We were able to touch on it a little this week when we shared our round up post, but we thought it was time to visit the state of our house. What on earth have we been up to, and well… what’s going on? Maybe you don’t care and that’s totally understandable. We’ll be back later with something more entertaining, I’m sure. Maybe. But if you’ve been with us on this crazy money pit journey for a while, then you probably are a little curious about what’s up.
This post is a bit of a doozie because it’s literally been for. ev. ver. since I updated anything. I thought it would be good to look at where we’re headed with it all, so bear with me if you’re down for some progress.
We were so grateful to finish our primary addition this past summer.
{For those of you who aren’t familiar, our house has been a process. We basically stumbled upon this house in 2016, and purchased it for the 1 acre lot {hard to find in Franklin, TN. + the schools.} But we saw potential. So we remodeled the main and upper floors, then the basement, then added the pool room addition, and now added this primary suite, after a few projects in between.}
But when we finished our primary addition, it was just the bare bones of it all. We were so excited to spread out, we just had a mattress on the floor. It’s been a slow burn. Plumbing and lights were done… but the rest had to come later when it includes all things details. We’ve shown sneak peeks and we hope to share the grand reveal very soon.
All those finishing pieces from glass, to organized closets, to cabinets, to wallpaper and much more… {it’s all in the details} have taken a moment, because that’s just the way it goes with the state of the market and economy right now. It’s made our jobs a real blast, let me tell you. ;} But it’s been a real game changer for our family… taking this little 1976 fixer upper from under 1700 sq ft when we first moved in, to about 3800… It’s the perfect house for us.
Yes, we made these – doors included with a help of a sweet friend! See our entire series here.
In the meantime we’ve been piecing together all the little things. Here are a few fun sneak peeks of where we are!
We’re not kidding when we say slowly but surely. I’m truly thrilled about the way this laundry room is coming together. After having a tiny corner for years, this is the perfect little space. It may be my favorite part of the whole thing.
We have most of the bedroom cabinets in too, on each side of our fireplace. And though this isn’t much of a sneak peek, we’ll be sharing this reveal soon.
This is another view of our butler’s pantry, as it sits just off our kitchen entry. This entire wall is about to be tiled with open shelves. I’m smitten with these blue cabinets.
Rewinding a little, this is what one of the four rooms initially looked like in our {now} great room.
When we moved in, our great room and upper level were the only spaces we remodeled. This was a wall to the left of our cabinets, and it was never finished, because we knew we would eventually punch through. I just had a china cabinet sitting there all these years. Now we have plans for this wall, to finish the tiling for a proper entry.
But let’s back up for another view. And what we’ve been working on in this space. As soon as the primary suite was finished this past summer, we moved back out of the house again for an entire week, within the month. Cue me, pulling out hair. These hardwoods were worth it… because once we finished our addition, the rest of the house was refinished, to take care of a leak which happened last winter. Our current {prefinished} floors had been discontinued, so for continuity’s sake, it made sense to refinish it all. It was all rainbows and unicorns in the end, since we were able to match our floors throughout, this way. We can’t be too mad about it.
A few {6} months later, we’re still very much in love with our hardwoods. Let me just say, click here if you’re curious about the finish, and let me know if you have any questions.
We’re obsessed with the classic, clean look. Perfect for all things doggos, too. I’m sharing more on floors, and dogs specifically, next week. The bases are back on the cabinets, and we’ve been piecing things back together.
Side note: all of this was going on in between our day jobs, and while we decided to get our kiddos settled in their own rooms, put the finishing touches on our addition, and tackle the outside as soon as possible, too. While we do have future plans for our home and improvements we intend to continue with, {can’t wait to share those exciting things, as well} we are so ready to be done for a while, and focus solely on our family and business.
So our goal is to finish/polish off this great room space, which is the heart of our home, and our primary suite over the next few months. In the meantime, we have more fun client projects coming your way too, so we promise the spaces and projects, will not stop. We’re just grateful to be here and we’re trying to catch our collective breath.
Here we are with this space. Once upon a time, it was four separate rooms. See the original tour here.
To the left, we have the entry to our primary addition, as shown above. To the right, we never finished it because we wanted as much balance as possible. We weren’t even sure if that was possible or what we wanted. If you’ve been following along then you know that because of septic and codes, this was a years-in-the-making process.
