Good morning! It's day three of this journey and I thought a lighter day might be in store! I've got a bunch of pictures to share with you (like seriously a lot) and some background to make sense of them. Yesterday I shared how we have transformed over the years and I concluded that we are definitely not the same people today that we were when we moved in. Lots of life has happened and changed us and naturally, our home has been changing right a long with us. Today I'm giving you a pictorial guide through the many changes I've made over the years.
Here are a few things to remember before we begin:
1. We have a pretty simple floorplan. We have an open living/dining room, a kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a laundry room and a screened in porch.
2. Almost without exception, every room has changed it basic function at least once. But actually, more like five times! I hope it's not confusing but it probably will be.
3. I have a bachelor's degree in Interior Design.
4. In reference to the statement above, let me just clear this up...I may have the degree, but it does not mean that I haven't made some really interesting (odd/ugly/dumb) choices over the years. Looking back at some of these pics make me question all kinds of things. Mainly the state of my mind...
5. I have feathered this nest on a shoestring, youth-pastor's wife budget. I'm quite proud of that actually because I think it's come together pretty well considering many of our things are hand-me-downs, garage sale treasures, craig's list finds, or occasionally an amazing find from Homegoods.
6. I will be sharing some specifics from each room and the stories of how they evolved as we go through these 31 days and I'll show you later what this place looks like today. Today is mostly a fly-by tour of the big changes and looks over the last 6 years. In my mind this makes sense, in yours?? Maybe not so much.
7. This introductory list is too long. So, without further ado... Here we go!
Circa 2007
Standing in our front entry, here is the basic view from the weeks or so after we moved in. Also, meet Ryley, our first baby and my favorite photo bomber in those days. He will likely pop up from time to time in this tour. Which makes me really miss him...
We used that light fixture to define a "dining" space for us.
This was how our kitchen looked for years. This picture makes it seem so dark, but I was going for cozy. When we moved in it was a pale celery color, which I hated and lived with for about 3 days.
I broke the space up with the placement of our couch, which sort of separated that room into 2 big areas. Trav will be thrilled I chose this pic :)
Our master bedroom
The bedrooms here are huge, with tall ceilings and in the master, a HUGE walk in closet and a 3/4 bath.
The second front bedroom was our guest room.
In Ryley's mind this was "his" bedroom and he pretty much slept on that bed all day, every day. He lived a rough life!
Here we are, the happy homeowners in our matching purple outfits (??!!??) Ha ha :)
Circa 2008
The first changes I began making were mostly just decorative. I added chocolate brown to our bedroom and found that brown chair in the corner on Craig's list. One of my best finds ever!
Best photo bombing dog award.
He loved to sit in front of me whenever I pulled my camera out. If only I could train my children to do that...
It didn't take me very long to decide the living room needed to be rearranged. I am not one of those people who does something and then lives with it for years to come. I change stuff about every 20 minutes. It's a flaw.
So open and clutter free.
Totally pre-children.
Can you spot our porch in the background?? How about the giant satellite dish I had to work around for years?? That's a design challenge you don't talk about in school.
I loved this little porch in it's glory.
Our fave spot to have coffee in the mornings and thanks to the screens, always bug free!
It killed me not to have a yard for plants, but I consoled myself with lots of potted plants on our porch.
Circa 2009
This was the year that everything really began to change because we were pregnant with Ava!
Therefore, this was my first go-round with the addition of PINK all over. Including the main bathroom, which I determined needed to match her nursery and be hers. I don't know... lots of hormones and a patient husband!
Remember the yellow guest room? Well Ryley lost his spot and that room became Ava's nursery.
I LOVED this room and everything about it.
It still makes me happy seeing these pics!
We logged so many hours in this room and it was a great set-up. Although we did mourn the loss of our guest room. Having family stay with us began to get a lot more complicated.
Circa 2010
Surprise! We blinked and I was pregnant, again. This is the chapter of our marriage when my design degree came in handy. I was working my creative juices in overdrive at this point, trying to figure out how to fit the 4 of us in 2 bedrooms. So, naturally we put Ava to work...
