OUR NEW HOME!-BEFORE

Wednesday, March 23, 2016


we closed on our new home a few months ago and thought it'd be fun to share all the before pictures! these pictures were all taken from the listing so they aren't the best quality. before i show you the befores, i'd like to talk about the house a bit and our buying process. justin and i had been stashing money away for quite awhile and browsing the market before we finally found the house we would call home. to me, the three or four months of serious looking seemed to drag on. i started to get really frustrated with the market and was ready to call it quits. we wanted a big plot of land with a house that covered a specific number of square feet- thinking about our growing family in the long term- and it just didn't seem to work out. the homes with the right acreage needed to be completely gutted, and the homes that offered everything we wanted, had a yard the size of a shoebox. eventually, we decided to throw out the land and just look for something with an acre or two instead of five or six. after re-evaluating our priorities, we came across this listing again. we had seen the listing a few times before and even happened to drive by on our way to look at another place down the road,  but this time was different. the asking price had just been reduced, it had over an acre and checked a lot of boxes, so we scheduled a showing to see it within the next day or two. as soon as we toured the home, we just knew we wanted to put in an offer pretty much right then and there- that's extremely rare for us. we are numbers people, and take calculated risks. we ended up negotiating a lower selling price and feel like we got a great deal on it. we are very pleased with how it all went down. being patient and determined pays off!

some of the things we loved about the house were security (keypads, alarm system, storm doors with locks, a FEMA certified safe room. you name it, this house probably has it), square footage, location, the sunroom, high quality fixtures, three bathrooms- one for the kids to share, a three car garage with plenty of storage for justin's work things, an office space, the landscaping, the hardwood floors, large windows, a fireplace, high quality cabinetry, integrated lighting, and large closets. the things we weren't/aren't too crazy about are the way the house sits on the property, the countertops, the carpet and the colors. the paint colors didn't scare us though as it's...well, paint. painting is time consuming  but not difficult, so we weren't intimidated. plus, i didn't figure putting all my hope into finding an all white home was very realistic. ha! currently, we walk in through the garage door right onto carpet. it feels so wrong. maybe it's because we are in the south and were both raised to take off our shoes before stepping foot on carpet, but it feels so awkward! we've gotten more accustomed to it now that we've been here for a little bit but we'd still like to change the carpet to hardwood. also, there's currently no fence, so we feel very exposed to neighbors- the complete opposite of our last home where we had very few neighbors and they were spaced far out. these are all relatively easy fixes though and we are feeling determined to tackle them soon. we hope to build a fence this summer, and work on the other things as we go. getting a fence put up is probably our first priority. having a large space for our kids to run around and explore without momma worrying too much is enticing. i'm dying to plant some fruit trees, and start a raised bed garden as well.

i have so many ideas and am very excited to dive into the decorating side of things! or continue decorating i should say. anyhow, here's what our home looked like when it was listed for sale on zillow. it has already changed quite a bit with a fresh coat of paint and our own furniture. moving from an old home built in the 40's with 1200 square feet to a newer home with almost 2.5 times the space has left us with a lot of blank space and you won't find me complaining. it feels like a breath of fresh air after feeling as though we were bursting at the seams in our last home!  i hope to keep our home more on the minimal side as i've found it's much easier to keep a home clean that's free of just stuff. 


first up is the living room(pictured above). i just wasn't feeling the previous layout of the furniture and was dead set on making this room more functional. ie: no walking in front of the tv after coming in the door. now, this room is kind of split into two sections- a living area and then an entryway off the garage. the entryway hasn't quite been put together yet, so it's just a huge open space for the time being. using the above picture for reference, our couch sits in the same spot with our tv on the opposite wall. it's funny to me that i had a few people-friends and even our satellite guy- telling me i shouldn't use the layout i wanted to, but i am so glad i stuck to my guns on this one. i don't regret it one bit.



the kitchen. Although i wouldn't necessarily call this kitchen "my style" i can appreciate the abundant cabinetry, storage and counter space. we don't even own enough gadgets items to fill  the drawers and cabinets. we plan on replacing the countertops so that they all match.  marble and granite are the two contenders. we got rid of all the mustard yellow and replaced it with a coat of fresh white paint. two coats actually.  i'd also like to replace the backsplash with something more modern but not quite sure on that yet. (if any of you have ever replaced backsplash, feel free to leave some tips in the comments!). replacing the backsplash is pretty low on the priority list at the moment, so we will see what happens with that later on.



the bar. hopefully this month we'll be replacing the two pendant lights. fingers crossed. we still haven't found a set of bar stools we love. the search continues. 



the sunroom/homeschool room. i am most excited about this room i think. it's a decently sized space and i absolutely love the fireplace. we plan on removing the wood burning stove since it takes up quite a bit of floor space. is it silly that i was overly excited about the roman shades? ha! for this room, i want it to be a multi-functioning room. it needs to connect the indoor and outdoor areas effortlessly. i'm thinking white paint (duh!), jute rugs, lots of plants, matching light fixtures and great seating. one thing i really liked about this space is there's a bathroom next to the back door making it perfect for the kids to use during warmer months if they need use the restroom or need to clean up a little bit before coming inside. i'm really hoping this will help keep tracking dirt inside to a minimum. 


 
a closer look at the beautiful fireplace. 



the foyer. i love this front door so much. i'm not typically a wood person, but i really love this front door. plus, i'm pretty sure my dad would kill me if i told him i'd rather paint it. replacing the light, adding plants, a new rug, and some storage would be ideal. all of my plants currently reside here. it's like walking into a mini jungle when you first enter our home right now. it's a love hate relationship. the sunroom will be their new zip code after it's painted. 



the dining room. you can't really tell what's happening here but i can already tell you this space feels so much larger  just by covering up the mustard yellow and ketchup red. yay! for no more condiment colored walls!! the guys replaced the chandelier for me a few weeks ago. you can see a sneak peek of the transformation here 



here's another angle of the dining room/bar area. that huge door leads to the sunroom. we took down all of the wooden blinds to open up the space and make the rooms more cohesive.


i hope you enjoyed the mini tour of our main living area! are you planning any home updates? 

5 comments:

  1. such a transformation! I cannot wait for the sunroom/homeschool room to be done!!

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    1. Thank you! I cannot wait either! I hope to document the process and show updates as soon as they happen :) first up is paint!

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  2. I'm excited for the after pictures! ;-)

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    1. thank you! i am excited too! i plan on sharing the "after" pictures as soon as it's all finished. i love putting my ideas to the test but there's also something so satisfying about finishing a project and enjoying the end result... i may enlist your help! ha! ;)

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    2. Yes, please! :-)

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