kitchen | home sweet bargeron.

I've been cooking since I was just a little girl, but up until a few months ago I had never considered it something I looked forward to. That all changed in December, however, when my dream kitchen became my real life kitchen. I was in heaven then, and I'm still in heaven eight months later! Not only is it updated and beautiful, but it's, also large and open. There are many days when I prepare meals with a whole lot of toys at my feet, and I still have room to move around without kicking too many of them with my bare feet.

There wasn't much "sprucing up" that needed to be done in this room because it was already so incredibly gorgeous, but it has still been fun to add little touches of home here and there. There are enough cabinets to keep all of our cookware hidden and organized (something I've NEVER known of my whole life), and it's so refreshing for everything to have it's own space. We purchased the pantry beside our refrigerator (you will see below) right after we moved in as a housewarming gift to ourselves, and it was a very smart (and, quite honestly, necessary) investment.

The bar stools at our island have been with us since the very beginning of our marriage, along with the dinner knives and utensil holder, and the other items have been added along the way since we moved in. I wanted as little amount of "stuff" on the countertops as possible because I love a clean, fresh kitchen, and I love the tidy feeling and easy clean up that they help foster. I've, also, dreamed of having a window above my sink for as long as I can remember (probably because all of the houses I lived in while growing up had one), and this one is just perfect. The roman shade above it was one of my DIY projects when we first moved in. I couldn't believe that this house had all (yes, ALL!) of my favorite things, including this! And that gorgeous KitchenAid mixer you see beside our stove...be still my heart! That was one of the best surprises I've ever received, and I use it like it's going out of style.

Preparing dinner and the clean-up that follows has never been so fun. Yes, fun! If the day comes that we ever move again, the next kitchen will have to top this one...and I'm just not sure if that's possible!

Before:

After:

Isn't she lovely?

dining room | home sweet bargeron.

Last week, I shared what our living room looks like with our personal touch on it, and today I am so excited to share our dining room with you! We spend a lot of time here (ahem, our toddler never stops eating), and I especially love it for the special items it houses. The gorgeous hutch was once my great-grandparents', and using it in my own house now, years later, makes me all kinds of thankful. The stunning high chair is on loan to us by a more-like-family friend, and it has been a treasure for us to use it during this season of our lives. The dining room table was one of my DIY projects several months ago, and it might sound dramatic to say this but I'm going to say it anyways because it's true: it's my proudest, most time-consuming DIY to date. And the tree hanging in the open space beside our doors was a recent find at Hobby Lobby that I just HAD (insert TJ's eye roll here) to buy, because it looks so much like the family tree on our adoption t-shirts. Such a special addition to our space!

Those beautiful French doors you see at the back of the room were added by the people who bought and fixed the house up before it became ours. We love the light it adds to the space, and we are frequently going in and out of them to spend time on our back deck.

There are a few more things I would like to do to this space, but for now I love it. I especially love being able to stand at the island and look out into both the dining room AND the living room at the same time. And those hardwood floors...mmm, I just love having those throughout the whole house!

Before:

After:

Two rooms down, and a handful more still to go! Thank you for following along as we share this blessed place we get to call our home. Up next week is my personal favorite room: the kitchen!

our year at a glance | twenty-seventeen.

It's already August, y'all.

I really have no idea how that's possible, but calendars don't lie.

That being the case, it has been over eight months since I have blogged regularly. Moving, fixing up a house, raising a toddler, going through the adoption process, working part-time and trying to get as much of our to-do list done before baby girl arrives later this year and soaking in moments with my Teesh after B lays down for the night are some of the reasons that I have not been as consistent with writing about our days. The good news is that even though I haven't been writing about and sharing our days with you as often, we have still been having the same amount of fun as we always do!

With baby girl on the way and life about to get crazier in ways I've never known firsthand before, I am hopeful to get back into the habit of letting this space be my haven again. I genuinely love sharing our days with you in hopes that it may somehow encourage or inspire you or even just make you smile when you're feeling blue, and I hope you enjoy seeing glimpses into our life, as well.

Here is what our year has looked like at a glance since we kicked off twenty-seventeen:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

(so far...)

As you can see, we have had a full year so far! Full of laughter, tears, frustrations, pleasant surprises, friends, and love. Here's to looking forward to the rest of the year, come what may!