My Home Tour: The First Year

Welcome to my home! I love my house and I can't wait to share with you it's progression into my dream home! Do you want a tour? I'd love to show you around! 

Exterior of the house when purchased:
When we bought the house it looked ALMOST like this-- just imagine this house with a bile green door. {barf}

It's the perfect size house! Just shy of 1900 sq ft, but who wants anything bigger than that?! Someone has to clean it (aka me!). 

Since we bought it (about a year ago) we repainted almost the entire inside of the house (previous owner's fido's fur was attached to the walls), painted the shutters, changed out all the doors, put in new windows, mounted TVs, screened in the back porch, added fans, build some furniture, improved the irrigation system, upgraded kitchen hardware, added hardscape, and changed all the lighting.

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about all of that. 

EXTERIOR IN MAY 2013

Nantucket Gray exterior with Mysterious trim by Benjamin Moore

We painted the shutters! They are an awesome color by Benjamin Moore called "Mysterious". It's definitely blue-ish, but it has a lot of grey, red and black too. It really depends on the lighting what they look like. I love it. It really changed the whole look of the house and it was only about $30 to do it! 

Ahh... landscape change. We pulled out everything in the old garden in Feb 2013 because we realized that the soil in the garden was almost completely clay and it had killed everything in the garden.Gotta hate root rot. 

The thing about this area is that the soil is sh*t. It used to be a swamp so the soil is compacted and prone to retaining water. Soooo... we installed a French Drain and removed layers and layers and layers of soil to fix it! 

If you want to read about how we fixed the clay soil then click HERE

Porch:

Colors: Walnut Stain (door), Nantucket Grey (exterior) Benjamin Moore

I'm planning on getting rid of the pots by the door and putting

a DIY bench on the right hand corner with some DIY pillows and a little table on the left side. 

Next to the door I made a chalk board sign where I write insulting messages. The UPS and USPS guys love me. Seriously. We talk.

Make your own Chalkboard sign: Instructions and Ideas here

The porch needs a little makeover already. The blue cushions were nice when the shutters were white, but now they need a replacement. The chairs and cushions are all from Pier 1 imports. I love that store! They have the best out door furniture. The little table (you can't really see it because it's between the chairs) is from home depot. 

Foyer

Color:

 Cumulus Cloud (walls), Classic Grey (door), Super White (trim)

  by Benjamin Moore

We stained the outside of the door walnut (and by "we" I mean "the man") and then we (I) painted the inside of the door "Classic Grey" by Benjamin Moore. 

Cumulus Cloud by Benjamin Moore

The foyer was also a problem because it was a tiny round entryway. I honestly have never measured, but I'd guess that it's maybe 7-8 feet around and it has this odd (slightly curved) niche built into the wall. 

We changed the lighting, added some flameless candles, and I decided to hang a bunch of really old family pictures in the niche. Do you like it?! 

Cumulus Cloud by Benjamin Moore

It was still felt like something was missing so I added the stool and the basket with the flowers. 

This is the lighting that is in our foyer. Seriously, I love it! I mean-- I LOVE IT. I was a little nervous when I bought it because it's a little out of my traditional style (and my budget), but it's perfect. 

Office/Reading Room

The next room is this small room to the right of the foyer. The people who lived here before us used it as a sitting room, but I imagine it could be a cozy little dining room. HOWEVER-- I wanted an office. 

Color: "Shaker Beige" by Benjamin Moore

We divided the room into two functional sides: A lounge "reading side" and a more serious "office side".

This is the "reading" side:

The Man had the brilliant idea of framing some of my favorite quotes (they are on both sides of the mirror) and hanging them around the mirror that I got super cheap on QVC. I love it! 

 This is the "office side":

It's not quite done yet. I have a few more ideas to add to the "office" space, but I need a few more dollars in the bank account before they become a reality.

More expensive lighting! Cool, huh?

The Great Room 

Color: Cumulus Cloud by Ben Moore

You can't really tell in the picture, but Cumulus Cloud is one of the most bipolar colors on the face of the planet. It a greenish gray in the kitchen, and depending on what wall you look at in the great room it's either gray, taupe or any mix of the two. It really is a pretty color, but you just have to appreciate that you probably won't know what it will look like until you paint it on your wall.

