace in Azure by Soane.

I love all of the stripes above. My favorites are the Buckley Stripe or Payton Stripe by Anna French, or the Chatham Stripe in Delft by Schumacher.

Print names (clockwise from top left)
Buckley Stripe in Blue by Anna French
Payton Stripe in Blue by Anna French
Suited Stripe in Navy by Thibaut
Chatham Stripe, Delft by Schumacher
Coco Stripe in Indigo by Schumacher
Westerly Stripe in Navy by Schumacher

I love everything pictured above. The Kristen Leigh fabrics are so pretty, but I’m not sure what I’d pair them with just yet. I especially love the bottom left in green.

I love all of these florals, but the bottom left is the one I chose for my daughter’s room. I’m waiting on samples, but will likely use one of the following for my other daughter.

Print names (clockwise from top left

Margie Floral by Schumacher
Bowood Silver by Colefax & Fowler
Chantilly Silver in Forest by Colefax & Fowler
Blomslinga Blue and White by Schumacher
Fuschia Old Blue by Colefax & Fowler
Sweet Pea by Cole & Son

I want to do something fun for both of the girls, but want to make sure the wallpapers aren’t too similar. My friend Kira is helping me figure out what works well together, and seeing all of these here, part of me wants either a block print or the butterflies paired with Sweet Pea? I don’t know.

Floreana by Schumacher
Baudin Butterfly by Schumacher
Grasscloth Butterflies by Caitlin McGauley
Fuschia Old Blue by Colefax & Fowler (for one of the girls rooms)

The Ones That Didn’t Make The Cut

These are all lovely, but none of them felt right for this house. They’re not bad, but just not for me.

I actually really like the top left and bottom left stripe, but won’t be using any of these wallpapers. The top are all Thibaut and bottom are all Schumacher. The top left is Canvas Stripe by Thibaut and comes in a bunch of colors. The bottom left is Coco Stripe, and I love the stripe, but the color isn’t right.

I love the top left and middle, but prefer the top left in another color, and really like the middle print as fabric as opposed to wallpaper. These all felt a little too flat to me.

I won’t be using anything here. The top are all designs I didn’t really care for, and the bottom ones are pretty but not the right colors.

More samples are on the way, so I’ll be back with more updates soon.