Say hello to our lovely new bedroom. She’s such a beaut. We have officially been using our new master bedroom addition since February. (Check out my last bedroom addition updates here.) I like to make sure this blog is updated in a timely manner, obviously. I took these photos in February but never got around to sharing them here. This post includes affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purchase I may get a commission (at no additional cost to you). I was going to retake the photos because a dog who shall remain nameless likes to rub his face on our new bed footboard and I ..read more

With our new bedroom addition well underway, I wanted to share the updates we made to our downstairs bathroom. The bathroom will continue to be the main floor bath, but it will also be Ryan and I’s main bathroom to use as well. (We have all be sharing the upstairs bathroom and it really hasn’t been bad, but I’m sure this will be great as the kids get older.) Last year (well, actually, 2021, so two years ago), we decided to make some small updates to the bathroom to make it more our style before the bedroom project was underway. It was mainly cosmetic upgrades, but we also added some additional ..read more

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, took a trip to Key West to celebrate, hunkered down with a houseful of sick kids, and then got healthy in time to really enjoy Christmas with our families. It’s amazing what can happen in a month. Phew. Now we are solidly into 2023. Which is weird since it was just 2019 last week. And while I’ve been sharing some details on Instagram stories about a big project we have been working on at home for a few months, I haven’t posted about it here. But with the start of a new year, I wanted to share the entire ..read more

Thank you for all the sweet comments about the split level home we renovated and are selling. If you missed any of the before and after photos, check them out: Before and after: Sunroom Before and after: Living room/Dining room/Kitchen Before and after: Bathrooms and bedrooms It’s closing week, soI wanted to share a few final before and after photos today that didn’t fit into the other posts. I’ll also share some then answer some final thoughts before someone else makes this house their home. We are grateful we were able to take this project on – but we are ready to move on to other things ..read more

It’s time to share a few more projects we took on in the split level renovation. If you missed the first few posts, check out the sunroom and the main living space first. Next up … The bathrooms The bathrooms both needed a complete overhaul and we are thrilled with how they turned out. We went with white and black for a simple backdrop that could work for many buyers. There was little we could salvage in either bathroom. These are some of the only projects in the house that we basically started from scratch. Most other spaces were just updated with flooring and paint. This post includes affil ..read more

Next up to share on our split level renovation – the main living area before and after photos. This space includes the living room, dining room and kitchen. The space isn’t fully “open concept”, but has an expansive feel. The wild thing is we didn’t do anything over-the-top here – no walls torn down, no major renovations, no brand new kitchen. But the things we did tackle helped clean, modernize and brighten the space. It’s now a beautiful space for a family. I think it’s an amazing transformation on a budget. This post includes affiliate links, meaning, if you click through and make a purcha ..read more

It’s hard to believe it’s been about five months since we purchased the split level near our home to renovate and sell. I would have loved to update the blog as we went along, but that’s not the phase of life I’m currently in. Thanks to everyone who has reached out asking for an update! Life has been full of sports and activities and summer fun and vacations – but I’m finally back for a update. Our big news is that not only is the house FINISHED, it’s also UNDER CONTRACT.  Insert: jazz hands. We had lots of interest and almost 2 dozen showings. And now we are thrilled that another family ..read more

If you’ve been around a while, you know we have owned rental properties for about 12 years ago. As our lives changed (moving to the country and having three kids), we learned that the rental property management was no longer something we wanted to have on our plates long-term. There are a lot of good reasons to own rental properties, but there are some downsides. (See a few of them here.) After selling two of our three rental properties in 2019, we were grateful to focus on other things. But now it’s finally time for a new project. A few months ago,  we purchased the house across the stre ..read more

Christmas is almost here and we have been enjoying making plenty of holiday memories. This year, we’ve been enjoying our casual, family-friendly Christmas home. I wanted to share a quick tour of our holiday decor. (Check out last year’s home tour here.) Life with three kids means nothing can be too precious. For the past few years, we’ve decorated our main tree with all of our family ornaments instead of a “designer” tree with themed ornaments. My kids actually decorated almost the whole tree this year. Having kids who want to help is cool. And my 9-year-old is particular about where everythi ..read more

While the bones of our basement powder room have been completed for a few years ago and it’s used regularly (hello, potty training!), I finally gussied it up to make it feel more finished. And my favorite part? The super simple, totally imperfect DIY handpainted brushstroke accent wall. In a small bathroom like this, it’s really the only detail you need. The bathroom has been functional for two years, but it just never make it to the top of the project list. It didn’t even have a mirror or light fixtures until the past few months. Kids can survive without many essentials. But this bathroom i ..read more