Our house tour

Since we are moving and we have finally finished our remodeling our home – we are thrilled to give you Our House Tour! Please take time to look at all the links and they will take you to the before photos.

This post has taken 10 plus years to really finish. So grab a cup of java or ice tea and enjoy!

We have been remodeling the last 4 years and it gives us great pleasure to finally have a finished product. Not to mention, the new owners also love it (they left me a note inviting us back anytime.)

This was our beloved portico. If we had stayed, we would have added a pergola. In the past, I had a tomato garden and a rock garden in there.

When we first moved to this house there was a huge schefflera tree that my hubby cut down. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe he wanted to cut it down, I am a tad bit of a tree and plant lover. It broke my heart when we had to cut it down because it was dangerous. After that fiasco, I tried my hardest to salvage every plant. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes the Texas heat was just too much.

This is my Texas Laurel tree. When it blooms it means Spring is here and it smells like purple koolaid. Going to miss this one.

Oh our beloved orchard. We planted all of them, the Valley Lemon Tree, the Orange Tree, the Pomegranate, and the Mandarin Orange Tree. All of them produce a scent that is just heavenly!

Welcome to our home. A few years ago, we laid all the porcelain tile over Christmas break. I would cut the tile and my hubby would lay it. It was quite the process.

The living room is so much better after we removed paneling, enlarged it and just brightened it up with paint. I have changed the paint colors a few times but most of the rooms now are Glazed Pears by Valspar. (Go here to see the process of the remodel of this room.)

We found our chandeliers at Habitat for Humanity. I loved being able to support them building homes for others.

The kitchen remodel turned out so beautiful. If you hadn’t seen the before photos, you would have never known that this was a retaining wall and temporary walls had been put in place. We had to put in a special beam to hold up the entire house. I will never forget that day! I also learned how to install electrical plugs, not something I would recommend.

Before we enlarged the kitchen we had transformed the older kitchen cabinets to an Old World look. I want to do this with our new house – I really liked it.

My husband, children and I learned so much remodeling this kitchen. I learned how to tile backsplash, that a 3 bowl sink is so worth the cost, that I don’t care for the stainless steel exterior of a dishwasher, and how much I really use a double oven. Also, how many people don’t know what a pot filler is or how it is used.

I also learned that painting kitchen cabinets is stress relieving.

We did so much to this kitchen. Installing granite was one of those few jobs that we had to hire out. But, I love the look and feel of the granite. Looking forward to having this in our new home.

Now to the playroom. (Here are the before photos.)

This room transited to being the hottest part of the house to the coolest. Our children spent more hours in this room than they do in their rooms.

The light in the room just makes me happy. The door leads to the backyard and now is shaded with the pergola that we built last year. Plus the Kids Fort that we built a few years ago with leftover fence board. (Yes, we have been very busy!)

Our master room was the room that started the entire remodel when I went to Dallas on a girl only weekend.

This room is our Master Suite. It has been a multitude of rooms i.e. exercise room, office, and even the birthplace of this blog. Lately, it has been called our “Love Nest.” Makes our kids gag – but is more like a refuge for hubby and me.

Our Master Bath was one of the very firsts. We first had white grout…which we learned was super hard to keep clean in a bathroom. It was also our first room to tile a wall and install a sink. I always loved it because it reminded me of Little House on the Prairie when they had sinks to wash their face in it like that. It is the simple things that make me happy.

Our guest room has always been called “Jack’s Room.” Jack is a girl that used to help us when we first moved here. Most of my kids don’t even know who Jack is or was – they just call it that.

The Guest bath room used to have one sink and we added two. We also added some updated backsplash…the room used to have ugly yellow Formica. Oh the 1970’s and their yellows.

This is one of our favorite creations – the Girls’ Bunk Beds. After scouring Pinterest (look at our Girls Room board), blogs and just finally coming up with our own design – they were finally finished. In our new home, the girls are going to have separate rooms so no need for these beauties. The new owner also has a daughter and we pray she enjoys this room for years to come.

The boys room was our very first project that we tackled after moving into the house. I had to learn how to sheetrock, and tape and float in this room.

The Pergola was such a fun weekend project. Oh we had so many “weekend” projects i.e. the kids’ fort, the chicken coop, raised gardens and even sunflower gardens.

I will never forget painting the exterior such a sweet calming blue grey color. After seeing it in its natural state color (yellow) for so long – this color just soothed me.

Many times I wanted to throw in the towel with this house. I wanted to live a “normal” life. But, I am so glad we finished the race. What a blessing this home will continual to be to many people.

This house also was a great learning project for our kids. They have learned more than just reading, writing and math in this home. We have learned how to work as a team. I love that my kids have learned and seen hard work even at an early age.

Thank you so much for taking a tour of our finished home. It has been a true learning experience – don’t tell my husband but I’m looking forward to our next project – “The Lighthouse” that is on the Lake.

Blessings to you! You are loved!