Hello!

Hi there! Welcome to our home!

My long-time boyfriend, Deeds (one of his many nicknames), and I dreamt of buying a home after an awful landlord experience. We decided we wanted to be our own landlords, and made that dream a reality in December 2013.

Since it was our first home, we couldn't afford much. We decided to build our home from the ground up - that way, we could find a large piece of property to suit our family's needs (we have a "pack" of Pomeranian Chihuahuas :) ), and pick out our own designs, colors, cabinets, flooring, etc. Since it was our "starter" home, we were sort of financially stuck with a lot of the builder-grade materials. They're nice, but not our "dream", or what we really wanted to pick for our home.

Over time, we've realized the colors we I chose just don't work. Our home feels so dark and gloomy. Sort of dungeon-y. Is that a word?

This blog will serve as my own personal diary to show all the progress we have made in renovating and decorating our home. (I think it will make me feel better when looking back on what our home used to be...you know, when I'm feeling down about not being where I want to be with the design of our home.)

I'll share updates, DIY home decor, and all sorts of other fun stuff along the way.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Home Tour - The Beginning

I'm not really a fan of the blue, but since I chose (almost) everything else in the house, I gave Deeds free reign on picking the exterior colors. The house was originally painted the wrong color, so the color our house looks now isn't really true to the colors he picked. It turned out darker than we he wanted. I'm hoping we can eventually paint it another color that isn't such an eyesore. Sorry, Deeds!

Main Level

When we bought our house and picked colors, we picked a really pretty, neutral tan color. The builder we used, picked one of the paint companies with the worst reputation in town to mix the color we chose, and it turned out yellow. If you can imagine someone smoking inside of their home for 20 years and never washing the walls, you can imagine the color our walls turned out to be. It feels so gross. I've tried to edit the terrible color out of most of the photos, but some just can't hide the nasty color.

When you first walk into our house, you enter the foyer/front entryway. There is a coat closet to the left, then stairs leading to the bedrooms, followed by a powder room. Straight ahead is the living room.

The 1/2 bath felt dark and depressing. It didn't help that this bathroom has no windows. We painted it grey and replaced the tile backsplash. It feels brighter in here, but I'm contemplating repainting it a softer grey in the future. Since we are working on finding a nicer mirror to put in here, as well as finding a lighter, brighter light fixture, I don't really have any current photos. I just have a picture of how it looked when we moved in.

I love our couch. It's really nice (I think it's called Kendall by Ashley Furniture), and we got an incredible deal on it. The only thing is the couch:living room size ratio. It's a tight fit, especially considering we came from a home with 2 living spaces and now we only have 1. We will learn as we go!

(Don't mind Deeds; he's just playing some scratch off tickets!)

(The rug was rolled and curled up when I first set it out...The mess around the edge is supposed to flatten the rug out.)

As you walk into the living room, you will see our kitchen and dining areas. Once you get past the foyer area, it's pretty open. So far, we've only added some cheap curtains from Ross - thanks to some neighbors that liked to be a little bit nosy...but aren't we all? :) Oh, and Deeds found a 5' x 7' zebra rug for my birthday last year from Hobby Lobby that was 80% off! This area is definitely in need of a face lift.

Upstairs

There is no natural light in the stairway going upstairs + a horrendous paint color = awful design. It's so dark I can't get a good picture, even with lights on. The stairs are only 36" wide, and are enclosed for the most part so it feels sort of claustrophobic. Trying to decorate the stairway (and include some of my younger sisters' homemade art) has proven to be a difficult task.

Upstairs, you will find 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and the laundry room.

I don't have pictures of the two spare bedrooms, mostly because they're still somewhat packed up. They say it takes 12+ months from moving in to actually be completely finished unpacking...I don't think most people actually ever completely unpack all of their belongings.

I enjoy crafting in what little spare time I have, and I'll also (hopefully soon) be working from home. The first spare room at the top of the stairs is my "quiet zone" when I need a moment to hide out alone...and maybe sneak a few chocolates. :)

Our second bedroom serves as a guest room, my closet, and Deeds' gaming area. Well, in the future it will be his gaming area...more on that later.

Not much to say here, but this is where I get ready every day. Very minimal and needs some serious help! I also hate the builder grade mirror. I've taken down the shower curtain and replaced it, but I'm not so sure I like the replacement either. It's all trial and error, baby!

Ick! I hate the look of wire shelving. The paint color is so "dirty" or "grungy" feeling...laundry rooms should feel clean! Oh, and that boob light! Well, you can't see it, but it's there! I wish there was a way we could bring some natural light into the space.

I have a picture of the space when we stayed our first night in the house, and that's about it so far. I cannot figure out a nice layout for this room. It has a dorky shape, and the window isn't even centered on the wall (but the bed is, in the above picture)...I guess it sort of is okay for just starting out, but I am envisioning how much potential this space has...or, at least I'm trying! We have a small closet, but it's so cramped and cluttered that no one needs to see it right now. :) I have a picture of it when we had our walk-through appointment before we closed on the purchase of our house.

More builder grade stuff - specifically the tacky shower insert. We're dreaming of a fully-tiled shower...someday. :) To the right of this doorway (and the right of the shower), there is a small linen closet.

We have a 12,000 square foot lot - that translated to a $10-20k+ backyard! We didn't have that kind of money, so we left it unfinished. We've since added a walk-out to a fire pit area, but that's it. Our house is situated on property that used to be an apple orchard. When the orchard was shut down, the trees were taken out of the ground...but one grew back, and it's right in the very corner of our yard where two of the fence lines meet. We're still learning how to take care of the apple tree. Our dogs love eating the fallen apples, which has led to some, let's say, "interesting" experiences.

I can't wait to share all of the updates and changes that we make (and have already made) over time. Progress makes me happy!

See you next time!