The day is FINALLY here, y’all!!! It’s only been something like a 3 month wait, but it’s felt like eternity.
I know there are some bloggers who wait to share the news of their moves until they’ve officially closed on their new houses, but sharing every up and down of this emotional roller coaster since Day 1 of listing our old house has made me realize just how blessed we are to have so many people who are there to support us through the rocky times.
Robert and I have been SO thankful for every loving comment, message, and email you guys have sent us throughout this little journey.
Yesterday, right after returning home from the Lowe’s Spring Makeover in Texas, we were handed the keys to our next chapter, our brick Colonial.
We haven’t figured out a pretty name for “her” just yet. Yeah, our house is a “her”. She’s a lady. Her front door already looks like she’s wearing Celtic jewelry, so why not?
There are hundreds of ideas swirling around in our heads right now, some we’ll be tackling right away and others we’ll be holding out for in a Phase 2 reno of sorts. But by golly, she has beautiful bones.
We’re very lucky to have a house that has thankfully been well kept over the years and has had updates along the way since being built in 1960. I can’t wait to see what even a coat of paint will do to transform these rooms.
So here’s the grand “before” tour…
The Foyer
Can we talk about that crown molding, ceiling medallion, and those hardwood floors? I mean, I don’t even know what to do with myself right now since not an ounce of that kind of character existed in our last house.
It’ll be interesting to see how our style changes in this house. I’m sure we’ll stick to a farmhouse vibe, but this isn’t a house where we’ll be slapping shiplap on the walls. We’re hoping we can marry our old style while complimenting the style that this house already has to create something new for ourselves, more modern traditional, if that makes any sense at all. We want to embrace this house’s beauty, not cover it up.
Right off the bat, we’re thinking of a lighter neutral paint, finding a great little entry table, and changing out that chandelier for a semi-flush mount since it feels a little too low when we walk in the front door.
I would love to knock out a portion of this stairway wall to open it up into the dining room one day, but that’s definitely a down-the-road Phase 2 kind of project.
Can you just imagine how much natural light would be gained by opening up that wall there? Total magic, I tell ya.
The Dining Room
For this space, I’m hoping to do something completely different from anything I’ve done before. I’d love to paint the walls a deep charcoal gray, white below the chair rail, paint the chandelier or replace it, and replace the curtains with some that are more casual.
The Kitchen
Can I get a hallelujah for already white cabinets?! Oh my gracious alive. There are still some changes I’d want to make in here like remove the valance to replace with a textured shade (or leave entirely open), remove the arch/shamrock cut-outs on the built-in shelves, change the lighting, change the backsplash, and maybe one day I’ll want to paint the lowers a different color and change the flooring. The jury’s still out. I’m so thankful this space is already very renovated though. Sigh.
The Breakfast Nook
I’m still feeling a little stumped on this space, but I found the cutest little antique farm table that will be great for in here. And I’m thinking I’ll trade out that light for a lantern pendant. I would love to switch out that back door and laundry room door for matching antique wood ones to add some character too.
The Laundry Room
This space has TONS more storage than our last house! I might try to reconfigure things in here at some point to pretty it up and still keep it super functional.
The Living Room
This room is what sold me on this house because it’s French doors for dayyyyyyyys! So much gorgeous sunlight streams in through these windows in the mornings.
This will most likely be the first room we renovate here. We’re thinking very light walls, black or wood finished doors, switching out the ceiling fan for one more our style, white washing or German smearing the brick fireplace, and eventually adding a couple of wood beams to the ceiling.
The Playroom
It’s going to be interesting having a fireplace in a playroom, but this was the best room to corral Olivia’s toys since it’s smack in the middle of our lower level and I can see/hear her from the kitchen, living room, and my office.
We hope to remove those no longer functioning doors on either side of the fireplace to replace with tall windows, remove the floating cabinet from the wall, and install some built-in shelving for toy and book storage.
The Powder Room
I love me some Clemson, but the orange is gonna go. It might be crazy, but I think a patterned wallpaper would look great in here.
