5 Year House Anniversary

It has been 5 crazy fast years living in our home.  We have been "slowly" making it ours as we fill it full of memories.  It is definitely a full house!  Here are some comparisons to what the house looked like when we bought it compared to now.  We have tackled so many projects with so many more on the never-ending to do list.  

I don't know if the front of the house looks that different, but our grass looks better, many overgrown shrubs that blocked the house were removed, and some new lighting was added.  I would love new shutters and some trim replaced in the future, but that is way at the bottom of the list.  A new roof will probably happen before all of that.  Ha! 

This shows a little more of the close up view of the porch and lighting.  I want to add an accent metal roof over the porch and maybe replace the little bit of siding with a better accent feature. 

DOWNSTAIRS

The foyer was also made to feel larger by making the same flooring flow from the dining room and into the rest of the house.  The addition of the wood barn doors also made the front formal room more suitable as a bedroom for our oldest son. It could also be a nice home office or study.  I actually dream of making it mine one day with some cozy chairs and a home library.  

The stairs were probably our biggest and most favorite project.  I hated the old carpet that always looked dirty.  We ripped it out and found some wood stair treads that just needed some sanding love and new stain.  The stair risers were nothing special and were just bare pieces of wood with lots of gaps since they were just covered by carpet by the builders.  We repaired as much as we could and then covered them with beadboard and fresh white paint.  

The living room has received fresh new paint, new floors and an updated fireplace with a larger wood mantel. 

Removing the useless columns really opened up this space and replacing the old dingy carpet with new easy to maintain "wood" floors was a huge upgrade. 

The dining room is kind of the heart of this home as the main dining space that fits our family.  I needed to just make it lighter and brighter to start with a clean pallet so fresh paint was a must.  Then, we re-painted our dining room furniture and updated the lighting fixture to make it brighter.  I am now thinking I need a "feature" wall for more contrast in here because it just feels so "white."  

The kitchen space has not received as much attention as I would like, but it is good to live in a house for a while before tackling these big projects so you know exactly what you want.  I want to add some additional cabinets above our existing ones with trim to the ceiling.  I also would like to paint the top cabinets.  My ultimate dream is to remove the peninsula that divides the space and makes it small and make a long island that connects the long room and provides more counter space, storage, and seating for meals. 

This front room also saw big changes as we turned it into a smaller but more useful bedroom by stealing some space for a closet and to make our downstairs bathroom larger with a full shower. 

This little half bathroom got the wall opened up so we could add a full shower for when my dad lived with us and also for my older teen sons to use. 

UPSTAIRS

Bedroom 1 - Brody's Bedroom and was shared by him and his older brother Evan when Papa lived with us. 

Bedroom 2 - Mattox and Grayson's Bedroom

Bedroom 3 - Maggie's Bedroom

The kids' bathroom just got some new paint and has also received updated faucets and lighting because their bathroom fan wasn't working well and made the whole bathroom get so wet when showering that the old fixtures were actually rusting.  It isn't even that old of a house.  The inadequate ventilation in this small space was a real problem. 

The loft space hasn't changed much except with new paint and the kids' toys that have changed over the years.  

The color change in here isn't as obvious as it looks in person.  The realtor photos made the darker yellow walls look like light beige.  Our walls are now a very soft peachy pink because I just needed to neutralize some of the browns.  I still want to replace the tub with a nicer self-standing tub and probably will replace the flooring and add some better insulation or radiant floor heating because this room is over an unheated garage, and the floors get freezing cold at night. 

In this picture, not much had changed except some darker stain on the cabinets and new hardware.  I have been trying to create a more "fancy" and elegant bathroom and to lighten up the darker fixtures.  I have since added chrome lights and new white bowl sinks with chrome faucets.  I think the shiny chrome sparkles and looks more luxurious. 

I also wanted our bedroom to have a more luxury feel with a sparkly chandelier, but my husband insists we need a ceiling fan.  So this folks is why "fandeliers" were invented.  Haha!  I still hate how poor the lighting is in this long cavernous room.  I want to divide the spaces into two separate rooms with the other end being an office or workout room.