It’s Show and Tell Tuesday with Andrea at Momfessionals where she is inspiring everyone to give a home tour! I seriously cannot wait to see everyone’s post and maybe be inspired by some great ideas.
It’s Show and Tell Tuesday with Andrea at
Momfessionals and today we are showing off our homes!
So we have lived in our house for 13 years and so far I have failed to complete any one room 100%! Since the house itself isn’t anything too exciting or out of the ordinary I thought I would take a little walk down memory lane and show the changes we have made.
Keep in mind our house was built in 1994 and when we moved in the entire house was white with lots of wallpaper. White walls, white carpet (even in the master bathroom), white cabinets, really light flooring and there was wallpaper in kitchen and both bathrooms. The carpet was definitely the first to go and the wallpaper was second on my list. We didn’t really have the money for lots of upgrades right away so I settled for a fresh coat of paint and we moved in.
Kitchen
The kitchen was the first major renovation we budgeted for. Mind you, my house had been on the market for several months and after a contract falling through we decided to pull it off and upgrade the kitchen before listing again. Oh how I wish I would have had a crystal ball at the point as I would have totally done things differently.
Here is the kitchen as it was when we moved in. The tile was the very first thing we did and I was so smart to pick tile that matched the wallpaper (not). I told you guys, so much white!!
Keep in mind this was pre-Pinterest and Fixer Upper! It was quite the transformation and I was ecstatic when it was completed. Over time I quickly realized that dark granite is so beautiful when it is clean and shiny but little kids have little greasy fingerprints and if you are OCD maybe black is NOT the thing for you!
Another view before which shows the fabulous box light in the middle. In hindsight I would have dropped the bar down to counter level and squared things off.
I definitely would have considered adding double ovens too had I known this would be a longer term home.
Flash forward another 7 years and I am still living here and was still hating that dang box light. Can we also talk about the over the sink light? I mean was that really the light that was suppose to go there? Did they forget to paint it, find it on a deep discount? I’d love to know what the inspiration was.
So finally this past March, both were removed and replaced by recessed lighting and these simple drop pendants I found at Lowe’s. The ceiling has been patched but sadly I still have not finished painting the ceiling 4 months later! #goals
Living Space
So apparently green (it was greener in person) was in when we moved in and I used it in my living area and master bedroom and once again it also matched the fun wallpaper! I also replaced the white carpet with some laminate flooring that Keith hated but didn’t bother to tell me! Thank goodness for a faulty ice maker which leaked and ruined our floors to the extent insurance replaced them all! I ripped them all out myself to save some bucks and ended up replacing them with something we love so much more. I was also able to replace the tile around the fireplace at the same time and all the carpet in the kids rooms!
If I showed you this today you would note a huge rip in the chair currently being held together with safety pins!! We so need new furniture but I totally suck at that too! I was super proud of the gallery wall after having the wall empty for about 5 years.
The corner fire place, bookcase and wall of windows has just challenged my non spacial mind.
View into the master bedroom from the kitchen. This is probably the view I see the most!
This is the view when walking in from the front door. I love decorating this table but have really been wanting a more traditional entry table.
Our formal dining room was never used and eventually converted first to a playroom and now an extra TV room and a place for me to scrapbook in my free time (insert hysterical laughter)
Master Suite
I totally failed to take a new picture of our master bedroom since I purchased new lamps! This room still has some work to be done but it took me years to find some sort of fun tables, pull the trigger on a rug and add the bench so I do feel somewhat accomplished. I really would like to repaint a lighter color since adding the dark bed but that is way down on my list!
This room has really come a long way from white carpet and marble countertops. Sorry for the crap lighting!
And this shower remodel was the latest project and I could not be happier. I wish the picture could really tell the full story of just how much of an upgrade this was. We were able to pull out the shower and give ourselves about another 3-4 inches of space too.
Quite the improvement don’t you think?
I have always loved the box window and thankfully we have lots of storage.
Enough about this little house today! If you are considering a new to you house that will need a few upgrades here are a few things I learned.
- Do as much as you can BEFORE moving in! Painting full rooms and especially woodwork and cabinetry is a huge mess and honestly the chance you will do it once actually living in the space is not high.
- Buy a house you can be comfortable with but is still comfortable to your pocketbook as well. Even though we could not do a ton of renovating immediately, buying a home in a lower price range has allowed us to still enjoy life outside of our house and save some money for larger renovations over time.
- Do not rush into a renovation. Think through every angle and look at other houses as much as you can to really get an idea of what works and will function well. Ask other people whose houses you love what they love and don’t love about the features in their home.
- Remember it is not necessarily the way your house looks that is the most important it is the people you share it with!! There are times I have been so concerned with keeping the house clean and orderly that I have passed on actually living in it with my family! Invite friends for dinner and don’t worry that the safety pin is holding the chair together.
To see my living space at different times of the year you can check out these posts!
Other Show & Tell Favorites
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Fabulous…two of my favorite things besides the new bath, the COOL rug in the tv room and your bedroom and bedding is fabulous, looks relaxing. I'm coming over to take a nap, lol!!
I really do wish we all lived closer and could have a fun slumber party!
I love seeing your home tour, and what a difference your upgrades have made! White carpet in the bathroom…eek! I know exactly what you mean about looking back on design decisions. I look at some of the choices I've made and wonder "what was I thinking?" I have black counter tops and know exactly what you mean about the fingerprints. I have always had lighter counters before this house and much prefer them. But I don't think I dislike it enough to redo them! It definitely makes our kitchen feel much darker. Have a great day!