The Living Room:

I think I bought almost everything in the living room and dining room from Pottery Barn. I have an addiction. 

Dining Room

Dining Room Cumulus Cloud Benjamin Moore

Here is a close up on the Graham Chandelier from.. you guessed it... Pottery Barn. 

Custom French doors are cool. They replaced an old, bronze sliding glass door that honestly looked like it was going to fall apart on a windy day. 

I had them add a cat door at the bottom so my girls can go in and out of the porch. It's a whole heck of a lot nicer than being meowed at all day.

Love my door!

It is also painted "Classic Grey" by Benjamin Moore

THE KITCHEN

Color: Cumulus Cloud by Ben Moore (again)

I loooove my kitchen. It's what really sold me on this house. 

The stools are... Napoleon Backless Pottery Barn stools. I want more. I need more. Can't find more!! Ahhh!!!

The Bar 

(Breakfast Nook Repurposed)

Ahhh... the Bar. This is "The Man's" only request. He wanted a bar and he wanted it in place of the breakfast nook, so I made a deal with him. I'll give him a bar if I can do it how I want to do it and this is what we (I) came up with.  He thinks it's sooooo hilarious that I have to get a step stool to get to the hard alcohol. 

::rolls eyes::

Master Bedroom

Color: Kentucky Haze by Benjamin Moore

Honestly, My bedroom has been the last of my projects and I've still only barely scratched the surface. 

Bedroom- Kentucky Haze by Benjamin Moore

I still haven't done much in terms of wall decorations or accessories, but I'm working on it. 

I'm dreaming of some DIY art projects and I'm always looking around thrift stores for little knick knacks. 

Master Bathroom

Color: Unk.  
This is only one of two rooms that I did not paint. I liked the green.

I love the clothing hook-- I can put my outfits out the day before with accessories, purses, hats, scarfs. Love it! 

The Eloise Organic Hand Towel from Pottery Barn-- it's so pretty! I got them on clearance so they were super cheap! Sales only make me love items more.

 Guest Bathroom

Color: Kentucky Haze by Benjamin Moore

2nd Bedroom (Man Cave)

Color: Martha Stewart

It's the man's alone time hang out room. I have no control so you understand. There is a HUGE TV mounted on the wall across from the bed. He watches manly things in here.  

I'm trying to convince him to let me make him curtains. He says no.

3rd bedroom/craft room

Color: Spiced Apple Cider Benjamin Moore

We are painting this room "Spiced Apple Cider" by Benjamin Moore. It's a very pale red as far as reds go. It's going to be my beach themed room. 

Spiced Apple Cider by Benjamin Moore Beach Theme Room

It's coming along, but not quite there yet! I made the curtains myself and I have plans on making a craft table in the closet and a DIY headboard. I need a few more accessories in that bookcase and then I'll be done! Hopefully...

Laundry Room

Color: Unk. The only other color I did not repaint.

I have done very little to this room. They original owners had put up a "fancy wood shelf" but they didn't secure it right so it took down half the wall when I put the laundry detergent on it. Yay! So "The Man" fixed it, found some unmarked paint which was the right paint and touched up the wall for me and then added this "fancy" wire shelf from Home Depot. 

I would love to install some high beadboard to the long wall and add actual cabinets and shelves where the cheapo wire shelf currently is. 

Ohhh... the dreams. 

The Porch

"The Man" had this great idea to put up curtains in the screened in porch. I'm beginning to worry about all the good ideas he has.

 Between you and me, I think he thought they would be thicker and he could get a little something something on the porch. But even though his plan was ruined, I love the look of it! 

I even made the curtain rods using supplied from home depot. It was awesome because it was so CHEAP and it was really rather easy as well. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the rods so I'll have to do that when it's sunny outside, but I'd definitely recommend making your own!

The Patio

We recently added a new patio space and I love it! 

If you live in Central Florida, the hardscape was designed and put in by Hoffner Landscaping, which is a family run business. 

The furniture is from Wayfair, which I love for outdoor things because they are reasonably priced and they ship for free. Yay! 

My house is a constant work in progress, but thanks for stopping by and taking a look. I love design and I love my house so I hope that you enjoyed it, too.