**I started this post back in August but I kept wanting to wait until one more project was done before I posted. Better late than never, right?**
Since my 2 loyal readers wanted pictures of our house, then pictures I deliver. When we bought my parents' house we definetely want to make it our own, but we also wanted to keep with the character of an older home. Homes in TP are all older (unless you have a bazillion dollars and you knock one down and build a new one). It is fun to find a way to make a 60s home fit for a family of 5 in 2011 but I have to say, we have made that happen. We have had constant projects since we have moved in (and I don't mean just paint) and although it has left us excited about the changes, it also just takes us to the next project.
My parents loved the way the house was when they sold it to us (as did we) but we are SO LUCKY how supportive they are about seeing walls come down, bathrooms being ripped up and the basement being finished. It has been fun for us all--I think? :)
The first thing we did when we moved in was take down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.
We basically had to do this so I could see what the kids were up to when they were eating. The bottom cabinets on the island were there so we bought a matching countertop to make it an island with bar stools. speaking of those, I don't know why they aren't in the picture but there are 2 chairs there (chairs that we have had since our first apartment...I just love them so glad we could fit them in).
There was not an island in the main kitchen part so after much research we found one at Ikea.
We painted the legs a grey and it fits just perfectly.
When we knocked the wall down, we needed to find something to define the island area.
Lights weren't needed so our friend suggested these lanterns.
We really like the look.
Hi Elf!
Does the funiture look familiar?
We always liked our dining room set but weren't in love with the creamish color of the hutch or the pineapples in the middle of the seat. Jason cut the pineapple out and then we painted the chairs and hutch black. New hardware for the hutch and we had a new look.
I wish I had a before of these rooms but it is on my old computer that died.
But the khaki color (which is the color in your old office, Kelly) on the bottom of the chair rail turned out great and then the blue/green color was taken from pillows I saw when we bought our couch as Macy's (also Kelly's idea...geez, I am such a copy cat). There was a redish wall paper under the chair rail and the color above was a neutral. We had the place painted before we moved in and the painter, who painted the house the first time, said, "wow, this sure is different." Not sure if he meant in a good or bad way but we haved loved how it turned out.
To the right of the hutch is this wine rack.
Our old wine rack didn't quite fit our new look so Jason hung this up.
I just love the contemporary look.
My parents did a complete overhaul of this kitchen 5 years ago.
There used to be a wall of cabinets and then an eat in kitchen (it is so tough to picture now).
They added the outside door, added hardwood and all new everything else.
We are SO lucky because we love everything they picked out (the tall cabinets, the backsplash, the cabinet colors, etc). I am still getting used to this kitchen as I didn't live here when it was done...so it is all new to me :)
I wanted to zoom in on the orange knife holder. Seriously? Isn't it awesome?
Although we had a wine holder in the dining room,
we weren't sure what to do with the glasses.
Perfect solution!
It is the little things that make me happy.
We saw these in my friend's house and knew we needed a family calendar in plain site.
It has been a great organization tool and Kristy, next time you are Costco can you pick up my list for me (we need chicken nuggets apparently..lol).
We got hit with the Christmas deals and when this 60" TV was on sale in a huge way, we figured we needed to bite the bullet. It won't be in our family room for long (its final destination is the basement) but for now, it is great to have it upstairs. We were laughing that once we put our old one up (which I always thought was a good size) we are going to need to binoculars as we are so used to this one.
Probably my favorite room in the house.
Before we moved in, we had all of the carpet removed and had the floors refinished.
We could not have lived in the house while they did almost every floor in the house so we were very lucky that my parents had already moved out!
The company that did all of the work, Hammonds Flooring, were very familiar with this house. Actually the owners dad (the original Mr. Hammonds) put all of the wood floors in back in the 60s. He brought his dad over to see what they looked like before the finishing and his dad said he specifically remembered putting them in :) A sweet full circle moment. The floors had never been finished and were black. Perfect condition! We got very lucky that the floors were in great condition.
