Home Transformation: Changing our “House” into a “Home” and looking back

I recently shared on my YouTube channel “Life and Lilacs” that we will be moving mid-October. I knew back in January we would need to move in order to accommodate our now four growing kids. I just didn’t know the how and when. Sometime in August, God started filling in the blanks, when I stumbled across a for sale ad for a home that I could immediately feel in my spirit would become our new family home. The sense was strong and I later had to hold on to that when fear and trepidation started creeping in. You see, even good change is scary because of all the unknowns. We ended up having to wait over a month for the price on said house to come down to what we were willing to pay. In our waiting and praying God was faithful and now we are closing next week. We’ve worked hard in the last several weeks to get our home list ready with fresh coats of paint, staging and cleaning. It looks nicer than it ever has before and as I walked from room to room pondering what strangers would think peering in, I became nostalgic on just how far this home has come.

My husband lived in our current home seven years before me, and then since we have been married, we have logged seven more years in it together. I think that is so beautiful because of the biblical significance of seven. It’s a perfect number to end our time here and prepare ourselves for what is next. When I moved in the home was straight out of the past with wood paneling and a carpeted kitchen. Dated wallpaper lined the walls, and my husband’s excuse was he always figured he would let his future wife decorate it how she wished. While we were dating he let me makeover the front room of his house just for fun. It may have also been one of those trust tests. Well I passed and he married me and lots more DIY projects. One of the other major things we conquered right away was flooring. The house was covered in old carpets and he had two dogs. I have really bad allergies and new we were going to need wipeable floors to control dust and allergens. So just for fun, let’s take one last trip down memory lane and look at the before and after of our current home to see how far it’s come.

Let’s start with one of my favorite updates on the house, we lime washed the orange brick exterior and completely changed the curb appeal of the house. We also spray painted all the shutters, changed the front door and spray painted the front railing and lamppost black, Not to mention how big the trees have grown!

Before: Notice the orange brick and faded blue shutters

Now for the after with lime washed exterior: (I just love how the green shutters popped off the white exterior- We used Romabio lime wash to complete this transformation. We bought a paint sprayer from Home Depot, mixed the lime wash ourselves and began spraying. It took us one whole weekend to complete)

Let’s view the backyard change from before:

Now the after: (Of course we’ve added four kids to this house, which includes some play things)

Let’s go to the side of the house for garage view before:

After:

Now let’s move to some of my favorite transitions on the inside. Let’s start with the before of the living room. It was a dark den with wood paneling, old carpet and a dark colored brick fireplace.

Now for the fun makeover. Over time we replaced the flooring, changed out the wood paneling with drywall and painted it with Edgecomb gray paint and bright white trim. We painted the brick fireplace white and removed the metal surround. The light neutral colors made this living room feel so much brighter and larger, also adding mirrors to reflect more of the natural light made a huge change.

Another favorite of mine is the kitchen before and after. Let’s take a look at the dated blue carpet and wallpaper from before with dark cabinets, faux wood paneling and dated light fixtures.

The after includes new paint on walls and cabinets, new flooring and light fixtures. My dad helped my husband frame in and drywall a new pantry and we moved the fridge. The kitchen is so much more functional now.

Isn’t it amazing what a little paint and new hardware can do to old and dated cabinets. We didn’t replace them or the counters but the paint “Green Wave” by Benjamin Moore gave the cabinets a completely new look.

Now let’s look at some other fun rooms in the house. The front dining room became the home library. Here is the before:

The after:

The downstairs extra bedroom became our office. The before:

And after:

We added a new steel door to the garage, fresh paint, and new flooring made this space feel larger and brighter. Perfect for an office space/ mudroom

Another favorite makeover in the house was the bathrooms. I tried my hand at board and batten in the downstairs bathroom and fell in love with it. The bathroom before:

Now the after:

We replaced the mirror with a “French Country” one from Target. Shower curtain is also from Target. I found the lighting on marketplace for $15 and spray painted it. We kept the vanity, but replaced the top on it and faucet. I did the board and batten myself using wood from Lowe’s. I had thought about changing the flooring, but once we painted it didn’t look bad anymore, so we kept it.

The upstairs bathroom got a quick paint makeover before listing the house, so not as dramatic, but still made a statement. Here is the before: (Sorry the lighting is so dark, my husband took these pics when he bought the house 14 years ago)

Here is the after with a coat of Alabaster paint:

We kept everything else the same, just removed the cabinet and painted. With a few accessories it really brightened the room. Never underestimate the power of paint to change a room.

The master bedroom before:

After- with some paint:

Kid’s bedroom before:

Kid’s bedroom now:

There was damaged wall on the back wall because of wallpaper. The easiest route was to add bead board for both an accent wall and aesthetic cover.

The baby’s nursery room before:

And after decorated for baby #4:

Last but certainly not least is our basement makeover. We new we needed a play space as we added more children to our family. The dreary old basement was used for storage before:

For the after, we added can lights to the ceiling and then drywalled it in. We painted the plaster walls and added some cheap outdoor carpets from Costco. We painted a darling little playhouse for our girls, added an IKEA play kitchen and some toyboxes and we had the perfect bright play space,

Let’s end this house tour out of the newly refreshed front hallway.

The before:

The after:

Getting our home to the place we liked took a lot of work over seven years. I most want people to understand this is not an overnight process. It takes patience and vision. You have to be patient with your house and yourself and do what you can as your finances allow. It was so much fun pouring all this love into our home and I look forward to the adventures we will have at the new house. I am glad I am leaving a legacy of love for a new family to enjoy. I can’t wait to journal and document all the changes that will be coming so stay tuned.