Hard to believe it’s almost been two years since we bought our first home! If you haven’t read the story of how it all happened (and even if you have) I would totally recommend you read it! I just did and I’m in aww of the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness for our life, all over again. Trust me, it will encourage you to believe for a miracle of your own, and I would love love love to hear all about it! You can read the story here.
As you can see we bought a slight fixer upper of a home. It is now 17 years old, not too old but did need a bit of an up date. So we all got to work! I love how our family came together and persevered for about a month, driving back and forth every day to work together on our family home. My parents and husband did soo much work. While I mostly helped out, here and there and tried to keep the kids out of the way. :)
It was fun to learn some new things. Out with the old flooring and base boards and in with the new! We replaced the appliances and most of the light fixtures as well.
It didn’t happen right away but after some time my sweet husband built me some gorgeous barn doors. I absolutely love them! In the beginning I thought I wanted the popular “open concept” kind of feel in my home but after a while I quickly realized that, that style doesn’t really work for me. Or at least not right now while the kids are still little. I personally like to close them behind the doors, while having some tea time with a friend. The more peace and quiet the better. haha
The lighter paint color, really made a difference at making the rooms feel much more spacious and open.
This room is an extra open room that we had downstairs. I love all the sunshine that comes in through the windows. Anyway a month after we moved into our home, we received some wonderful news about my one and only sister moving here to SC, all the way from Hawaii. Of coarse they would be staying with us for a little while, so we decided to take the open space in that room and add some walls to convert it into a bonus room.
They lived in this bedroom for a while and when they moved out, we turned it into our school room. So much has already changed since I took these pictures but that’s how it was for a little while.
This is our thankfully spacious dinning room. I love all the memories we’ve already made in this room. From special holidays with extended family, to every day dinners with our fast, growing kiddos. We sometimes do school here, mostly have “special tea time” with either guests, or just because my sweet kids want to surprise me with something they have baked. We’ve spent endless hours coloring and building legos, playing board/card games and just sitting around talking before rushing on with our day. I love the beautiful table my wonderful husband built for us and I’m looking forward to many more sweet memories made here.
This is our tiny but yet functional little kitchen. Kyle added new cabinets on the right side, evens out the kitchens and gives us more cabinet space. My amazing and talented mother painted all the cabinets and counter tops, since it was no longer in the budget to change those out.
I spy little Oreo whom we don’t have anymore :(
We’ve since gotten a cart that has helped out so much with food prep and storage. Here too, we have had some awesome conversations and learning experiences. My kids with cooking and cleaning and sharing their life and dreams with me. And me with allowing them to participate and help out.
The other day in the midst of rushing to put dinner on the table and the chaos of noise and limited space, I found myself inwardly stepping back and taking in the moment. Thinking to myself how blessed I am to be surrounded by such wonderful and helpful kiddos. I caught myself because I used to think, that I would never ever enjoy having any extra people or noise in the kitchen. It’s still something I’m working on but i’m enjoying it more and more.
Haha I just realized that I don’t have an updated photo of our stairs or floors upstairs. But we did change out the carpet and make the laundry room a lot nicer. We got some doors and hubby put in another shelf for extra storage. I’m so grateful for my handsome handy man!
We also removed all the popcorn ceilings and my parents did an awesome paint job! For the bedrooms we changed out the carpet, put on a fresh coat of paint and put in fans.
The bathrooms had a good cleaning and got some fresh paint on the walls and cabinets. As well as new light fixtures.
I love how clean it all looks in pictures but I’m also learning to be ok with toys under my bed, books and things laying around and the sounds of music blasting while my kiddos are playing together. It’s what makes up a home and I’m beyond blessed with the one that we have.
I hope you enjoyed looking through our before’s and after’s. Would love to hear from you.
Blessings, Natty