Making our mark
It’s surprisingly hard to make a house into a home; especially one that has known only a single family for 50 years. We’re delighted with our new home – custom-built by family for family, one would be hard-pressed to find its excellent quality of construction anywhere today. It was lovingly maintained and has needed very few repairs since we moved in.
But it does need updating, as you can see in these pictures from our first tour.
The master bedroom.
The hallway bathroom.
The den.
With a year of living here under our belts, now we’re ready to start making some bigger changes here and there. We’ve put together a list of future projects, ranging from easy (paint) to ones we’ll need to hire out (skylights).
Soon, it will really feel like it’s ours.
We’re going to start with the master bedroom, and have already picked out some colors (Josh picked the swatch on the right; I’m dubious but we’ll see) and a new rug (not the one below). Today we bought a bedstead. After nearly 8 years of marriage, we’ll finally have a bedstead!
It’s all very exciting.
I’m looking forward to lots of before/after posts!
March 6th, 2011 at 9:11 am
that is the CUTEST pic of you and your little one! ohmigosh! we are still struggling with our house too. right now its just a place to stash my barnboots while i’m not working
😉
March 6th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Ha ha ha yeah I was reading someone else’s farm life manifesto – I love those and you’ve got a great one too – and they said when you move to the country you can just abandon all hope of having clean floors, tidy rooms, polished furniture. Your floor will be covered with tracked-in-manure, your elaborate foyer will be a cluttered labyrinth of muddy boots, your countertops become hidden under stacks of mail and old bills that you just can’t get to because all the other farm chores take precedence. And she was so right! I get around it by scheduling meetings at my house, which make sure it gets scrubbed pretty regularly. In the mean time though, spring is coming and I KNOW I won’t have time for house prettification once it’s planting season – so it’s now or wait another year!
March 6th, 2011 at 9:55 am
We are SLOOOWWWLY painting/making over ours too. The kids rooms are done and the school room. But the other rooms are sooooo big, lol
March 6th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Funny, we’re doing the opposite – our room first. (I think that’s because it’s the one room Josh really cares about). I really want to make over Sofía’s room, but it’s not a gross color right now (even pink, how fortunate) and she sure doesn’t care. So we’re putting it off until she starts complaining.
March 6th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Found you over on “Take Back Urban Home-Steading.” We just finally watched the documentary Babies yesterday via streaming on Netflix. Really put into perspective how lucky we are. How home is in big need of remodeling and repair. But after seeing that, I looked at my husband and said, hmmm… we can wait. lol.
Can’t wait to see the before/after photos! I love remodeling, renovating, etc.
March 6th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
I know exactly what you mean! I always feel kind of guilty spending money things that aren’t actually a need. Growing up I spent plenty of time in third world countries sleeping on dirt floors and it gave me a real sense of scale; we are terribly lucky to have such First World Problems.
March 6th, 2011 at 10:36 am
Don’t know if the last reply went through. Realized that I forgot to include my info above in the boxes.
March 6th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Now that you’ve left one with your info, the rest of your comments should approve automatically. So you can leave lots and lots!!! 😀 I think wordpress recognizes people based on email address.
March 6th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Hey, I like Josh’s pick. You can add pizazz (and change it out easier) by using accessories–pillows, rugs, curtains if it isn’t a knock-you-in-the-eyes predominant color.And, it if you don’t like it, it goes under the other color choices easier than starting with a louder color and then trying to mute it by covering with the lighter variant.The middle one is nice too.
But the star(s) of the picture are you and Sofia. She is growing into a little girl isn’t she, not longer the tiny tot. And that thousand-watt smile!
March 6th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
I too, vote for the one on the right. (I think it will look much better without the pink behind it!)
Upon first look at our house (been here six years now) I thought for sure the first thing I would have to change would be our master bedroom…. dark dusky green with a bright yellow accent wall and joining “dusty lilac” bathroom….. but the salmon pink living room turned out to be what NEEDED my attention first. Had a couple years of the spastic bedroom- it’s a soft chocolate milk color now.
Congratulations on the bedspread! (We would not have ours were it not for Xmas presents.) I’m excited to see the “done” pictures!
And you two are just too cute!
-Amber
March 7th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
What about a door to fast track to the great outdoors…and the chicken shed and veggie patch? Did you ever decide to do that from the Master Bedroom? You’d need a mud-room (and extra insulation to keep the outdoors out and the indoors in).A porch maybe? and a place to plug in for your garden tools…
March 8th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Hi Mama – we’re still thinking along those lines. We also want to enlarge the windows, but that’s all going to be in “phase 2” – years and years down the line. Right now, we just want to make the house feel like ours and brighten it up. The biiiig stuff, like the kitchen, isn’t even going to be addressed for another 10 years!
March 10th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
FWIW, I like Josh’s pick too. 😎
March 11th, 2011 at 11:46 am
I like it too; I was hoping for something a bit more vibrant but decided to take a back seat on this and trust him. It looks fabulous now – just wait for the next few posts! I wanted something a little darker but it’s so bright and airy that I just have to love it.