The Office
Robert and I have decided it’s high time I have an office, so this space will officially be the room where I write this little ol’ blog. Or parked on the couch while Netflix binging. Whatever. 😉
We’ll be painting the walls, painting the chandelier (because I already love its shape), changing the curtains for more flowy ones, and figuring out some great storage.
Olivia’s Bedroom
This girl is already set on the idea that she’s keeping her room purple, so I’m sure it’ll stay just like this for a while. We might switch out the light fixture for now, add curtains, and that’s about it. The child knows what she wants. I can’t argue with that.
Guest Bedroom / Man Cave
Honestly, I have no idea what this room is going to be. It’s sort of a wild card right now. Robert wants a space to be his “man cave”, but we also need a guest bedroom, and, who knows, maybe it’ll be a nursery one day if we get to that point.
The Upstairs Bathroom
This will be Olivia’s bathroom, so I’m sure we’ll decorate it to be a tad feminine but still appropriate for guests similarly to how we did in our last house. With all of the beige in here though, I definitely want some color and contrast to break it up.
Guest Bedroom
We’re already thinking this room would be the perfect candidate for a murphy bed with built-in shelving on that far wall for guests if we decide to put Robert’s man cave office in here instead to serve as double duty.
The Master Bedroom
This room is going to take some configuring since it’s a bit smaller than our last master bedroom, but we’re certainly switching that light fixture for a ceiling fan ’cause that’s how we roll. I’d love to do some sort of charming detail on the ceiling too, but we’re still mulling over that idea.
The Master Bathroom
This space is really my least favorite room in the house, but I’m hoping down the road we can move things around a bit to make it more functional. For now, I’d love to switch out that shower door, paint the cabinets, and freshen up the floors.
On the exterior, we plan on making a lot of big changes too (like possibly painting the brick), but we have other not-so-fun biggies like replacing a water heater and HVAC first. Boooo-rrrring. (If you missed the full exterior tour, you can catch it here.)
For the next few weeks, we’ll be painting like crazy and doing as many renovations as possible before we officially move-in. We’re so thankful for parents who are willing to put up with us while we invade their house. 😉
We’ll be sharing all of the changes every step of the way along with sneak peeks on Instagram. If it turns out even half as beautiful as I see it in my head, it’ll be amazing.
Onward to new adventures!
It’s beautiful, Lauren! I can’t wait to see the updates that you give this lovely lady of a home.
Thank you, Paula! Hope you’re doing well, friend!
You bought beautiful bones, Lauren! This new home looks like a great adventure for you guys 🙂 I love how their is character, but is still a great option for updating without worrying about removing too much from it.
PS. Jordan added bright white wainscoting in our dining room and we painted the top SW Peppercorn. Its a pretty dark gray, but we always receive comments on it 🙂
Thank you, Brittany! That’s definitely what sold me. It’s not a crazy dumpy fixer upper by any means, but certainly a place where we can make some big impact cosmetic changes. Glad to know your dining room turned out well! Makes me feel better about that dramatic charcoal idea. 🙂
Congratulations Lauren, I can’t wait to see what you do with this beautiful home.
Thank you, Karen!
Such a fabulous house. I can’t wait to see you put your stamp on it.
Thank you, Marty! Can’t wait to see how it transforms soon! <3
Can’t wait to see the transformations! The layout and lighting is absolutely beautiful 🙂
Thanks, Angela! I didn’t find out until last week that it’s a North facing house. A photographer’s DREAM!!!! Ahhhhh! Gorgeous light all the time.
So much potential in this house and already so many great things! Congratulations on this new journey of making this house into a home. It’s going to be beautiful!
Thanks, Erin! Cannot WAIT to share how it transforms in the coming weeks/months/years! 😀
Congratulations on your new home! There are so many beautiful elements to it and the yard…I’m excited about your new adventure. I can’t wait to follow along on your journey of making it your own!!
I love this new house!! So much space. I look forward to see what your changes will look like.
Thanks, Pamela!
Congratulations on your new digs! Talk about good bones! I CANNOT WAIT to see you work your magic in this new space.. Prayers for many happy, healthy years here.
