I've always been curious about what people's homes look like inside. I've never gone so far as to knock on a door, but I have squinted my eyes to peer in a window or two as I drive by. (A good reason, by the way, for you to invest in blinds... for those other interior drive-by peepers like me.)
I was lucky growing up working with my dad, The Window Washer, I got to see the interiors of many large, impressive homes. Even in my teenage years I was interested in art and home decor and loved dreaming about my future home as I walked from room to room
Then in highschool I discovered the show Trading Spaces. Remember that one? This was before Ty Pennington was on Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and was the energetic carpenter for a variety of quirky designers. It was this show that got me addicted to room make overs. There are other great shows now, but this was an original, and it showed you how to do it on a budget. And that's what I need... interesting ideas and ways to do it on a budget. Now, I've never covered a wall with hay, or wine labels (yes, those were real episodes), but my love for color and lack of plain white or beige walls in my home now probably stems from this show I watched so many years ago.
I did my first room make over in college, after my older sister had gotten married, and I had my own room in my parent's house for the first time in my life. It was nothing extravagant. I sponge painted the walls (yep, it was the 90's) and bought my first bedroom set with my own money, and bought a new bedding and curtain ensemble. It wasn't much, but it was enough for my mom to trust me to help her with some more rooms in the house. Ultimately, I redid her living room and hallway, her dining room, and two bathrooms. I was bitten by the redecorating bug.
I have no interior design training. I wish I did. What I do have is an inherited love for decorating, an artistic eye, and an ability to see things for what they could be.
The ability to see potential "before and afters" in rooms collided with my love for peering into people's homes when we started our house hunt 6 years ago. Not counting the homes that I viewed on line or the ones I dragged my mom along for a drive-by, we actually toured over 50 houses looking for our home. It took 6 months.
In August of 2006, I planned a group of houses to look at with my mom, then 13 month old Ava, and our realtor, Al. Our typical house hunting dates would consist of 4 or 5 house viewings in a particular area. After striking the first 2 houses off the list, we headed to #3.
And on this day, the third time was a charm!
We drove down a dead end street, pulled into a driveway, and then... the clouds parted, rays of sun shone down, and there was a hint of the hallelujah chorus ringing in my ears...
OK, so not really, but there was a huge smile on my face before we even unlocked the front door. I just had "that feeling" that this would be our house.
We entered the house and were greeted by an abundance of space, sunlight, and a lot of country blue. If you know me, you know blue is NOT my favorite color, especially not country blue. But I was unphased. I looked past the wallpaper that reminded me of one of my jr. high choir dresses, I ignored the hole dug into the carpet by the dog, and I visually replaced the ugly ceiling fans and builder basic lighting fixtures. I saw the potential that this house could have. I walked from room to room picturing our future in this house. I was hooked. I was in love. Now it just had to pass one test- the husband test.
I'm sure you've figured out the ending to this story. Shannon didn't see the sunbeams or hear the chorus, but he did like the house. More than that, he loves me and knew how much I loved the house. We prayed about it, thought about it, made an offer on it, and in October of '06, we closed on our
We had one month between closing and moving in. One month to put my Trading Spaces well of knowledge into practice. One month to remove all white walls and wallpaper. One month to replace flooring and paint over country blue. One month of little sleep and lots of work. One month to transform someone else's house into our home.
A lot was accomplished in that month, and there have been several more changes, tweaks, and additions over the last five years. The most recent of which was a total kitchen over haul. But rather than continuing to tell you about it, would you like to see it? I won't make you do a slow drive by trying to peer through my blinds. You don't even have to knock on my door and ask for a tour. I'm inviting you in. :)
I don't claim to have a house worthy of HGTV, nor have we had the budget of a real designer, (and I have a feeling I will always have a list of projects and changes that I want to make), but I do love our home. It's our "reality-dream home". A true dream home would be out of our grasp, so this is the home that has fulfilled our dreams in real life. It's our reality-dream home. So grab a cup of coffee and over the next few posts, I'll show you around.
Let's start with the driveway. Let's start with that very first view that parted clouds and brought rays of sunshine to my soul. I don't expect you to have the same experience, but maybe you will see why we loved this house.
All it's missing is a green roof, some farm land, and a "lake of shining waters"... yes, I may have been drawn to this house because of my love of Anne of Green Gables and the similarities I saw between the the movie house and this house. We looked at many newer constructions but none of them caught me with curb appeal in the drive way like this one did. I must be a country girl at heart. The full front porch and gazebo packed so much charm. It almost wouldn't have mattered what I saw when I opened the front door that first time.
Here's the Anne of Green Gables house.
Ok, so they don't look exactly alike...
But you get the picture...
But for the what I found when I opened that door, you will have to wait... I think it's bedtime. :)
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