A sweet reader asked us about our house the other day, and we thought now would be the perfect time to share some of our favorites. {Links included because today, I will be organized. Or something.} Brandi said “…I’ve caught your home in snippets here and there. Would you mind sharing a little tour for us to see? It’s been hard for me to piece it together on your site because I know you have shared it over time. I’d love to see more and all of it all together with some before and afters…”
I realized it’s been a minute since we’ve shared a complete {or as much as possible} tour here. And I realized I’ve been waiting for things to be completely finito before I shared it again. Which is silly. We have come such a long way with our home, so there’s a little bit of a story to be told. I guess you could call this a little bit of a summer house tour. Because why not?
In 2016 we stumbled upon this home. It was our first day of looking in person, after searching for a year while waiting for our old house to sell. It didn’t make much sense to most, but we instantly fell in love. It’s still a work in progress, but today it looks like this. {Be sure to check out some of our recent outside landscaping projects, here – you’ll find all the directions linked for a trellis, brick pathway and more.}
This is the summer of baby plants, so of course we can’t wait to share our progress next year! Patience, and stuff.
This home was built in 1976, but hadn’t really been updated at all, since. When you walked inside, this was a tiny foyer that opened up to the rest of the house. We can honestly say we purchased this house for the location {school!} and the yard. Since that day we’ve taken this little house from 1650 square feet, to over 3700. Today I’m going to share a few of those phases with you. Stay with me… this one might be a bit of a doozy, which is probably why it hasn’t all been in one place?
Now when you walk in, this is the view you see.
This main room was once divided into 4 smaller spaces. We opened it all up, and raised the ceiling as well. This was once upon a time, the view to your right.
And here we are now. {Byeee tiny artisanal fan.}
And here it is from the other direction, looking back at the entry.
With a shot of the table all set.
This space is definitely the heart of the home, and we love that we were able to open it up for gathering, since we’re big on family time and all things hosting.
Chandelier / table / chairs / rug / art / curtains – read more about our floors here.
When facing the entry and turning to your right, there was a view into the kitchen.
Again, taking out the ceiling made all the difference. We added custom cabinetry designed by us, fresh countertops in soapstone + marble which have held up GORGEOUSLY over time. {A lot of people are gun shy about these materials in their homes and we absolutely adore them. Recap coming soon.}
We added tile {+ here} , beams and lights…and a lot of gusto. We also planked our ceilings ourselves throughout. We adore this space in the heart of the home and the classic design.
Here’s a better view of that before.
Those bay windows once faced the outside, and you’re probably noticing another space now. More on that below because it now contains one of our additions.
The windows were shifted and stained glass that we sourced at the flea market from a turn of the century university in Boston, were added for all the fun color. {We couldn’t have pulled it off without replacing these old windows and the entire exterior with some amazing Window World finds.}
And here’s that other view facing from the other direction… as if we’re circling around the first floor.
Peeking around the corner of the kitchen, as if rounding the corner, it looked like this. Room 4. Which eventually became our main area in the house.
I love this view so much more now!
Almost all of the art you’ll spy in our home, was done by me – {prints available here}. I loved making this wall a little makeshift gallery wall to add height and interest, as well as utilize the open space so that I could hang more.
As much as it pained me, the giant chesterfield we loved forever just didn’t fit in this space with multiple seating options. We added a new sofa and gave the entire space more room by mixing it up a little.
sofa / rug / bottom rug / cream chairs / velvet chairs / side table / coffee table / chandelier / pillows 1.2.3
I initially ordered this piece for a kiddo’s space, but it was a bad fit. So we love the idea of cabinetry here, and I gussied it up. See the entire how to here! I love the peek of the wallpaper from the pool room with this view. It’s all in the details for me.
More detail on fireplace makeover here. {pssst… this home now has three fireplaces because apparently Nashville is cold. There’s a TV hidden behind them all!}
Turning around, you can see where we punched through that wall on the left, and added our primary suite. More on that in a moment.
At first, we weren’t really sure what to do with the right side of the kitchen, since on the left side we had big plans to bust through the wall and build a primary suite. In the beginning, we were told no because of a really long story having to do with septic restrictions that made us want to pull our hair out. Since we figured it all out a few years later, we finally filled in this spot with the rest of our kitchen backsplash tile this spring. Shelves will be going here for more storage ASAP.
It’s not finished, but that’s definitely the point. A home is an on going project, and here we are.
Let’s head upstairs! First up, in the hallway is this bath.
We took it to this. Our boys share this space now. See all the details here!
When we first moved in, we were told we had to wait to do the basement. And we were also waiting to do our primary suite. So we all crammed into the bedrooms upstairs. Our oldest’s room now looks like this.
It’s grown beautifully with him. We love this view, because another big change to the upstairs was all things closets. The boys closets had a connecting wall, with shallow, typical 1976ish spaces. We knocked them both out for more storage. It’s now one big walk through. With a TON of more space.