Thank you so much, Linda!
Now I’m really depressed. Spent all afternoon on property websites and there was absolutely nothing of interest in my price range (or even above) then I see your new house – WOW! Its gorgeous!
We had a REALLY hard time finding one with this many updates and this much character. The ones in our price range were either old but needing way more work than we were comfortable with or were new builds with absolutely no character and crammed into small lots in cramped neighborhoods. It’s taken a lot of scouting and holding out. But now that the weather is getting warmer and school is getting out for summer, I’m sure the real estate market will be kicking up quite a bit in the coming weeks.
In love with this place! You are going to have so much fun making it your own! Congrats Lauren!
Wow, this house is gorgeous!
I cannot wait to see how you and your DH make it “yours”.
This house looks to be an amazing blessing!
My family and I went through the process of gaining our own but the deal fell through and we kind of gave up for now. Seeing this makes me want to start pursuing that again…even if I am a little scared of possibly going through that heartbreak again.
Nonetheless congrats! I’m very happy for you even if I am a tad bit jealous as well! 😉
Aw it’ll all work out exactly like it’s supposed to. 🙂 The One is out there somewhere and the timing will be perfect, I’m sure.
https://www.worldmarket.com/product/four-sided+glass+hanging+pendant+lantern.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=fn
I have this lantern in my hallway that is pretty affordable and a great look for your eat in kitchen. I’d also say this would look great in your foyer to pull in the spindles on the staircase!
-Ren
We used to have that one in our last house above our kitchen table and I loved it! I’m thinking I might go with one more traditional this time around. “The one” hasn’t jumped out at me yet.
Gorgeous and Congratulations! Thanks for sharing. We have chair rail throughout a large portion of our home and I have been debating on taking it down, so I will be interested to see what you decide to do.
Any ideas on that yet or leaving it up?
I’m stuck on that too, but I think we’ll end up leaving most of it and adding beadboard beneath it in some of the rooms.
Yoy have geat plans! As the owner of a painted fireplace that I would dearly love to strip and can’t, I’m sort of not a fan of painting brick. But–it’s not my house and you do great work!
I’m holding out on doing anything to the brick until the rest of the room is painted and I can get a better feel for it. I’m leaning toward keeping the brick natural and doing a smear. 🙂
I whitewashed our fireplace (which was an ugly pinkish color) and love it. So easy!
Here’s the link:
http://www.hometalk.com/7709784/easy-fireplace-makeover-whitewash-the-brick
I can hardly wait to see what you have up your sleeve. I love your new home.
Thanks, Chrissy!
Your front door knocker is in the form of an Irish Claddagh ring. The Claddagh is a fishing village in Co. Galway and the traditional wedding ring there was a gold band with two hands holding a heart, exactly like your knocker. The ring is no longer worn as a wedding ring but many people have them. It is worn with the heart pointing up the arm if one’s heart is taken and other way round if one is free.
My husband’s family has lots of Irish roots, so we’re very excited about the knocker. We have a cead mile failte plaque our family picked up in Ireland last year that we’ll probably place above it. 🙂
SO exciting Lauren! SUCH great potential, can’t wait to see what you do with it!!!
Thanks, friend!!!
what a beautiful home to be able to move into with your family. it is an open pallet for you and your family to choose what color goes where. What fun! hope you have many happy years here and lots of memories to share with us, your readers and follower’s .
Thank you, Raye. You’re so sweet. <3
Very interested to see how you configure the furniture in your master bedroom! I am closing on a house in a few weeks looks almost identical – a window nook between two closets on the wall where I would normally put the bed. And the nook isn’t wide enough for a queen bed to get in there, so it needs to go on a side wall, and I’m going back and forth on which one! You’re my inspiration for decorating my new house anyway, so I’ll use your bedroom layout as a cheat sheet for sure!! Best wishes as you begin your journey with your new home!
I’m running into the same issue, but I think the best option for our bed placement will be on the wall beside the door when you walk in. The window on that flat side wall is off center, so it will look strange with a bed in front of it. And I’d rather wake up with the window in front of me anyway. 🙂 We’ll have a better idea once we start pulling in furniture in a couple of weeks.
