Before Ry and I got married, we had this great idea to put our house (his former bachelor pad) on the market. We thought, how perfect would it be to have a new home to start our new life? We thought the house shopping part would be so much fun, just like House Hunters on HGTV. And quite honestly, I was dreading the thought of having people walking around our house for months. Not mention, little Mrs. PB is a nut job when people come over, she's kind of like this one (not really, but chihuahuas are very protective of their owners and homes). Well, our thoughts and expectations on the process were completely backwards. Within one week of our house being on the market we had a showing, and that night we got an offer that we accepted. We had one showing and it sold! Lucky for us, and Mrs. PB, we didn't have a ton of strangers snooping around our home. Once we accepted the offer we started shopping, we were excited and energetic, we couldn't wait to find our new home! Well the process started to drain us by the time we had made three offers and none were accepted. Then we were so very close to buying a new construction home that was still being built, and we changed our minds right before signing the contract. The changes I wanted were driving the price up so fast I started to get nervous about the costs. We were down to the wire with time, and I had started to call around for apartments. We did not want to waste our money on rent or storage units, we didn't want to move twice, but that was where we were headed when we couldn't find a home. We weren't willing to settle, and we had our hearts set on a specific neighborhood. We stalked this neighborhood! Ry and I joked that the residents probably thought we already lived there. One day we found a house that was for sale by owner and we called. We got the details and found out it was in need of some TLC. We were cool with that because we were planning to paint the whole house, pull out flooring, and change light fixtures, tile, countertops, and all that stuff, anyway. We figured we'd rather pull out crappy carpet than brand new carpet! We looked at it, and we loved it, but truthfully we didn't get excited about it at first. At this point, all emotions were out of the game. We looked at it from a very rational perspective, which I guess is a good thing from a business/financial perspective, although I believe house shopping is supposed to be an emotional experience. After the contract was signed and dated, we finally started to think about it as our new home. We also started to think about how great it was that all the other offers made weren't accepted, because with this home we will have the funds to make a lot of the changes from the very get go. Whereas the other homes we wanted were so much more expensive we would have had to live with other people's design choices for a while. And that brings me to this post. I'm going to share each room and the design ideas and renovation plans we have for it. I cannot wait to share this renovation process with you over the next few years (yes, it's still going to take a few years) as we bring the new Smith home to life!
Exterior
I'm currently saying my hubby bought me a "pink house" because it sounds so sweet, like he bought me a real life Barbie Dream House or something. I think it's cute with this pastel pink stucco, but we do intend to paint the exterior and add some curb appeal with cedar touches and landscaping.
Ry has his heart set on a dark blue house with cedar elements. We both love the look of this dark navy with the white trim. I was initially thinking about a bright yellow front door, I never dreamed he'd like the idea of a coral front door. I brought it up and he said he likes coral better than the yellow! Yippee for me, I'm going to keep a touch of pink on this house. We'll probably add stone elements around the garage doors. Of course we'll update the exterior lighting. Ry is the best at landscaping and keeping a green healthy lawn, so within a few years our curb appeal should be looking pretty fabulous! We plan to plant a magnolia tree or two and our backyard is huge, so we may need to add a white Labrador puppy to the mix someday.
Entry/Foyer
All the trim is going to be painted white, Benjamin Moore's Super White. I've got some better plans for the handrail that you'll see below. Imagine that front door in the Coral Gables color, super fun! I think most people will think I'm nuts to say this, but I actually like this 1990s gold chandelier in the entry. I may clean it and make it sparkle again, and see what it looks like after everything else is finished. I have a few other entry lights that would look fabulous too, and Ry really hates this light in the entry, but I am thinking maybe it should stay. We shall see. I like a touch of shiny gold! This house was built in 1999, the year I graduated high school, I feel like a few of the original elements should be appreciated.
The carpet is BAD! We are debating between installing hardwood in the dining and living room, or putting in new carpet. We've got several factors to consider. Either way, the existing wood will be refinished with a dark stain mix of 50/50 Ebony + Jacobean. I thought about doing an all white house again, but I decided we needed some color in our lives. The entry, living room, and kitchen walls will be Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue. I'm really excited about this color and I know we'll love it for many many years. It's a soft, airy blue that combines the blue of the sky with a touch of mother of pearl. Awww....doesn't that sound beautiful?
Dining Room
I'm really looking forward to our formal dining room. I've never had one before now. We are already daydreaming about hosting Christmas next year, in our new home! This room will be the white room. I want it fresh, airy, and simple. Some of my favorite places to dine embrace the color white with bright sunlight and that is what I envision for our dining room. The ceiling fan has got to go! I already own the chandelier that will go in here.
I very seriously considered having the bookcases in here removed, but then I changed my mind. I'm going to have them painted bright white, the same color as the rest of the woodwork. They are actually nice quality and real wood, so I think I can fill them up and make it look really nice.
My style and plans for the dining room cannot be explained. I'm attracted to mid-century modern, farmhouse, vintage, artsy, all of it! This room will probably end up being the most creative space because I have no "real plan" other than to pull in all the things I love. We don't have the dining table or chairs yet, unless we use the set we already have and then we'll have to get a new set for the eat-in kitchen. I'm not quite sure how it'll all work out yet, but I'm excited to see how it turns out without a plan! This room will be the first impression room, as it's the first thing you see to your left when you enter the home.
Here are just a few of my favorite dining room spaces that will be part of my inspiration. As you can see I'm all over the board with ideas. It'll come together!
The living room has exceptionally high ceilings and it's full of bright sunshine that I absolutely LOVE. The main changes in here will be:
- Paint: Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue
- Remove the ceiling fan and install a new chandelier
- Fireplace woodwork will be painted BM Super White like the rest of the trim
- Change the fireplace tile to marble subway tile
- New flooring, either carpet or hardwood
- Remove the window coverings, I think we can go without in this space
- We'll probably need some new furniture, but that'll be down the road
- All the plate covers, throughout the home, will need to be changed to white
Our TV is not going above the fireplace which makes me very happy! We are going to use the huge wall that faces the kitchen for our entertainment wall. We both love how Emily Henderson did her living room with the TV console from Ikea in the center, flanked by two white shelving units. This is our current inspiration and we'll probably try to do our layout like this. I already own that rug, and it may go in the living room or under the table in the eat-in kitchen.
Kitchen
A few people that I've talked to about our renovation plans think that we are crazy to paint the kitchen cabinets white, but you know what, I don't think there is anything better than a white kitchen! It's just my thing. I think the stained cabinets in this home are nice, but I simply can't do a dark kitchen.
The main changes in the kitchen will be:
- Cabinets painted Benjamin Moore Super White
- We are thinking about butcher block countertops, see below
- White subway tile backsplash
- New cabinet knobs and pulls (possibly gold)
- New sink and faucet, we both like the farmhouse sinks
- We have our hearts set on GE's retro appliances
- New lighting above the sink and kitchen table
This is what it currently looks like. I'm thrilled to have a window above the kitchen sink, it was actually on my must-have home shopping list!
Here are the kitchens that we'll be pulling ideas from, they are beautiful and I can't wait to use different elements from each one to make our bright airy kitchen!
I'm going to save the bedrooms and bathrooms for a future post. Also, we have grand plans for the full empty walkout basement that we look forward to finishing sometime down the road! We will start moving in the first of the year and our projects will start right after we close in mid-January. Stay tuned as we bring our new home to life!
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
With love xo
Wen
p.s. all the inspiration photos are from my Pinterest board called Suburban Home and you can find all the sources here
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