{Home Tour }

I know that I seriously need to update this page... Several rooms I our house have evolved since these early pictures of our home being built and moving in were posted.  These are still fun to look at, but soon I will get recent pictures of our decorating progress up :)

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We had a new home built last year... It is large and it has given me a huge blank canvas to decorate.  Soon I will post the progress pictures as it was being built, what it looked like when we moved in... and how a few of the decorating projects are coming along today.  

I believe to properly decorate a room, it should come together over time.  I don't like matchy matchy furnishings... but rather items with character and charm.  Finding and/or creating those perfect pieces, adding them one at a time to a room, is such a fun and exciting process.  I love seeing it all come together.  Being that we haven't been in our home that long, I am not completely done with any of the rooms in our home yet.  However a few of them are getting close. I guess they are all still works in progress.  The best thing I can tell you when decorating your home is that it doesn't have to be perfect... Don't settle on items that are just okay... but surround yourself with things you love and colors that make you feel good.  It may take longer to pull it all together, but it will be worth it!

Here are pictures of our home during the construction process... From the first week of framing through construction completion.

My amazing hubby in his garage (well it's our garage, but I tell him it's his)... This is the first time we will actually be able to park in our garage and still have storage and a workshop.  Thank you God!

View from the upstairs before the outer walls are enclosed...

Super high ceilings in the formal area as the lighting goes in.

Entry foyer with a super long hallway. 

Formal area as it's being drywalled.

Family room on drywall day.

Kitchen on drywall day. 

Staircase on drywall day... with temporary railing for safety.

Garage interior on drywall day.. with drywall truck on the dirt driveway...

House fully enclosed.. Concrete driveway installed... Front yard sprinklers being installed.

View down the side of the rear yard.

 First view of railings after they were installed... before stain.

Master bath tub and shower before tile was installed.

First time seeing the fireplace surround and mantle...

Kitchen cabinets just installed.

Railings after caps were stained.

View out the back sliding glass door off of the kitchen nook.  Rear wrought iron fence was just installed.

We love the finished, fully insulated garage... It is 40' deep with a small workshop area.

First day we got to see flooring after it was installed.  Paper was still over the tile to protect it.

 First time seeing granite after it was installed and appliances...

Wow, carpet... makes it look so different!  My dream would have been hardwood floors... but the cost was way too expensive... So for now, budget friendly carpet and tile.

Open loft above the formal dining room...

Master bedroom... hubby looking at the view.

Hall from master bath to bedroom.  Dual walk in closets :)

Master bath... super plain jane vanilla... but in time I will spruce it up.  I'm in love with the big spa tub! It's got jets and it's own in line water heater...

The day of our new home walk through, a week before closing escrow...

Entry hall flooring finally exposed (previously it was always covered with paper)...

Downstairs bedroom that we will use as an office...

More pictures to follow soon... 

Next photos to post:  Basic vanilla home with our furniture just after we moved in...

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Okay, so I'm finally posting a few pictures of moving in day and a couple of days after...

Wow... our garage is huge (40'deep) and it looked amazing before we loaded all of our junk into it!

I don't have many pictures of us actually loading the house... But this was taken that night.  Yes, I actually already had throw pillows on the couch and a blanket throw out.. haha... I imagined it in my head so many times, that we rolled out the rug and I pulled out the pillows and throw as soon as the couch was placed.  I wanted to make it feel like home... even though we were living in a fishbowl. New homes don't come with ANY window coverings. But, I did put them on the priority list for a few of the rooms (i.e. family room and master bed and bath)... A little privacy would be nice!

A few days after we moved in we had put up a ceiling fan and 2" faux wood blinds in the family room and master bedroom.  I love all of the light that comes in through these windows in the day time, but at night, I prefer to close things up.  This room looks so white box vanilla at this point.  But our furniture all fit beautifully!  

The pair of  wing-back chairs on the left were actually my grandmothers when I was a small child, in fact I think they had them when I was born.  They once had a plaid like orange and gold tweed like fabric on them...  They have been re-upholstered four times over the years.  My parents had them in their home for about 15 years and I recently inherited them.  My parents had them upholstered in this brown fabric which works very well in this room.  It is amazing how well old furniture is made.  These have totally withstood the test of time, just the fabric has changed over the years.  They are very comfortable and look like new.  Not bad for being over 50 years old!

This is my craft room as it was being unpacked.  I have many big plans and ideas for this room, but it involves some built in's so it will likely be awhile before any of it will come to fruition.  Buying a new home doesn't exactly free up funds for built ins.. but I can dream, can't I? please!

I've had the armoire in this next picture for about 13 years.  I first purchased it to use as my home office when I lived in a condo.  It is basically an office in a box.  It has a pull out desk, space for a computer tower a keyboard shelf and a file drawer.  Someday when the inside is organized I will snap a picture and show you how cool it really is.  They used to sell this at Pottery Barn.  When I bought it, I got a super deal on it.  Now, it houses my sewing machine, fabrics and lots of other fun craft stuff.  I may give it a painted finish eventually, but that will have to wait until I focus on decorating my craft room.  For now this room totally serves it's purpose! 

The black shelves I used to have in my garage for storage of stuff from my eBay store.  I used to had an eBay store (Unique Chic Designs), for about three years.  It was home decor, chandeliers, lighting & furniture appliques... all stuff that my hubby and I manufactured.  I'll save that story for another time.  I no longer do the business, but I kept the shelving.  It works for storage until I get my dream built ins.

The panty...  I so love having a huge pantry!!!  I've never had one before and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having it now!

Before moving in I had dreamed of what I might do to our family room.  Here is a silly sketch that I did on paint.  I knew I wanted some sort of color block creating a fireplace focal wall and curtain panels framing the wall.  The background picture was one that was taken before the flooring was even installed.

The weekend after we moved in we hit Lowe's and bought paint.  Paint is the single most inexpensive way to transform a room.  We ended up painting the fireplace wall and the niche (television) wall.  

Someday we'd like to install crown molding and maybe larger baseboards, but for now, it's all ideas of what we'd like to do.

At this point, the family room still needs curtains, a coffee table and some table lamps.  As with all rooms in our house, it is still a work in progress.  I still need to get or make drapery panels, which may take awhile since everything we do is on a budget.  I tend to decorate one thing at a time and let it develop or evolve as I go... and as money allows!

Now I need to find more pictures... More to come soon.