...and switched things up. Trav and I moved into the small front bedroom. If you are keeping track, this makes the third change for this room!
After we cleaned out her original nursery (which about killed me because I loved it) we moved the pint sized queen into the biggest room in the house. At this point I was getting jealous of her.
This is not a good picture, but it appears to be my only one of our GIANT walk in closet, before it became what it is today. It's essentially a 10 x 8 room and it has been the key to us staying here without too much sacrifice.
Not only did we move her into a giant room but we also ripped the band-aid off and put her in a big girl bed! At 16 months.
So she got another dream room out of the deal!
A big, soft bed for a little, tiny person.
And lots of space to spread out and play. It was the right move.
Most importantly, her new little brother landed his own room out of the switch.
Yes, that's right. The walk in closet became Carter's nursery!
And what a cute nursery it became.
I had to get really creative because now the kids had no closet and we had to move out of this one for a much, much smaller one. I hung that curtain and turned a shelving space into their closet. Fortunately little kids have little clothes!
Considering it's a closet, it worked perfectly as a nursery.
It was handy to have a 3/4 bath for them as well and I used to stand in there sometimes and look out into two rooms with two kids and think, what happened here??
Giving up our Master didn't come easily at first, but it was so worth it. It gave (and still gives) our kids the added playroom space that we lack in our living room and it helps keep the majority of the toys hidden in the back our house.
Plus it was still cute and we had lots of snuggle spots to enjoy the amazing blessings God gave us. When Carter was born it was October and the winter that followed was brutal. We got record snowfall and I had a newborn and a toddler on my hands. I have such sweet memories of basically staying in with my babes for most of the winter and we logged so many hours in this room together!
These two became roommates and it was hilarious!
Thankfully they handled sleeping near each other like champs. We worried that Carter would wake Ava up with his nighttime feedings but he really didn't.
She loved it when he woke up in the morning so she could run in there and see him. The whole thing was amazing. And our closet bedroom was a HUGE answer to our prayers.
Circa 2011
The kids kept growing and I began my newest challenge, trying to figure out the best way to have their toys available and kid-friendly, without them taking over every square inch of our home.
We gave ourselves a little update too. Mostly I was tired of the kids getting all the color in their world and Trav let me brighten up ours too!
We took our big, long table out of the dining area and I found this little round table for the kitchen that served us better and freed up more floor space for the kids to play.
We added little touches like reading spots...
... and little potty chairs. We definitely were a home with kids underfoot!
And my cute porch??
It turned into a little tikes play space.
It was functional, but I may have shed a tear over my "coffee spot" losing its' luster.
We made another big change in the sleeping arrangements when we brought these garage sale beauties home!
And we did this! Yes, the closet went from holding clothes, to one child, and now two. It's a magical little space, isn't it??
I tried to figure out how to inexpensively coordinate their bedding...
Which was fun.
And suddenly we had two BIG kids. In bunk beds. Good grief! For the record, no matter what happens, Travis and I will NEVER be moving into this closet!! I have to draw the line somewhere and that is where I draw it.
I went for a pink and blue mix, with a little green here and there to tie it together.
And the master?? We turned it into one big playroom.
The kids wanted in on the design action and they added some toothpaste art to the bathroom walls.
Circa 2012
I rearranged the living room, yet again.
The playroom got a train table...
... and a big shelving system from Ikea.
And these two did some al-fresco dining this summer too!
I'm teasing you a little bit because this is not how our nest looks today! We've made many BIG changes this summer and I am excited to reveal them to you piece by piece. So come back, will you?? Tomorrow we are changing up all of our flooring, so my posting may be delayed based on the level of chaos a full day of installation brings. This little 2 bedroom condo has sure done her job well, hasn't she?? Believe it or not, I'm actually falling in love with her all over again as we make these updates and complete these renovations. I'm not saying I wouldn't kill for a back yard or a family room some days, but the Lord truly does give us every thing we need to live right where He has us. We are living proof of His provision and goodness, even in the middle of circumstances we wouldn't have chosen.
Thanks for humoring me with that walk through the years! Can't wait to show you the changes that 2013 has ushered in! Happy Thursday, friends!!
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