Thanks for all the nice words about the new house! We are very excited to move in soon! Not everything we are planning on doing will be finished when we move in so I’ll be sharing our progress along the way. Here’s the rest of the house and some of our plans…
The first photo is of our backyard. It’s a pretty good size and is fenced in which is good for the little one and doggie. Eventually we would like to get a prettier fence that offers more privacy!
Like I mentioned, there are 4 bedrooms; 3 of them are good sized and one is more of an office. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the office and we have yet to decide how to use that space.. perhaps a future studio??
Here’s the master:
Off of the master, there’s a master bathroom – although you could hardly call it “master” haha. It’s way small but it was one of the only houses in our price range with a “master bathroom”. I don’t have a picture of it but it looks really similar to the other bathroom upstairs (only smaller). We have basically the same plans for both bathrooms.
Bathroom:
Bedroom 1:
Bedroom 2 (Jack’s room):
We have the same plans for these two bedrooms as the master – paint walls, window and door trim, replace carpet, etc. The one exception is Jack’s room which will have a feature wall:
Last is the basement. I actually really hate basements; they are usually musty, dark, and claustrophobic. So when I saw this one, I was thrilled (I had to look WAY beyond the cosmetic details haha). It’s pretty spacious and has some natural light coming in. It also has a giant fireplace and recessed lights Plus it’s a walkout, yay!
Another view of basement and walkout to backyard:
That’s all! Can’t wait to show you our progress!
To say I’m mad at myself is an understatement… I took all these pictures of the house right after we closed back in January and somehow I lost them. All of them. They were all the ‘before’ pictures. We literally started demoing the house the day after we closed so I can’t retake them. Anyway wah wah wah… the photos from the realtor will have to do. So all these pictures you will see are from when the old owners were still living there. I updated them with our plans. Here’s some more info about our new house…
- 2-story in NW Rochester on a corner of a cul-de-sac
- 4 bedrooms (all 4 are upstairs)
- 2 1/2 bathrooms (the 2 full bathrooms are upstairs, the 1/2 is on the main)
- Finished walkout basement with fireplace
- Built in 1971
We had to have quite the imagination when looking at this house! It was on the market for a year and a half and didn’t show the best. I immediately imagined it having an open floor plan and then started to see the potential.
First the outside of the house. I actually kind of like the red although I probably would have chose a different color for the shutters and door but we are keeping it as-is for now.
When you walk into the house, the living room is on the right where that big window is. If you look straight you will see a hallway leading to the kitchen. To the left is the stairs to the 2nd level. Here is the living room:
Our plans:
The old owners asked if we wanted to keep their furniture, we politely declined ;). Another view of living room:
One more of living room:
The dining room is right off of the living room in the back of the house.
And the biggest project, the kitchen:
There’s also a 1/2 bathroom we are redoing right off the kitchen. We are replacing the vanity, sink, and toilet and installing wainscoting half way up the wall.
Whew! No wonder we haven’t moved in yet! That’s a ton of work and yes we are doing all of it ourselves. When I say ‘ourselves’ I mean my dad and D. haha I have helped a little with painting. Right now we are waiting for the new countertops to come in so that’s what’s holding us up. In part 2, I’ll show you the 2nd level and basement so stay tuned!
My mom asked me this weekend how I liked being a mom. To be honest, I’m not so sure about the whole mom thing. First off it’s pretty overwhelming, sacrificing, scary, and let’s not forget exhausting. Then I thought about all the grief I gave my mom as I got older and knew I was probably in for some of my own grief. Was it all really worth it? I explained this to her as I was holding Jack. But Jack… I love Jack. I like being Jack’s mom; how his crying stops when I hold him, how he smiles at me like he knows me, how my favorite time of day is in the morning when we cuddle together, and how I really would do anything for this little boy. Being Jack’s mom is pretty great.
I know I said I would be sharing a preview of the house – it’s coming tomorrow I promise!!
I had some crazy dreams last night – well more like nightmares. First I had a dream that I forgot Jack in a hot car and then that I lost Jack in the ocean. What’s up with that? Is it some worried Mom thing that I’m just discovering?? Anyone else have dreams like that? Ack I hope it’s not the beginning of something – they were seriously terrifying! No worries though, right now Jack is sound asleep in his pack and play with some lovely whale noises singing in the background.
I’m wearing…
Shirt: Pac Sun
Stripped Tank: Target
Jeans: H&M
Shoes: TJ Maxx
Watch: TJ Maxx
Be sure to come back Monday – I’ll be sharing a little house preview!!
Remember this bedroom? It was my younger sister’s old bedroom that D and I stayed in for the first couple months we lived with my parents before moving downstairs to this bedroom. After we moved downstairs, my mom had the idea to redo it (mostly a ploy to get Abby to come home for the summer!). She asked me to help and I never turn down a design project! We surprised Abby with it when she came home for her Christmas break last year. She was shocked :D. How fun would it be to be a designer on HGTV and surprise people on a daily basis. New life goal!
Here’s the before:
See the full before here. While the old space was pretty, it looked like this since before Abby was in high school and it was definitely time for a change. We started with a fresh coat of paint of light gray. My mom already had the wrought iron bed that she bought at an antique fair. We wanted the bed to be the focal point so we picked out a fun and colorful bedspread at Urban Outfitters.
My mom made the pillow shams and black pillows from an old dress. We found a perfect little beaded pillow at Pier One for $7! The white window was found at a flea market.
We found these fabulous red chairs at Gold Rush (a local antique fair) last year. The footstool was an old bench; the dog chewed up one leg so we shortened the legs, painted it black, and covered it with fur. The print above the chair is Papaya Art. The lamp is from Lowe’s.
My dad originally made the makeup table and my mom recovered it in gray fabric. We found the floral scarf at Target. My mom spray-painted the chair black and covered the back of it in the same fabric she used for the pillows. We found the mirror at TJ Maxx – I LOVE the shape of it.
We painted the hutch/dresser white and my mom put fabric in the inside of the doors. The fabric is actually a shower curtain from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I got the teal vases at Ikea and did the postcard art. The chandelier is also from an antique fair and was originally gold before my mom spray painted it white.
You might remember this painting I did. I thought it went perfectly in this room.
These bird prints are from Hobby Lobby.
This was such a fun project for my mom and I to do. Too bad it didn’t actually convince Abby to come home this summer! But I guess I wouldn’t pass up an internship in NYC either!