Does this couch look familiar? Yes, the Weseli's couch just in grey. We got the coffee table at Macy's as well and accented with blue pillows. You can see the dining room to the left. The TV is in the back left corner from where this picture is taken.
This room used to have white carpet and used as my parents' living room (aka, a room only used at Christmas) :)
My target chair matches perfectly.
This was one of those 1 day online sales for $99. I was so excited!
Once I put the Target chair in, I had an odd space.
My friend Susie was getting rid of this table (which was her grandma's) and since the price was right (um, free!) I was excited to fit it in. I bought those elephant sculptures at garden ridge and loved that they fit the Circus Place theme.
As you walk out of the house, here is one of our favorite additions.
We are now going upstairs.
Didn't the stairs turn out great?
They used to be covered in greenish carpet.
Here is our bedroom.
We had it painted a light grey to work with our bed.
I found this bedding at Ikea (ok everything new in our house is from Ikea) and loved the grey/black combo.
As in most older homes, the master BR is small but it works (and we were spoiled in our old house as the master was huge!).
I love this vase. Weighs about 50 pounds but I still love it. If there was an intruder I could use this to defend myself--well, maybe not because I can't move it...lol
Window treatments to eventually happen.
We go back and forth what to do on each window because each window has beautiful molding around them. Some, like the family room, we plan on leaving bare to expose the moldings but I think we will probably do a cornice for the master.
Sorry for the poor quality but the very first thing we did (without a contractor) was our closet. My parents had taken the girls to TN and I think Matthew was at Jason's parents house for the weekend. We were able to tear up the old closet, put new racks in (um, older house = small closets) and then put this awesome shoe rack in. Each section pulls down with 2 shelves for shoes. Probably one of my favorite buys for the house as far as usefulness goes.
Matthew has one of the most ineresting shaped rooms.
It is small but completely doable. But the odd shape makes it tough to take a good picture so bare with me :)
He does have a really cute nook, which he basically uses to stand on the train table and yell out the window.
Some of our favorites from the old house.
We had the room painted the same color as we did in Indy (than you Steph Springborn for painting Josh's room this color over 8 years ago).
The girls have the largest room in the house (by far!). Their closet is huge and if it had a bathroom, I would make it the master. I still wonder if I can cut into their closet to make the hall bath bigger but we shall see...Jason would kill me if I even brought it up to him :)
The girls are doing great sharing a room although sometimes one of them does go into the guest room. They still don't really get along so having that space can be nice (for all!!).
A few weeks before we moved, I went to a garage sale in Weaver Woods.
At one house, we got this awesome high heeled chair and at another house I got 6 hot pink drapers for $3. I told J, I don't care if the drapes don't match the room perfectly for $3 we will make the drapes work :)
The fish line to hang the girls' artwork.
I pinned a quote (on pintrest) that would look great above this.
The last room to be touched is our guest room.
I did get new bedding and a super soft blanket but other than that, it has nothing crazy going on.
This room had wall paper that Jason and I attempted to take down last February. After getting nowhere, we called in the painter who fixed it all and then painted (same color as the living room...Kelly's old office color...lol).
I am proud of the decor :)
It houses Matthew's changing table because when it was in his room, he was climbing up it and reaching the top of his dresser. Such a monkey.
When we don't need this as a changing station anymore, we are going to hang a bar where the top baskets are and the girls can hang their American Girl Doll accessories and dresses up. I want them to have one place to put all of those cute accessories.
Why a picture of our laundry shoot?
Because it saves me!
The laundry is in the basement and without this, laundry would be awful.
I have not had any issues with the laundry being down in the basement but I would think differently without this wonderful invention.
We are going back downstairs now :)
Watch out..this is our catch all room!
Our piano, a desk, a hutch, trains, toys, etc are housed here.
This room will change a bazillion times while we live here but for now, it is a craft and toy room :)
Here is the collage I am working on.
I am going to hang the W and then put the pictures (including the fabric) in silver or black frames.
