You can view what our house looked like when we bought it here, and detailed posts of our kitchen renovation here and here.
We’ve been in our house since July 2017, and while it feels like we’re moving at a snail’s pace at times, considering we’ve had not one, but two babies in the past three years, and have done most of the work ourselves, I’d say our progress is admirable!
Downstairs
When you walk into the house there is a small entryway and immediately to the left is a small full bath. In order to have a decent bathroom for our guests to use, we decided to do a temporary “phase one” update in the front bathroom. Now, it’s much brighter and cleaner in there!
Our entry before, left, and as it is now (wallet and mail included), right, after a fresh coat of paint, new floors, entry table and some decor. I realized taking these pictures that our chalkboard still has Christmas text on it!
First bathroom before (top) and after a “phase one” update with fresh paint, new vanity and mirror, new toilet and temporary flooring (middle and bottom rows).
Bath 1 To-Do List:
Phase 1: Cosmetic updates to have inviting guest bathPaintTemporary flooring updateReplace light and vanityReplace toilet
- Phase 2:
- Replace shower
- Tile floor
- Create functional linen closet
Directly across from the bedroom, to the right of the entryway, is a small bedroom. This has become Noel’s bedroom and not much has been done here, but we have plans to move the kids upstairs and turn this into a cozy guest room (and possibly an office space) in the very near future.
Front bedroom before, left, and as it sits currently, right. Truthfully nothing has happened here except for my fourteen-year-old stepson living here with all of his MANY belongings!
Bedroom 1 To-Do List:
- Paint
- Closet upgrade
- New flooring
- Create inviting guest room that may double as a home-office
As you walk down the hall, to your right is our living room, and to the left is the staircase to the upstairs. There used to be a small dining room with a small opening to an even smaller kitchen, with another very large living room/den beyond the kitchen. We have since converted the dining/kitchen/den rooms into one large dining room and one large kitchen.
Our living room at move-in (below), and as it looks now (top) with fresh paint, new floors, our old furniture and LOTS of baby and toddler gear. We would love new furniture and a built-in entertainment center down the road!
Living Room To-Do List:
- Create built-in entertainment center
- Purchase sofa/sectional to better suit room
- Replace light fixture/ceiling fan
Our small, dark dining room at move-in (left), and the much larger, brighter, but still unfinished room now (right). We demolished the old kitchen to create a much bigger room, painted, updated the floors, installed two recessed lights, and plopped our furniture down (note the tape holding the rug corner down – my toddler kept tripping!). We still have to finish a DIY faux-beam and install a chandelier, but want to refinish/replace a lot of the furniture in here, too.
Dining Room To-Do List:
- Refinish staircase
Demolish old kitchen and open up to dining room to create a larger dining room- Add a custom table to seat at least 8-10 people
- Replace light fixtures (we
added recessed lighting and removed the old fluorescent light and ceiling fan, and have plans to hang a small chandelier or pendant above the dining table soon) - Add a fun, decorative door to the laundry room
As a reminder, when we moved in we had a tiny galley kitchen with a large, empty room directly behind it (top row). We demolished the old kitchen and relocated it to the big, empty room on the other side of the wall, and we love it so, so much. For more pictures and details about our new kitchen (bottom row), check out this post here.
Kitchen To-Do List: Our kitchen renovation is complete! I still want to add a few items here and there, and we are toying with the idea of adding a small, narrow island down the road, but we are calling it done for a while! See our kitchen renovation posts for more detailed before (with plans) and after (with cost breakdown and products used).
Demolish old kitchenRelocate kitchen to large back living room/denComplete kitchen renovation with new cabinetry, appliances
Between the living room and dining room starts a hallway with large double doors to two more bedrooms and two more bathrooms.
Our hallway previously had no lighting of its own, and was open to the old kitchen and the large, empty room behind it. We have since closed it off to keep it more private for the bedrooms and bathrooms back there, and added lights that make beautiful sunbursts on the ceiling!
Hallway To-Do List:
- Refinish doors
Wall off hallwayAdd sconces- Replace/repaint AC vent
The first bedroom down this hallway became our oldest daughter’s room, and only needed cosmetic changes similar to bedroom 1 above. She just recently moved out into her own place after graduation and this room is about to become the nursery for our two babies.
As for the “master suite,” our 10- and 12-year-old girls have been sharing this room, but they will soon be moving upstairs and we will be turning this into our room. The last bedroom at the end of the hall is the “master bedroom.” It currently still sits next to a small bathroom (“bathroom 2” below) AND has a small bathroom ensuite adjoined to a walk-in closet. We have big plans to completely demolish the second bathroom down here and use that space to create a large master suite walk-in closet, and totally renovate the current ensuite bathroom to create a large, luxurious master bath someday.
