house makeover projects

in june 2011 we moved into our first home. excited doesnt even begin to describe how we felt... apartment living was getting old (not to mention crowded) and since we were married and all we thought we might want to start gaining equity instead of just throwing money away every month (granted our rent was a LOT less expensive, but anyway...)

house hunting was a scary, frustrating, and strange experience as neither of us had done it before (nor do i want to really do it again, but i know we will eventually...) and its tough when your husband is 6'7" and doesnt fit into many of the houses we looked at.

5 different houses

but eventually we found one... was it perfect? no. but it was perfect for what we needed/wanted at the time, and will work for us (and our rapidly growing family) for the next few years. when we moved in it was a shell, which was great since we could pretty much do what we wanted (for the most part). but ill fill you in on a little secret: a brand spankin new house doesnt come without its issues. ill just leave it at that. (dont worry, nothing major. but nothings perfect, despite its newness).

there are many things that we have done to make the house our "home", but i feel like we have a lot more to do. i am not willing to put a ton of money into this house since we wont be here forever, but i feel that what we have done will help it sell in the future to a family like ours looking for a good starter home in a nice neighborhood.

we started by staining the deck white, growing grass, and planting

we added a deck... so as not to have a death trap when opening the back door

stainless steel appliances and over the island lights
(i really wish our cabinets were white but the painting is just too much)

downstairs bathroom paint

upstairs bathroom paint and cabinet stain

and of course my favorite... office turned nursery

the whole house is/was painted that brown tan color and im sick of it everywhere. (minus the master bedroom, which was painted when we moved in... not really sure why, but oh well. i like it)

there are many more things i want to do (sooner rather than later) but i know we will be slightly busy this summer so we'll see when (if) things get done. (anyone willing to come help? ill bake, you work hehe) pinterest is terrible and keeps giving me more and more ideas (that typically arent cheap). 

wish list: 

- a fence for the backyard

-staining the back deck/restaining the front porch (i want the back deck to be white like the front, ty doesnt... ill win? i just think it will look nicer/match...)
- gutters (never knew how much they really help... til we both go out on the deck and almost slip and fall when the dropping water turns to ice every morning) (and who builds a house without gutters?! ugh)

- paint the upstairs hallway (again, boring brown tan... so sick of it)

- redo the whole guest room (ugh, its a MESS)

- add a living room entertainment center with bookcases

something like this

and then theres the basement. dont even get me started... id actually like someone to just come and just empty the whole thing. i havent gone through most of the stuff down there since we moved in, clearly i dont need any of it! oh which reminds me, i want to do something with the laundry section of the basement. shelves or something. ty has his work cut out for him... ive done this whole "growing a human thing" for 7+ months now, he can do all the housework!