We moved into our new home in February and we've spent the last few months updating the house to make it more our own. So, I thought it was time for another house tour where I can share the updates/changes that we have made. You can view how the home looked when we first moved in here.
The big change is that we have painted all main level walls Sherwin Williams' Natural Linen. It is our favorite color and really unifies the space since it is the only color used throughout. We had new windows and garage doors installed as both were sorely needed since the house is 14 years old. This picture shows the AFTER (on the top) once we added new windows, new garage doors and removed some of the vinyl railing from the front porch. (The BEFORE is on the bottom). Our first and second floors have over 3000 sq. feet of living space, so this is a pretty big home, but the layout keeps it cozy and inviting and it doesn't really feel as big as it truly is.
FOYER
This cabinet (previously used in the master bedroom) had a large open storage area above the drawers. Since we don't have a coat closet handy just inside the front door, my husband installed a rod near the top and we now use it to hold all of our coats! One of the drawers also holds gloves and hats.
LIVING ROOM
We purchased a large entertainment center for the only wall in the living room as well as some new furniture from Ashley Furniture. Rugs from Overstock.com cover all of the wood floors. If it was up to me, I would LOVE to cover the wood flooring with carpeting once all of the dogs are gone, but we'll see .... Jim loves wood flooring!
LIBRARY
(was previously a dining room)
The previous owner left the large black bookshelf for us! She was downsizing and so it was too big for where she was going. That worked out perfectly since I have a lot of books and needed more storage for them.
KITCHEN/PANTRY (originally a 1/2 bath)
Once again, the previous owner left us some furniture - some gorgeous Paula Deen pieces that I totally love: the island and stools, the dining room table and chairs/2 benches, and a corner curio cabinet which I am using for storing seasonal dishes. I purchased the large buffet/hutch on the long wall to hold the rest of my dishes. The artwork on the wall is by
Maya Murano and we will be commissioning more veggie & fruit art to cover the empty back wall. Actually, almost all of the artwork in our home is by Maya!
I love the pantry door!
This pot rack is the best thing ever!! I would never have thought to use one, but it works great!
LAUNDRY ROOM
There was only one shelf around the two walls in the laundry room. The rest of the items were on a shelf in the garage which is just off the end of the hallway. Jim and I bought a few more shelving pieces and organized the space so that we could get excess storage out of the garage.
MASTER BEDROOM
This room has turned out so much better than I could ever have imagined it would! We actually purchased all of the long blackout curtains from Overstock right after we moved in. It turns out that they are EXACTLY the same color as our paint choice. I love it when things work out like that, don't you? We actually worked on the master bath first which helped inspire the color choices for this room. I wanted it to be really neutral in color and not overly feminine - I think I got what I was looking for!
The artwork over the bed is made of four panels that I found at a local antique store. Jim screwed them all together and we hung it on the wall. The design in them mimics the mirrors in the master bath. I hung a piece of metal artwork and some candle sconces on top to finish it off. New flannel bedding from Kohls and new lamps from Amazon finish everything off. (That large armoire cabinet is now used in our foyer as a handy coat closet!)
It would not be my preference to line up our dresser and armoire on one wall, but it's really the only space we have for furniture. The tall Paula Deen armoire nearest to the bed was left by the previous owner again.
MASTER BATHROOM
This room was so dark before and now it looks so much bigger having painted it with a light color! I wanted to keep the "p.s. I love you" sticker over the bathroom door so we painted it and then removed the sticker leaving the previous dark paint underneath to show through. It came out great!
The mirrors are what the entire color scheme is based on and I found them at Bargain Hunt. I purchased new lighting, hook racks, faucets, towel & toilet paper holders from Lowes and some artwork from Big Lots. The painting over the toilet is from Maya Murano.
UPSTAIRS LANDING
I finally found some really pretty shelves by Better Homes & Gardens at Walmart for this area that is at the top of the stairs near the bedrooms. The shelves hold board games and a few craft supplies.
YARN ROOM
That door off of the landing is the bonus room over the garage. I use it to organize and store my yarn stash. Yes, I have a LOT of yarn, but it is really handy to just go upstairs, dig around for the perfect yarn and begin a new project at a moment's notice!
I have even made use of the center of the room, storing yarn in various containers under the work table and re-purposing a dresser to hold lots of little skeins of yarn that would not otherwise be easily stacked in the larger cubes along the walls
GUEST ROOM
My oldest son is now in graduate school, so we have turned his room into the guest room. He, of course, uses it when he is home on a break. We will paint this room soon and re-do the organization/storage in the closet as it is not ideal. I plan to put the armoire in the closet eventually as well. It is nice to have a place for guests to use as we didn't have that at our previous home. The large window has a lovely view of the mountains, too!
CRAFT ROOM (LOFT)
Upstairs, there are 2 large bedrooms, a loft overlooking the living room, a full bath, a large storage closet and my Yarn Room over the garage. The loft is my overflow room that holds all the things I don't have in another space! The two metal shelves hold all of my papercrafting supplies. I need to finish my youngest son's scrapbooks and then I plan to make scrapbooks of our future travels. Now that the kids are on their own, it's time to visit some bucket list sites!
Obviously, the all wood shelves hold books and my embroidery/cross-stitch supplies. I use the large table for scrapbooking and painting my nails with my favorite Olive & June nail polish!
UPSTAIRS BATH & STORAGE CLOSET
FRONT PORCH
BACK PORCHES
Covered/screened in L-shaped back porch with an eating area, swing and fireplace seating. I leave lots of pillows around for the dogs to use or when needed to feel more comfortable sitting on the swing!
Large outdoor side porch with seating and the grill. I keep the cushions in the large deck box so that they will, hopefully, last longer since they aren't sitting out in the elements day in and day out.
Small outside deck with a bistro set and that gorgeous view!
This is what the back of the house looks like from the back fence line. We have a full basement which is divided into three parts. One part is for storage (seasonal, holiday, boys' stuff, etc). The second area is my husband's workshop/tool section. The third area is set up for exercising. It's not a "finished" basement, but all of the 1600+ sq feet of space is organized & being used in some way or another!
BACKYARD VIEWS
We love looking out the back doors each morning and evening to see what nature has brought us that day! On a clear day, we can see the Smoky Mountains in the distance. It never gets old!
Well, that is the tour of our home! You can view how it looked when we first moved in here. This is our final home - it is perfect in every way for the both of us. I got the space I was wanting and Jim got his mountain views. Although we have a 2nd floor, everything we need is on the main floor and that was something we both wanted. I feel so lucky to have found this home for us to live in for the rest of our days!
