This fall is wicked busy. I don’t really have a lot of house projects going on, although I really need to tackle my garage before it gets too cold. So hopefully I will squeeze that in sometime soon! October marks the anniversary of the purchase of my house. In just a few weeks it will have been four years here. Four years seems like such a long time ago, but at the same time it only feels like yesterday. When I bought this place, in my mind it was a 5 year journey. For some reason I felt like in 5 years I would be ready for a new adventure. And I was right. I’ve tackled almost everything I could think of doing, project wise, in this place. But as I started to go through the motions of getting my ducks in a row to start a new adventure I found that I wasn’t quite ready to make the leap….

I wrote about the house that built me (my childhood house) in June of 2015. Although I’ve only spent 4 years in my current place (vs the 18 years at my parent’s house), this house has also become the house that built me. I have learned so much about life, and DIY, and love, and about who I am in this house. There are so many memories and projects and moments that have shown me I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. So throughout the remainder of the year, I’m going to reflect on all of the amazing things that I’ve accomplished, room by room, in this place. The first room I’m going to showcase is the master bedroom.

I wanted to start with the master bedroom because it holds some key pieces of my journey. The dresser is the first DIY project I ever did by myself, 100%. It’s the dresser from my crib set and although it took me 2 years after I finished it create this blog, it was the catalyst that started it all. The paint color is Benjamin Moore, “Trout Gray.”

The headboard is also a DIY project, surprise surprise! It’s one of the furniture tutorials from Ana White’s blog. I love her furniture plans. They are easy to follow, they provide a shopping list (and cut list for your wood), and she has a large catalogue of items to choose from. You can check out the headboard tutorial here. The duvet is from West Elm, here. I love their linens, but white is probably the worst color I could choose for duvet. It’s so hard to keep clean, especially the top part that gets near my face. No matter what, it seems to get dingy from makeup or spray tans.

The nightstands are NOT DIY. Can you believe it? I actually bought something brand new. I got these from Wayfair or Hayneedle right after I moved in. They were having an awesome Christmas sale with free shipping. The lamps are from target.

One of my favorite quotes is framed on the night stand next to my bed. It reads:

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin—real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.

I’m not great at living life as a journey. I’m much better than I use to be when it comes to “racing” to whatever finish line I’m currently trying to cross. But it’s a good reminder to wake up to every morning.

The best part of the room is the three photos above the bed: London, Paris, and Rome. I love to travel. To be honest I’m not sure where that desire came from. But I think you learn so much from experiencing new places. I have no desire to live anywhere else. I love calling North Carolina home, but, at the same time, I love venturing out to new places. My first trip outside of the US (other than the Bahamas) was to Europe. It was definitely a culturally shocking experience. But it was awesome to see all these places I’d only seen on TV or in books. So when I dream, I dream of travel adventures. These photos are also up for sale in my Etsy shop, here.

Well, that’s my master bedroom. It was one of the first rooms I painted when I moved in, and it hasn’t changed much since then. It’s clean It’s simple. It’s relaxing.