Before.

To understand my home and my journey to transform it into the house I imagine it to be, it's important to understand where we started.  And there's no better way to understand where we started than to take a little house tour... the same house tour we took right before we put an offer in on our home 8 years ago.

Eight years ago, I was pregnant with Jack and James had just turned two years old.  We felt like we were outgrowing our little ranch and faced with a major addition or renovation to help our house grow to fit our family, we decided to look for something else.

My dream was a 2 story house, with storage, a garage and most importantly... a big playroom to house our growing collection of toys and kid stuff.  Mike's dream was a big, flat backyard with room for the boys to throw a football and the dogs to run.

When the I found our house on MLS 8 years ago, it stuck out.  Even now, I'm not sure why... the style of the previous owners wasn't anything like my own style and while it wasn't a total fixer upper, there were projects we would need to take on to make this house our own.  But something about it felt warm, inviting and homey.  Even in pictures, with someone else's paint colors and furniture, it felt like a place that we could make happy memories and raise our family.

They say hindsight is 20/20, and in our case, I've definitely felt that way in the 8 years we've lived here.  Make no mistake, I love our home.  BUT I was determined to buy something and get everyone settled before Jack arrived, so we were a little under the gun to find "the one".  As I look back through these pictures, I don't think we really thought through how much work it would take to make this house our home... (and by "we", I mean "I".  I think Mike knew exactly how much work this house would take.  But he also knew he was dealing with a hormonal, nesting wife who was 7 months pregnant, so he wisely chose to stay silent on that subject.)

Separate formals were a must for me when we were looking at houses... I think I felt that way simply because I grew up with a formal living and dining room and wanted those spaces in the home where we would raise our children.   Most people want a more open concept today and don't need or want the separated space.  I still love having our formal living and dining room areas, but they've constantly evolved in our years here at home to adapt to our current needs.  The living and dining rooms in our house needed some updating when we purchased the house, but the basics were in place... molding, hardwood floors and rooms stacked together so that we can double our floor space whenever we need to.

Another thing I had to have in my new home was a separate family room space... again, simply because I grew up with it.  Eight years later, I still love that our family room is connected to the kitchen and that the room that houses our TV isn't the first thing you lay eyes on when you walk into the front door.  I love that it has a cozy fireplace.  In fact, I wouldn't consider looking at any houses that didn't have a fireplace. (Strange little tidbit about me... I'm obsessed with fireplaces.  My dream house has one in every room).  But I'm also the first to admit that even though this room has seen some major changes in our 8 years here (mostly paint, paint and more paint), it's also the room that sometimes frustrates me the most.  There's still so much I want to do in there.

No doubt, I was most excited about the huge, oversized bonus room space when we bought the house.  James' toy collection at 2 years old was overwhelming and quickly outgrowing the storage options we had in our ranch.  I still love having a dedicated playspace for my kids today and a place to keep all of their toys and clutter away from visitors popping by unexpectedly.  But as the toys have evolved and changed as the boys have gotten bigger, we've started to think about what the bonus room will become in the next phase of our lives.  It's the one room in the entire house that is still the same color it was when we bought it.  It's a space where the focus has been function over form and aesthetics.  I'm excited to transform this space in the next few years into something that the boys will continue to enjoy as they enter their teen years, but it's definitely bittersweet to see that massive toy collection dwindle little bit by little bit.

  
This was our kitchen the day we bought our house.  I look back at this picture and really can't remember what I was thinking when we walked through.  I think maybe I assumed we'd tackle a kitchen renovation within that first year, just like we did in our little ranch?  I'm pretty sure that I walked into that kitchen and saw what I wanted it to be instead of what it was... wallpaper, dark cabinets with frosted glass, tile countertops and a backsplash with garden themed accent tiles.  What's crazy is that 8 years later, we still have not removed the cabinets or the countertops.  We've made major changes in this space but we've done it with paint and by working with what we had.  There are still some things we need to change (like those tile countertops), but for the most part, I love what our kitchen has become... and I love that we didn't have to undergo the expense and hassle of a major renovation to make that happen!

I've always wanted a screened in porch and this house had one... need I say more?

Mike and I both wanted any house we purchased to have a large, flat backyard with lots of grass for playing ball with our boys and fetch with the dogs.  This backyard was big and fully fenced it, but it had trees for miles and not a blade of grass.  We put an offer in knowing that the yard would be our big project.  Both of us will tell you on any given day that it was a bigger project than we ever dreamed it would be!

The bedrooms were pretty basic and gave us what we needed, but lacked personality.  We were excited about a good sized master and a bedroom for both boys.  Coming from a 1950's ranch, they all seemed huge and spacious.  Coming from our 3 bedroom ranch and only one child with another on the way, 3 bedrooms seemed plenty.  Eight years later, I'm still toying with the idea of moving the boys into a bedroom together to give us a dedicated guest room.  Eight years later, I'm still cursing the fact that this house doesn't have that fourth bedroom.  But, three bedrooms works for us, so it wasn't a deal breaker all those years ago and it still isn't today.

Lengthy and long, but that's it... our house as we saw it when we toured it eight years ago.  We've come a long way in those eight years.  Looking back at the MLS photos, it's hard to believe that it's the same house that we live in today.  Looking back is good for my soul because there are days when I'm frustrated at the changes we haven't made yet... and these photos remind me of all the changes and progress we have made... changes that have made this house our home.