This space, of all the spaces in our home, was a bit of a hodgepodge when it came to furniture. So what better time to redo it all, we decided, when we moved all the furniture out this summer? Yes, we lost our minds, but we weren’t wrong. Yes, I did say goodbye to my chesterfield that I loved and cherished for years. Stay with me. I know this post is a lot. More on that below.
Since this great room is basically divided into three areas, I thought we’d discuss it zone by zone. Let’s start with where we already are: the kitchen. You can see our original kitchen reveal here to see what the original was like. Over time, we’ve made a few changes.
Cosmetically we plan to tile both areas of this kitchen on each side of the far back wall, to tie it all together. The right side will have open shelving with tile all the way down, to hold dishes. No, open shelving doesn’t bother me. I just rinse before using. I am keeping the current china cabinet, and it will go in the butler’s pantry.
The left side {entry into our primary suite} will have tile around the doorway, continuing it all as well. This does bring some much-needed completion to the space. I chose this tile in a combo of patterns years ago, and I’m still smitten. Here’s an up close look at the way it is so subtly blue on the wall.
Because our faucet has now been replaced no less than three times since 2016, and caused a leak last winter, I’m now going with Delta. Enough with the subpar nonsense. I love the industrial aesthetic here and also adore that it’s such a dependable product. Dependable, as you can see, is what we need.
We’ve also replaced our initial lights with our favorite brand, Kichler.
And since our barstools have taken a beating with many a greasy hand over the years, I think we’re opting for something simple and fresh with new barstools, as well. I love, in a large space, to be able to tuck my barstools away and underneath. But we need backs since we really entertain here, and I don’t want cushions. Therefore, these are a great, practical option.
Then the cabinets will need to be repainted, since they were also damaged in the floor installation process and water damage. They were way overdue for some type of repair so again, while it’s annoying we’re still glad. I’m not changing the colors and love the classic look. We still love the rest of the space and those fabulous polycor countertops in marble + soapstone. We also have more plans for where the piano currently sits, to expand our cabinetry/kitchen area. It will be moved to our entryway. Stay tuned.
On to the sitting area!
When we first moved in six years ago, we literally thew things together. My dream chesterfield that I’d loved and cherished for years, just wasn’t a good fit in this room. It took me six years to admit it. It made the space feel much tighter and smaller. It was like a small boat. And it didn’t mesh well with the other pieces. We were fighting with things. We’d also chosen a quick fix in a kitchen table, {our old table is in the back room, and perfect there} it was round and didn’t fit. Since we’ve added to the house over the years with more square footage, this room needs a whole new purpose as more of our “formal/casual” entertaining area. A sitting space to entertain without the huge pieces since we now have a basement + poolroom for that.
The new look will have jewel tones with natural vibes and a little of our usual, colorful picks. Here are a few of the things we’ve purchased for the space that we love:
sofa -much smaller with an easy vibe that we love – obsessed with those legs / cream chairs / velvet chairs – scored on sale / pillows 1.2.3 / rug / side table / coffee table
I initially ordered this piece for Malone’s space. But it was a bad fit. So we love the idea of cabinetry here, but I wasn’t happy with the final look. Until he walked in one afternoon and said “Mom, you should do stained glass there!” and now the whole family hates him because I’ve taken up the back room again with more stained glass door projects. Wheeee! But here’s a quick sneak peek of the fun glass I have planned for this one, with a modern take on all things shapes. They should really pop against that cabinet.
We’re also replacing our lights in the space with something to tie in with our island pendants, and more from Kichler’s new collection. We adore this one and think it will look fantastic to polish everything off. I’m also bringing back some oldie but goodies with some paint accents, and some new abstract pieces as well.
And for our eat-in area:
The piano is now moved to the entryway, which I actually like, due to more cabinetry on that other wall. We once had a round table here, and are thrilled to add a rectangular one, now. We found this one at Overstock, and love the lighter look with the marble countertop. It just fits better.
The light will be replaced with another Kichler addition, one that ties in nicely to the entire space, so they all work together.
We found some chairs from here + love the simple caning with a new uniform, classic look.
This rug is a new addition coming soon – we’ll do a partial reveal / sneak peek as soon as the table arrives. We love the way it ties in all the colors together so seamlessly.
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Was that the longest post in the history of ever? We hope it caught you up a little on where we’ve been. We’ve been living in chaos for a while, but good things take time and we’re glad to see some progress! Thanks for staying with us on this never-ending housing adventure. It’s been a ride. We’re just glad to piece it all together after years of waiting.
Have an inspired day!
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