Same. My wall by the door has no window, and the opposite wall (on the right if looking at the closets) has a window that looks out on the front yard. Seems strange to sleep with my front yard behind me, so the other one it is!!
Very excited to see what you do with your nook! I’m sure it will be adorable!
I love, love, love this house! I can’t wait to see you work your decorating magic! Love your blog!!!
Thank you, Kelly! So excited!
Love it already and I can’t wait to see what you do to transform it with your style! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
Good bones!! Isn’t that what they always say about a house with great architecture and tons of potential? I commented on your exterior new house post a few weeks ago. The interior is wonderful, too. Love the ceiling medallion. The floors are beautiful. Love the plentiful windows for lots of light. Congrats!
Yes! Definitely very good bones. Thanks, Carol!
Thanks for the lovely tour of your home! I cannot wait to follow the progress of the renovations!
Thanks, Teresa!
¡Felicidades! Congratulations on your new house! It is beautiful. Loved all the details and I know you’ll leave it breath-taking. Have fun and enjoy! Thank you for sharing your gifts with us.
You are so sweet! Thank you!
Such a great house! Congratulations! Can’t wait to see how your style evolves as this house speaks to you.
Thanks, Carrie!
What a lovely home. I look forward to seeing all that you do to it. Thank you for sharing with us:)
Thank you, Margie!
Congratulations! I know the fun you will have decorating the house and doing your magic on your beautiful home. Once again congratulations! ?
Thank you!
Love the tour! Such a beautiful home, Lauren! We are house hunting ourselves right now, and I just can’t wait to find a place to fix up and make ours 🙂
Oh, and we’re also currently living with family since our last house sold so quickly!
Best of luck with everything, Alisha! Praying you find the perfect place. 🙂
Looks amazing! I can see why you fell in love! And no house is perfect..but it has great bones and lovely light. Who needs a master walk in closet anyway? 😉 Good luck to you all and thanks for sharing your journey with us! Can’t wait to see the changes!
Haha! I figure those master his/her closets will just make us reeeeaaally think about if some of our clothing is worth keeping. But the good thing is it does have a pretty good shelving layout to utilize more space, so that does help. We didn’t utilize nearly the space we could have in our giant walk-in in our last house and just ended up with more junk than we needed.
Oh, my word – your new home is stunning.
Seriously love your ideas, but it is just as beautiful now, seriously, it’s gorgeous.
I have a modern traditional style with a teeny itsy bit of farmhouse/rustic in touches – it’s my favorite.
I am anxiously awaiting all the magic you will conjour up in this magnificent house.
Best of luck to you.
Thanks, Michele! We definitely want to embrace this home’s beauty. I have no plans of busting down all of the walls and putting up shiplap and trying to make it something that it’s not. Your style sounds a lot like the route we’re thinking. Touches of farmhouse blended with modern and traditional. It’s a great balance.
Oh my golly I love it and totally see why you love that house. It cracks me up that there’s shamrock cut outs in the kitchen. My 18 year old daughter Addison was born on Saint Patrick’s Day so she would want to keep them. Can hardly wait to see the changes! Congrats
I love shamrocks and love me some Irish heritage, but those are gonna go. 😉
I will cry a thousand million tears if you paint that gorgeous brick. It’s so classic and gorgeous!
I’m sure we’ll upset some people, but we’ve had our hearts set on painted brick for years now. We’ll be living with it as the natural brick for a little while though, so who knows. Maybe it’ll grow on us.
Congratulations! What a great house. I can’t wait to see what you do with it. 🙂
Thank you, Lynda!
SO excited to see your new home! It is beautiful and I’m cheering along with you for an already-white kitchen! Excited to follow along on this adventure! xo
Haha! Yaaaay! Thanks, Kendra!
What a fabulous new home! I know you can’t wait to get those hands dirty. The rooms are spacious and there’s definitely lots of character beginning right at the front door with that knocker! I’m jealous of your office and I bet Robert is too. Maybe it could be a his and hers, lol! I too would take out the arch shamrock, but maybe you can cut it in half and repurpose it into something that could hang on the wall, or make a small box out of it. Just another way to incorporate part of the house with your Irish roots!! Enjoy all of your new projects and can’t wait to see your progress.
