3-Year Progress Update On Our Retro Reno

When I started planning this blog post, I spent a good bit of time thinking about whether I wanted to compare our current room designs to the way-back-in-the-day “before” photos from the house right when we got the keys, or to progress photos from the first or second year we lived here. In the end, I decided to go with empty room photos from before we had moved in because I think that gives you the starkest perspective on how much work we’ve put into our gentle renovation.

We didn’t take down any walls (wasn’t necessary), didn’t tear out any old tile (the original stuff was in great shape), and didn’t build any large-scale custom additions. What we did do was honor the original design of our retro ranch home, swapping out dated fixtures with more modern ones, painting, and taking down wallpaper that was past its prime. Keep scrolling to see what you can do with very little budget and almost no demolition at all, and if you’d like links to all of the blog posts where I talk in more detail about the updates we’ve made, be sure to click over to my “Makeovers” page where I break it all down by room.

The Living Room

This room has gone through at least three paint colors, but I’m finally really happy with the light beige tone we landed on as of last year. I also installed custom curtains that we’ll now have forever (I love a good “one and done” investment!), and put my own bonsai-inspired wallpaper design on the fireplace wall. The room feels so fresh now and inviting. I periodically scroll through the old listing photos of our home just to see how far we’ve come, and recently noticed that our front living room started out as a soft beige tone, so I feel like we’re keeping true to the original color intention for this space now.

The Kitchen And Snug

I think our kitchen has seen the most change since moving in three years ago, including a new cabinet paint color, lighting, fixtures, appliances, and countertops. I also installed new wallpaper throughout, and swapped one cabinet for two floating shelves to help bring more natural light into this naturally dark room. I would still love to have skylights installed, but I think it might be impossible to convince John to let me hire someone to do that. Fingers crossed I get my wish sometime in the next decade!

The Dining Room

This is our first time having a formal dining room, and we love it. It makes meal time feel so much more special, and I’ve had a lot of fun experimenting with design concepts in this space. Three years later, and I’ve landed on a look that feels like it might just be here to stay. I painted the bottom half a dark blue/green color, added picture frame moulding, and, finally, installed new wallpaper to really make the walls pop. Modern antique furniture pays homage to our 1960s home, and the new glass dining table I opted for helps make this tiny room feel at least a little more expansive.

The Sunroom And Laundry Closet

The enormous sunroom on the back of our house really sold us on the place. The 11 windows let in so much beautiful light, not to mention gorgeous views of trees throughout all four seasons. We’ve made the most of the space by creating a large seating area, and also managed to fit a little reading corner and large console unit, too, that serves as bonus kitchen appliance storage space. I also finally got around to making over the little laundry closet that’s in this space last year. I added more wallpaper and took my time planning out more aesthetic storage solutions. The sunroom is one of our favorite spots in the whole house.

My Home Office

I love the patterned wallpaper that I put up in my office back in 2024, and the complementary paint color below. This room is truly my “happy place” in terms of colors and art, which is exactly what I need in the room that I’m meant to be extra productive in. I was especially excited to upgrade to a new ergonomic desk chair and to, later, find a rug that could handle the rolling chair’s wheels last year. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

The Lounge

Our back bonus room has been used as my home office, a guest room, and now, finally, a reading and conversation lounge. I felt like the room was too large to serve as my home office, so I quickly switched it to a guest room after moving in, but then we never used the room because we hardly ever host guests (my parents live about a mile away and family always stays with them instead). John and I and our pets use this room so much more now that it’s a dedicated lounge space. We don’t have room for a TV, so it’s just used for reading and chatting. I love the simplicity of our lounge and am so grateful that we made it work for us.

The Primary Bedroom

I couldn’t help but smile after scrolling through those photos above just now. As soon as I laid eyes on what was to become our primary bedroom during our first tour, I envisioned it with a more calming wallpaper, soft blue/green lime wash, and pretty blonde wood bedroom furniture that we could love for the rest of our lives. That dream finally came true last year, and I think it’s just perfect. Again, I wouldn’t change a thing!

The Pottery Studio

One of my very favorite updates that we’ve made to the house was the addition of an at-home pottery studio. Having this creative space all to myself has been hugely positive for my mental health, and has turned DGD Pottery into a full-time business that I’m so excited to watch flourish in 2026 and beyond. It was also so validating to make better use of our enormous unfinished basement! Now it’s a room that feels very practical and purposeful.

The Hardscape Patio

Last year for my birthday, John and both of our dads worked hard to install a hardscape patio in our backyard. This is another one of those updates that we had been envisioning for the property since soon after moving in, so it feels amazing to finally say that it’s done and ready to be enjoyed. We’ve been making the most of it every single season so far thanks to a chiminea in the fall and wintertime and cozy seating during the warmer months. It’s my favorite place to go now when I just want to take a big deep breath.

If you made it this far, I commend you! Thank you so much for taking today’s virtual tour of our home, and I hope you came away with some inspiration or maybe even motivation to tackle some of your own renovation projects at home. I have to say, as I inch closer to my fortieth birthday this April, I have this sense that I’m actually going to slow down when it comes to home decorating. Don’t worry. I could never stop making little decorative tweaks here and there (and sharing about them here on this blog), but our home feels so good to me right now.

Point being that I love each and ever room, and no longer really have the desire to make major changes like I did when I was in my 20s. I don’t want to redo a room or buy excess home décor just because the Internet is full of that type of frenetic content these days. Instead, I’d like to settle in and enjoy all of our hard work for once. I want to feel a sense of peace in our space, and focus on building up other parts of my life, like making art, reading books, having friends and family over, etc…

This new decade of life feels like a chance to slow down, and I’m going to take it. Happily, I think that there’s still so much to share about living in and designing a home you love that goes beyond new paint colors and furniture. I’m excited to transition some of the content here on DGD to more lifestyle-focused stories that encourage a slower pace and instill in you more appreciation for what we already have. Who’s with me?? As always, I’m grateful to have you along for the ride.