His brother’s room is on the other side. At first, they all shared this space {you do what you have to do in a renovation after all}, but it all started out like this.
And we took it to this. Check out all the details here.
Here’s the view of that wall from the other side.
And our middle’s… which was once our room. It started out like this.
We adore how bright, colorful and fresh it feels now.
Another closet situation, where We knocked it out and brought it forward. It’s now a walkthrough to her bath, but she has more space. You’ll also see a sister window here, to the ones in the kitchen downstairs. We love all the little details found here!
You can check out the bathroom redo, here. FOR SIX LONG YEARS, all three of us shared this bathroom. I am not even sure why but I’m pretty sure it has to do with an aversion to brothers and shared bathrooms. She pretty much made the bedroom hers, before we even moved out.
For the basement, we’ll start on the outside. Because you head back down those stairs and this was the next phase of our renovation.
We get this question all the time, but The outside once looked like this, and about the same time the basement was being completed, we gave the outside an overhaul, too.
Here’s a little bit of an updated view from our landscaping post, of the side.
But the basement was a situation. And we took it to this. Definitely one of our fave transformations ever.
This side entryway works really hard for us. Eventually, to answer pending questions {people on the internet get really upset that we do not currently own a garage, but we live in an old neighborhood with huge yards} we have plans to build a studio garage. That is in the future. Wish us luck.
We use this space for teen hangs after prom, spend the night parties, game nights, family movie nights, overnight guests… you name it.
To the left, beyond these doors was our old laundry corner. It is about to be transformed into a much-needed closet… more on that coming soon. Because our new laundry room is upstairs. An actual room dedicated to laundry might be MY favorite part.
And to the right is my studio. More of a study these days because the studio part evolved upstairs in the pool room {that’s up next}.
Friends can attest that it never looks this neat. I try. But samples and supplies abound. At least it’s a sign of a thriving creative situation?
But back upstairs… to the pool room. Because to the left of our great room, you’ll find an entire addition. But I’ll show you from the outside first, because here’s what was once there.
And we changed it to this.
We’ll come back to the outside… but let’s cover this addition first. This space started out as plans for a screened in porch, and then went all the way to an actual space. This room is pretty multifunctional, from dining to hang out area, to makeshift office and stained glass/oil painting area for me. This room really does all the things and it’s perfect for now.
On the left side we have a dining area, and to the right, our sitting area.
We actually ended up closing off the windows that were there, to make room for our primary addition. It’s a long story, but septic and backup fields and codes and everything else made it tricky. But we made it work.
here’s the view of the entryway, facing the kitchen and great room area again. Complete with reflection of dog.
Definitely a fave space.
And back to the primary suite, because when you walk back through that door and into the great room, you’re met with this view again. {What the before looked like on the left side of the kitchen} + what it is, now.
There is no real before here, because kind of like the pool room, it didn’t exist until now.
We did some fun breaking ground photos of the process, but really it was quite the process. To the left of where Jamin is standing is beside the punch through. I am right in front of our current fireplace, so to speak… and the far right window is my now-closet, to give you a little perspective. So, here’s a sneak peek of the walkthrough butler’s pantry + laundry on the inside- little tour still to come – little details still pending. SO CLOSE.
Which leads to our new bedroom + bath area.
I took on these stained glass doors this last year with the help of a friend for the woodworking part, and have LOVED the details they brought to the space.
Spreading out after all this time with the extra storage, has felt unbelievable.
Glimpse of a closet before and after… One of the few spaces where you can tell the addition was built on an angle. {Working with our architect’s smart way to get around ridiculous codes.} On the other side is where our pool room sits, and how we covered the windows. I wasn’t kidding when I said this has been a journey.
Through a small hallway and past our closets, is the bathroom. Okay I lied. THIS is my favorite room.
Right off this space and the pool room, we have our access to backyard space. AKA our daily escape. Check out our recent refresh here.
And our Cabana, here. Brought to you by 2020 and all things pandemic. Because when we moved in, the pool looked like this.
And now it looks like this.
Which brings us to the back {side?} yard! Check out the hideaway here
photo via Brian Woodcock, country living magazine
And one more time… Here’s how big they were when we purchased the house…
And here we are now.
Time flies. One more summer.
THIS POST WAS A DOOZIE, but also kind of necessary to get it all in one place! What are your favorite parts about our entire long-term project remodel? We still have more plans. It is never done. But it finally feels like home.
Pssttt… we love working with clients in the Nashville area + Nationally! If you’d like to work with us be sure to check out our portfolio here + contact us here. Looking for a home to make your own? We can help with that too!
Have an inspired day!
Diane says
Love,love,love the great work. And Nashville is a favorite place.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! It has been a long time labor of love and we adore it here. ;}