Bedroom 2, left and bathroom 2, right – These rooms look exactly the same as they did at move-in currently, because my eighteen-year-old stepdaughter just moved all of her things out into her own place!
Bedroom 2 To-Do List:
- Paint
- Closet upgrade
- New flooring
Bathroom 2 To-Do List:
- Demolish outdated bathroom
- Close off door to hallway
- Create opening into third bedroom
- Create large, custom walk-in closet for master suite
Bedroom 3 at move-in (upper left) and as it is now (upper right) after some pink paint, new flooring, removing old blinds and throwing up some white curtains for my stepdaughters, ages 10 and 12. This room will be changing again soon as we turn it into a master suite and move the kids upstairs. The bathroom hasn’t changed much from move-in day (left), as we just cleaned the grime, changed the toilet (not pictured) and put up an old shower curtain for now.
Bedroom 3 To-Do List:
PaintNew flooring- Completely refinish when we transition to a master suite
Bathroom 3 To-Do List:
- Demo current bathroom and closet and knock down wall between them
- Complete recreate bathroom with large walk-in shower, soaking tub, double vanity, toilet closet and linen closet
- Tile floor
Off the dining room is a large laundry room, and through that laundry room is our playroom. We’re still working on making this room feel less like a garage, but have brightened it up with paint on the walls and floors, added some furniture and rugs (and games and toys) so far.
Our playroom (top row) got fresh paint on both the walls and floors, and then filled with playroom furniture, video games and SO MANY TOYS. The laundry room (bottom row) hasn’t changed much, and now houses our washer/dryer and extra refrigerator (from our old kitchen), and it’s one of the rooms I am most excited about renovating in the future.
Laundry To-Do List:
- Patch and paint walls
- New lighting
- Hide water heater and water pump
- Create functional storage
- Create cleaning zone
- Create laundry zone
Garage To-Do List:
Convert to play room- Carpet floors
(we ended up patching and painting the concrete for now, but I’m not thrilled with how it’s holding up and want something softer for our babies to play on) Patch and paint walls- Add ceiling fan
- Update electric to add more working outlets (many were not functional)
- Swap AC for AC/heater
Upstairs
The upstairs was originally our “master area” as we called it since it became one big room, and the bedroom was our baby girls’ first nursery. Our plan is to move the three older kids up there and give them three separate bedrooms, a large shared bathroom, and a common area for video games and homework (two things that should not be in the same sentence, let alone the same room, but we’ll see how it goes).
The upstairs main living space at move-in (top row) had a nasty, old kitchen and carpet that we have since demolished. Currently (bottom row) it is our “master area” but of course, that is changing soon as we will be building TWO bedrooms up here and moving the kids upstairs.
The upstairs bathroom hasn’t changed much from move-in (left) other than adding some shelving (and knobs for the vanity) and filling it with our things (right). Since we demolished the old kitchen adjacent to it, we are using that space in part for one of the new bedrooms we will be adding, but also to eventually create a larger bathroom for our kids to share up here.
The upstairs bedroom changed the most, when we created a nursery to welcome our first baby, Amelia in 2018. This is the most finished room in the house currently because it’s the ONLY room (other than bathrooms) with new baseboards to complement the new floors! We love this room so much, and are sad to move the babies out of it, but know that our older kids will love it up here, too!
Upstairs To-Do List:
Demo kitchen, leaving space for a larger bathroom- Create 2 additional bedrooms and a common area in the open spaces
Update closet in existing bedroom- Complete bathroom renovation with shower/tub combo, double vanity, and linen closet
Things That Need to Be Completed in the Entire House:
- Paint
- Remove carpets (just two more rooms and the stair case still have carpet)
- Replace all flooring (again, we’re so close!)
- Replace all baseboards
- Replace all windows for more cohesive look and energy efficiency
- Replace all hollow-core doors with something more substantial and nicer door hardware
- Replace all exterior doors (except the kitchen slider)
The Exterior
The outside has taken a backseat to all that needs to be completed indoors. We still have the yellow/green color scheme, the spiral staircase, the unfinished porches, and the patchy landscaping. My husband has taken over the barn, but it’s in no way finished in there either.
Exterior to-do list:
- Replace all soffits and attic vents
- Replace/patch siding where needed and paint house pale gray or white
- Replace roof
- Replace all windows so they are cohesive (and energy efficient)
- Replace all exterior doors
- Brick the front porch and wrap beams with wood
- Brick the back porch and screen it in
- Brick the two small porches on the front of the house
- Lose the spiral staircase to the upper deck (my husband does not want this)
- Add a pergola to the back patio and refinish the concrete slab
- Add a driveway, likely pea gravel
- Refinish the upstairs balcony
- Landscape
- Paint the barn and create storage solutions and workshop spaces inside
We still have a lot to do, and frankly I’m exhausted just updating this list! Keep an eye out for future home updates.
