We have rooms done. Like, I can walk in and not immediately think “I need to do X, Y, and Z”. The best (unexpected) part about this is that our house is starting to feel like home. Up until now, I have felt like we were working on someone else’s building. Now, when I walk in and things are familiar and consistent and pretty, I feel like we are making progress in our home. That is a really good feeling. So, yeah, I’m excited. Excited about all the feels and excited to show you some updates!
Let’s start with the kids’ bathroom! Here are some fun reminder pics of what it looked like on the day we closed.
And here is where we are now!
We painted the ceiling, the walls, the trim, and the doors after removing the wallpaper and sanding. We changed out the pendant lights, removed the ceramic towel/TP fixtures, and changed out the electrical sockets/covers. New shower curtain and rod, new bathroom accessories, new cabinet hardware. I picked up the “I’ve got sunshine…” piece at Southeastern Salvage in Chattanooga before we moved.
The floral prints are Goodwill finds. I bought the supplies for the piped curtain rod at Home Depot and then hemmed some long curtain panels to fit the window. This curtain rod was really easy in hindsight and I love the industrial look in the bathroom, but there are some things I wish we had known prior to getting started. If you are thinking about doing this and have questions, get in touch with me before you start drilling holes in your wall.
We are planning to eventually update the bathroom tile and vanities in all of the bathrooms, but for the foreseeable future this is functional and perfect for kids. I had intended to change out the mirror as not to clash with the chrome hardware, but it actually started talking to me with the yellow in the pictures on the wall, so I’m leaving it for now. I am loving this room. It’s bright and sweet, classic, and gender neutral.
Moving on… The dining room! A reminder of the “Before”…
And here is the “After!”
We removed the wallpaper, then painted the ceiling, trim and walls. Removed the door leading to the kitchen and changed out the electrical sockets. I recovered the dining room chairs, hung drapes, and moved the furniture in. We will eventually change the light when I find something I love, and put the hardwoods in. We have talked about plantation shutters briefly, but I will probably hang some blinds in the meantime. I expect the feel and look of this room will change many times over the seasons and years – which is exactly what I wanted and why I chose neutral bases. I may move the hutch into the kitchen once it’s complete, and look for a sideboard to take its place. The walls are a little empty, but I don’t like to hang things unless I love them.
Last but not least, the guest room! This room was painted a pale blue and already had white trim when we moved in. In a effort to focus on the mountains and not the molehills, I decided that we would leave the paint alone and just decorate. We changed out the inset light for a ceiling fan and changed the electrical sockets. Here is the “Before”…
And the “After”!
As it turns out, I am loving this quaint, cozy space more than I had ever thought I would. It feels like calm in the midst of chaos (partly because it’s quiet and bright). I will eventually put something on the wall above the wooden chair, but I haven’t found it yet. I’m thinking about adding a rug under the bed to give this room even more depth and character.
He won’t read this I don’t think… but I wanted to acknowledge publicly how hard my husband has worked to get and keep this renovation up and running. Andrew gets up at 5:20 every morning for work, comes straight home (after the almost-daily trip to Home Depot), plays with Mac, and then goes right back to work on our house. He works until almost ten every night, and then goes to bed so he can do it all over again the next day. Not only has he kept the inside progressing, he keeps the yard and outside of the house right in check. We have only lived here for 6 weeks and these pictures don’t even include the other rooms that show how hard he has worked. He is an energizer bunny and I would bet on his work ethic any second of any hour of any day. When he doesn’t know how or what to do, he seeks advice and researches. If it doesn’t work the first time (or the second or the third), he doesn’t give up. He will not cut corners. He doesn’t complain. He is patient with my whims and qualms about what I want for our home. We celebrated our 5th anniversary this summer, but I am still overwhelmed some days by how much he loves me and all the ways he shows it. I am so thankful for a beautiful new home, but I’d live in a shack if it meant I could be with him. Lucky girl here.
Thank you so much for following along! Stay tuned for more reveals… Things are picking up speed!
