New home.  New projects.  Mostly true.

The truth is we moved into our home about a year and a half ago, and although not new, it was new to us. I saw it as the perfect house to make into our own. Jason saw it as “Whoa. What in the world do we do with this house!?”.

I had spent the last few years making our last house perfect for us — renovating bathrooms, renovating the laundry room, making the kids’ rooms special, and adding a fun entry-wall with stained wood planks. And then one day, I popped the question, “You think we should start looking for a house with some more space?”. Having family in town all the time and loving to host people, we were feeling a little cramped in our space so we began the hunt.

To make a long story short, we put some letters in some mailboxes, and ended up buying a house 2 miles away from a sweet husband and wife who were looking to downsize.  When they showed us the house the first day, I saw serious potential.  Jason saw serious dollar signs. Haha! Though I knew there was lots to do (no structural changes, all cosmetic), I also knew that I could do a lot of it myself.

So we did it.  Made an offer. Listed our old house that afternoon. Sold it in a few hours.  And the rest is history. When we closed, we had the carpet and linoleum ripped out downstairs and hardwoods put in on the entire first floor. New carpet was installed on the second floor. Everything else got added to my “to-do” list. Two bathroom renovations.  Painting every room. De-wallpapering rooms (Lord help me). Painting kitchen cabinets (Lord send me more help). And the list continues.

The great thing is that the previous owners had taken great care of the home. Cabinets were like brand new (though original), showers were clean, grout in great shape, countertops great. They’d even put in some granite in the kitchen. The other stuff was just not our style, so as we’ve lived in the house these things have started to change slowly. And I’ve had SO MUCH FUN!

I figured I’d use this site to document some of these changes and maybe even give you some ideas as you’re thinking about how to make your house into the HOME that you LOVE!  I have lots of before and afters and will probably give some details of what I did.  (Quick side bar: Let’s be honest. NONE of what I’ve done could have been done without the help of my dear friend Google, which I search daily for how-to’s and blogs who have already done what I’m dreaming up in my head. And then I copy them.  Diligently. So I’ll just link you to the sites that I’ve liked.)