Current Home Tour

We purchased our current 3 bedroom ranch in the winter of 2014 and we've been working our way through updating every part of it. Take a little tour through our home and see where we started...

Entryway
The original entry just needed a little freshening up with new paint.  We painted the front door black to add some drama.  And swapped out the lighting and the hardware with updated versions with an oil-rubbed bronze finish (the light can be found at Home Depot here).  One of the first projects that we hired out was floor refinishing.  We salvaged all the original oak hardwood floors throughout the house and had them sanded down and refinished in Dark Walnut with a semi-gloss poly coat.  We also updated all the yellowed outlets and switches, door and window casings, and baseboard trim throughout the house. 

This is my first time sharing the black front door.  I was in the process of painting our family room French doors, and it seemed like a good time to paint the front door in between coats.  I have yet to paint the exterior side of the door; the weather makes that impossible right now.  That's an update we will do once Spring breaks.

The Living Room
The living room is the first room that was officially usable. We needed a space that felt done while the rest of the house was in a chaotic state. We removed the window seat, replaced all the trim and casing, painted the mantle and the fireplace.  We painted over outdated sponge paint on the walls with Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (which also extends into the dining room and through the kitchen).  All of the living room furniture is from our last house; we just have much more space for it here!

This year, we plan to tile the fireplace surround and replace the hearth (with leftover floor tile from the family room).  We also plan to replace the trim below the cove with a crown molding.  Down the road we may repurpose this room as a formal dining room now that we have a large family room. I know formal dining rooms are going out of style right now, but we would really like a larger dining table to seat 10+ for larger gatherings.

Speaking of not having much space to seat large parties, here is our original dining area.

Dining Room/Sitting Room
The dining room was originally a closed off area only open to the living room.  We opened it up to the kitchen by removing a portion of the wall.  Our kitchen didn't have an eat in area before, so this change really opened up the space and made our house feel more connected.

We loved the new openness of the space, but we really wanted a bigger space to entertain.

We repurposed the room into a sitting room in June 2015.

 

 

The Family Room
This was our biggest undertaking yet.  This large space was a deterrent to many buyers on the market (it sat for 6+ months) because while this 400 sq foot space was considered 'finished' by the sellers, there was no heating/cooling source and it was rough looking (to say the least).  It felt more like an breezy garage with windows than a living area.  We envisioned a much different use for this room when we bought this home. And it took a few months to get to where we wanted it. We hired out raising the floor, running air ducts through the basement wall and through the new floor joists, removing a window, raising the sliding door, insulating, hanging drywall and supporting the new vaulted ceiling.  We saved some money by designing the room, laying the subfloor, installing the tile, and painting ourselves.

 

 

We still have a lot of plans for this room.  Which include a wet bar and tying up some loose ends.

 

The Kitchen
Other than having the floors refinished, this was our first big project in our new house.  Which we started less than 60 days from purchasing the house.  The project took us 3 months, and we still haven't fully installed the hardware on the cabinets.  We demo'd the old kitchen, restored the original cabinets (by painting and customizing a few), ordered new appliances, removed the soffit, painted the trim and walls, and installed a backsplash.  We hired out the installation of hardware floors, the electrical, ductwork, trim, and shelf below the cabinets and ordered new counters.

 

 

 



 

Sunroom
We tossed the drapes, replaced the hardware with oil rubbed bronze fixtures, swapped out the ceiling fan with a classic lantern style light, and painted the walls and ceiling with some fresh colors to brighten up the space.  We also had a storage bench built, and hung organizers to help make this room function as a mudroom as well.  This room is used as our main entrance into the house and we needed a functional space to catch the dirt, shoes, and coats.  This room will see more transition in the short term future.

 

 

 

 



Guest Bathroom
In between updating the rest of the house, we snuck in a quick update to the spare bath.  We added planks to the wall, painted the vanity, and swapped out the mirror and hardware. It was an quick and easy fix to a blah bathroom.

 

 

Master Bedroom
Our focus over the last 12 months has been on the main living area of the house - ignoring the bedrooms.  Just after our wedding, I felt the instant need to give our bedroom a little bit of a makeover.  I shopped the unpacked moving boxes in the basement ordered new drapes and put together a decorated room more fit for newlyweds.  This is one room I'd like to redo again soon, but for now it'll work for us.

 

 

Master Bathroom
Our master bath was a mess when we first moved in. It was grungy and falling apart. We worked on this in between other projects, and kept the budget really low by purchasing cedar fence boards to skim the ceiling. We swapped out the vanity top, and kept the original vanity by making some repairs and updating it with paint and hardware. Then we updated the trim and built new doors for the medicine cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Bedroom
This was a empty little room with plain walls and a closet for storage. We amped up the style by refinishing the floors, creating built-in storage units, replacing trim with a chunky style, adding crown molding, swapping the ceiling fan for a crystal chandelier and painting the walls in a dramatic slate blue.

We used this space as an office for about 3 months.

 

It never got used, so we felt the space would be better suited as a guest bedroom.

 

 Pergola

We inherited a shaggy looking pergola in the backyard. The landscaping had been neglected and the pergola needed to be demolished updating.  We controlled the overgrowth, added some new perennials, mulched and created a barrier between the landscaping and the yard.  Then we built an outdoor table, hung some bistro lights, removed the ivy, painted, replaced the deck boards, and updated electrical.

 

 

  

 

We were able to get through a lot of the big renovations in the past 20 months. But we're not done yet! Don't forget to subscribe to the email updates so you can see what changes we will make next!