Thanks, Barbara! We are SO ready. Robert will get an office too, so no worries. 😉 He had an office in our last house and barely used it, and since I’m the one who works from home and always have some kind of project going on, it makes the most sense for me to have a studio of some kind.
Oh my goodness, this is so beautiful! I can only imagine how gorgeous it will be once you’re through with it! Makes me look forward to one day upgrading into a bigger, slightly fancier home (but for now my little one will do!) 🙂
Oh my goodness, it’s amazing!!! I love the bones you have to work with and I know that you’ll do amazing things. I think my favorite part is the bright living room with all that natural light!
Thanks, Chelsea! Mine too! So many windows I’m just completely in love. 🙂
Yay!!! I love it! So much potential and I know you’ll work your magic!! I love all those French doors too. Can’t wait to see how each space unfolds! XO
Thanks, Christy! Maybe one of these days now I’ll actually be able to do a T2T again. 😉
Wow, lovely home. I can’t wait to see what you all do, even just new paint. I love all the french doors too, what a room! Congratulations I am so happy for you all! 🙂
Thank you, Carrie!
Congratulations on a beautiful house. I’m excited to follow you as you bring your style and make it your home. You and your husband are so talented. It’s going to be amazing!
Thanks so much, Nancy!
Congratulations on your beautiful home! I cannot wait to see how you decorate it!
Thanks, Melanie!
Oh. My. Goodness. I absolutely LOVE it, Lauren!!!! It has so much beautiful charm and character. I was swooning over those chandeliers. I am all about some chandeliers with bling. 😉 Thank you for posting the before pictures. I cannot wait to follow your journey as you transform this already beautiful home into your own. I am excited for you and your family. Let the fun begin! 🙂 .
Thank you SO much, Debbie! I’m loving those chandeliers too. This house is certainly very different from what we’re used to.
Congrats Lauren! It is an absolutely beautiful home with already so much character. I can only imagine the personality it will be given here in the future. I love it!
Thanks, Debbie!
Its amazing!! Cant wait to see the great things you have in mind. Congratulations on your house!!!
Thank you!!
So excited for you and your family, and can’t wait to see how you transform “her”!
Thanks, Pam!
So wonderful! the floors–to die for!!!!! SO much potential and I can already see your hand working there in my head! So excited for you.
My only advice would be to try everything else on the exterior before you paint it and see if that makes you happy. We had a painted brick, and it is expensive to maintain/upkeep/redo every few years.
Thanks, Lisa! So excited to get started on it. I know it’ll probably make a whole lot of people upset, but we’ve had our hearts set on painted brick for years. We’ll see how we feel about it at first before painting it though.
Congrats!!! This is such a lovely home and I can’t wait to follow along with the changes/updates you make to it. I’m sure it will be a blast!
Thanks, Amy!
I am so excited for you, Lauren. Your new home is beautiful and I can’t wait to follow along as you make it your own. Happy Tuesday!
Your house will be so fun to restore! I agree that you gotta keep its original charm. As soon as you said you might paint the brick I instantly yelled out “German shmear!” My husband jumped up haha. Can’t wait to see what you do first!
Very beautiful (at least it will be when you’re done)! Love it!
A beautiful home! Have fun making it your own.
Congrats on your new home!!! Can not wait to see how you make it your own…
If this fabulous home was my’s, I would start crying, because I would not know what to do, nor where to start making it more fabulous. As for you and your fanstatic decorative/creative ideas, I know without a doubt every room in your home will be breathtaking, and I cannot wait to see its end results.
I noticed you mentioned a murphy bed, I may be interested in one of these down the line. Any advice on where to get one and install?
Hi, Sarah. You can get murphy beds at ikea, wayfair, overstock and various other places. However, here are a few that do not require any installation https://rstyle.me/n/dbbkxpb5ky7 or https://rstyle.me/n/dbbk65b5ky7.