There is something magical about Christmas. It’s the time of the year where kids (and adults) are free to believe in the magic of Santa Claus, giving and love is abundant, and baking and eating cookies is expected, not discouraged. What isn’t there to love about Christmas?

The pandemic has been difficult. We’ve been stuck in one place, concerned for the health and safety of our loved ones, and trying to balance staying safe and still finding things to do to protect us from going stir crazy. So we decided to take a quick trip to Alexandria, Virginia, which is about a two and half hour drive. 

We are probably a little Fall-lite this year on decorating since we’re in the middle of a few projects. However, I did want to share some pictures, and in them, you can see that we have painted a few of the rooms now. Actually, we painted the entire main level, including the living room and the dining room, which are pictured below.

In the time of COVID-19 and staying home, Matt and I took on a bunch of what I’m going to affectionately dub “quarantine projects.” This was perhaps one of Matt’s favorites — but also one that turned into a bit of a bigger project because I’m a tad bit extra (unapologetically so).

The Townhouse has two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms — and I wanted to redo all of them. So I started with the half bathroom. However, I really didn’t want to put too much money into it because the practical side of said, “You’re looking for a new house, and it doesn’t make sense to spend money on tile and countertops.”

Can I start by telling you that three years ago, I would not have been stepping foot in a brewery? It’ll be hard to imagine, especially because we literally plan most of our trips around beer now. But prior to meeting Matt and him convincing me to try different beers, I thought all beer was disgusting and tasted bitter and gross. Also, the only words I had to describe the bitter, grossness was hoppy.

By far, the kitchen was the number one room I wanted to renovate. It was also the most difficult, which means I needed help. Thankfully, I did have the help of numerous people, and so all of my labor was free. That was a saving grace with this whole project.

So we can’t travel right now with the COVID-19 pandemic that has kept us all at home. With that, I’ve been spending a lot of time looking back through old photos of our trips from last year, longing to travel again.

The very first thing I did in the townhouse was to change the wall colors. I knew from my HGTV watching habits that I absolutely HAD to have gray walls. If I didn’t, it would be a travesty. Now, let’s just talk about one thing — gray is gray. I had never in my life been in the paint section of any home improvement store.

In 2017, I needed a place to live, badly, and the price to rent was way more than if I just bought a house. Thus started the search for a townhouse, one that looked like an after house from Fixer Upper on HGTV — in other words, I was delusional on this home tour. Reality set in when my mortgage broker informed me of what I could actually afford. So eventually, I decided something that had potential for change would be the better solution.