The 2 fabric swatches match the magnetic boards on the other side of the fireplace.
I am also hanging a quote I found on pinterest on the bottom right.
The piano isn't centered on the wall because on the bottom right of it is a huge bin of geo trax (Matthew's obsession). So I think I might need to make a collage that spans the wall vs just over the piano.
Our junk spot...I am not hiding anything from you guys :)
I love this build in though!!!
I was going to crop out the vacuum but we are all functional around here :)
To the right of the fireplace we made a craft area.
Found a desk at an overstock outlet nearby, 2 small chairs from ikea and then I found magnetic board that I covered in fabric.
See, I am baring all!
My return pile, paint for the mud room, you know...all random stuff.
My parents redid this room a few years ago (it used to be their family room). They had paneling taken down, the built ins put in, new lighting...it is a beautiful room and one day, we will make it beautiful again.
One of our favorite projects has been the closet joining the garage (to the left) and the house.
Make every space useable,right?
So mudroom here we come :)
The tile was in great shape but unfortunately it was white.
Jason started digging up the floor and came across 3 layers of laminate. When he got to this one we realized we needed to hire some help. Our contractor came in and finished it in like 2 hours...lol.
And our new mudroom.
We still need to finish some molding on the sides of the cabinets but I am in love with the finished project.
The half bath downstairs.
We hung the mirror and new lights before I took this picture.
I loved the green in here before but unfortunately the sheen was not quite right for young kids.
The tile was white and after I lost it about how many times I was on my hands and knees cleaning it, Jason and I had Thom back out to do the floor.
Jason tore up the bathroom before Thom (our favorite contractor) started the floor.
Jason installed the toilet, vanity and this corner shelf. We painted it the same blue as in the kitchen and we are beyond happy with how it turned out.
At the end of January, the contractors start our basement.
We are so incredibly excited to get this extra space for the kids and for entertaining.
It has taken on a life of its own but it has been so much fun to plan.
Vision....this will be the main room.
The TV will be on the bigger wall (not the wall with the window on it)
The frig gets moved to the unfinished spot and this is our new half bath (where the refrig is)
and then the wet bar will be parellel to it (pulled out about 2 feet from the wall).
The designer came up with a great idea....to put a small refrig in that 2 feet area so it will be tucked in around the back of the bar.
To the right of this area is the walkout part of the basement.
The door is a custom door (bummer) that we need to order but then we are going to tile the floor for when the kids come in from outside. Maybe a bench and a few hooks for coats.
What could be under here???
Our wet bar! It has bluish cabinets and with the walls grey and the carpets beige, I think it will look great.
Speaking of carpet choices, that is what I am burried in now.
There are way too many choices in my opinion! LOL
Here are the second round of drawings from the contractor.
He added a new closet in the bathroom (because we changed the sink to a pedestal so we had more room, we moved the couch to the right so we could workout in the space to the left of the couch and we moved the bar up a few feet (now it creates a great place for a refrig and a few more shelves). We won't put a table where he has one (we would put it further back in the room) but all in in, we are so happy with it!
Jason's office is a room off of the main room (to the right when you come downstairs). All we are doing there is refinishing the walls, putting a ton more insulation so he doesn't hear all of our footsteps and putting in new carpet.
I love the cute door I am having them put in under the stairs. But seriously, it is the perfect spot for our suitcases so I really wanted the door :) We want carpet on the stair and the current stairs painted brown (like the picture on the right). But, things change daily around here :)
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Well, that is our house! Although it is the house I grew up in, I never lived in it after my parents did most of the major work (redid their family room, remodeled the kitchen and removed most of the wallpaper). We feel very lucky that we were able to bring our family back home and to a home that both Jason and I love so much. Although odd for many people who aren't from TP, many people buy their family homes and even if you don't buy the exact home your grew up in, you almost always know who owned the house before you. It's a cool feeling.
Have a great weekend ~ from our home to yours' (yes, Cheesy...I just had to go there!)