What a warm inviting space!! But white counters are way harder to keep clean imo!! I could take the fingerprints over every single smudge showing.
Girl…I have mentioned redoing the counters again a couple of times. Keith is super laid back but when I even mention it the look on his face…eek! 🙂 We just cannot decide..stay here or upgrade. I only have 4 1/2 years until I could retire from A&M and 8 until CJ will graduate….keep thinking we should just stick it out until then and maybe relocate somewhere closer to Austin so he doesn't have to drive back and forth anymore. You know…I get all that new house envy looking at other peoples stuff!
You are so sweet Sarita! The original white counters I had were equally as bad I will totally agree. Maybe I just need a neater family!!
You mention something I am adamant about — I do not want a formal dining room. I don't think we will use it a ton and it will end up being wasted space.
Love the cool fresh vibe of your home!
The 2nd installment of my festival style collaboration with UK brand BOOHOO is now live at the blog – come check it out and let me know what you think!
Happy Tuesday!
Rebecca
http://www.redtagchiclosangeles.com
You have a lovely home Shelly. OMG, I so remember the wallpaper. When we first bought our home in 1992, that was all the rage. I so wish I had just chosen to paint, but the decorator talked me into the wallpaper for the kitchen and bathrooms. UGH.
And, I love that you are making it work for your family. We rarely use our dining room and we changed our formal living room into a library/piano room and find we now use it so much more. I would love to do away with our dining room and make our kitchen bigger, but with a load bearing wall, electrical and tons of water lines probably not gonna happen. LOL
I just love "snooping" around other peoples homes… which reminds me I really need to post and updated tour. I was just to lazy to clean for pictures in order to make this link-up. How is that for honesty? I also love the granite tip. I dream of someday putting it in my kitchen and promise to remember that. Love your home!
Shelly, come decorate my home! I love your little touches all over. Also, that master bedroom is amazing! I love the pendent lighting over the island/sink area. Your kitchen updates look great! I am wanting to update my kitchen and my dad is a contractor. He said the same thing about black granite and it was not what I wanted to hear, HA! I am so glad you said the same thing…maybe it will sink in 🙂 I love your cozy home!
The best decision I made when we remodeled our home was keeping the island/bar the same height. It makes entertaing perfect and so much easier! Great post! Wish I wasn't so lazy or I'd put one up, too!
Haha, I didn't even take new pictures just used old ones and then realized I don't have pictures of some of the rooms, whooops!
So true about living in your space before renovating…we are finally getting to renovating our kitchen! Well changing out cabinet doors and drawers, and our back splash. Only 7 years later 🙂 Love your house and your kitchen looks great!
Thanks Sarah! I just for once would like a brand new house….I know it would still need to be kept up but I feel like starting from scratch I'd have a better plan! If we could just move out for a month I think I could get it all accomplished! haha
I so wish I would have had that vision when we did ours. It would have made a huge difference!
You are so sweet Jenna! I wish my daddy was still around…I feel confident he would have helped me get everything accomplished. The black granite is soooo pretty when it is clean and shiny. 🙂
I seriously wanted to do a video walk through of how it "really" looks every day! Haha…but of course I ran out of time!!!!
I know I have pictures of the original wallpaper in the bathrooms too but everything is on my old computer and I didn't have the energy to go digging through when I was writing this Sarah. That's how I am usually with food….my plate is clean and I'm like crap…I totally should have taken a picture!
Our house was built in 1994 Lauren….lots of wallpaper and it wasn't hideous just time to go. I definitely believe in making a house functional for your family and we have definitely used our house much more this way.
Nope….and the crazy thing is you can hardly find a builder around our area that will build a custom home without one!! It's just wasted space for me. Hoping someday we will get to build our dream house!
I am loving these updates to your house!! I always wonder what former house owners were thinking when they did things. Our former houseowners did a lot of DIY (but bad DIY) and now were paying for it.
liz @ j for joiner
Everything looks great!! DO you remember how much I botched and moaned about the Phase 1 and 2 of my remodel and now Phase 3- the backyard? So I love what you did! I LOVE my remodel and this would be one time I wish I blogged because I think my entire remodel of our home is FABULOUS ….not that I am prejudiced or anything! HAHAHAHA! Aren't home remodels a labor of love and demanding and well just annoying but so wonderful when its all done. Kind of like having a baby! LOL
I totally would agree your remodel has been amazing! Especially that back yard paradise!
Ugh…Liz I often wonder if someone is going to come into my house some day and wonder what the heck we were thinking! haha
You guys have made that house so cute! But c'mon you know you secretly wanted to keep that wallpaper in the kitchen bahahaha. Love your nest, sweets! I guess its too late for me to snap some pics of this old house over here. I always miss link ups I want to participate in. Stupid vacation. Just kidding.
I would have gladly traded these pictures for a beach vacation…just sayin'!! Hoping we still make it to the beach one weekend.
You have done a great job at making a house into a home! We have that stupid box light in our kitchen, too. We redid everything in our kitchen, except that light. I'm not sure how to make it pretty, but improve the lighting, too. We've been in our house almost eight years. We redid almost everything when we moved in, except our master bath. If we stay here longer we have to do something in there. It drives me crazy, but we're the only ones that see it, so it's hard to justify spending money on that. Thanks for giving us a peak into your home!