Our Home Tour...again...

I shared our home tour over at It's Overflowing last week, but it includes many pictures that I have yet to share here at my own site!  So, I felt I should share it here too if you didn't get a chance to stop over there and check it out.....

We bought our current home about 4 years ago.  One day back in 2008 I was complaining about the shared walls of our city condo (which you can tour here) with my husband and he unexpectedly said "ok, let's move."  We took about two weeks to get the condo ready for sale and a month later we were closed and moved out!!!!  This all happened so quickly that we had no where to go!  So, humbly, we went home to my parents house.

Since we had temporary housing at my parents we thought it would be a good time to find a fixer upper and put our own stamp on it! We took this house down to the studs, moved walls and updated every last room.

We widened the entry and enclosed the front porch to capture more space; this allowed us to create a large front hall closet.  Here is our "winter" entry.  You can read more details about how I staged it for Christmas/Winter here.

Off to the left is our living room.  We added all new windows and opened this room into the dining room..........

Our pup popped up several times while I took these pictures....

You might appreciate it more when you see the before:

This room is still a work in progress as several decisions were quickly made when we moved in (i.e. I'd like to change the wall color and the rug - although my husband doesn't know that - add a mantle, accent lighting, etc).  Regardless, we love to cozy up to a fire in this room. 

 Across from the fireplace is our tv, we recently took it down from over the fireplace and I love the change.  We updated our gallery wall to surround the tv: 

Here is the gallery wall before the change:

You can read about my tips and ideas for creating a custom gallery wall here, and tips for adding interest and accents to your walls here.

From our living room, you enter the dining room....

Here is another before shot:

...and after:

...the pup showed up again:

Here is the dining room set for a winter/Christmas party.  You can read more about setting a tablescape here:

We opened up the dining room so that it flows right into the kitchen:

We still have some updates in here - after four years I think I'm finally ready to make a decision on kitchen hardware and window coverings.  The kitchen opens to the back family room that leads to a deck and the backyard.  

We spend a lot of time back there in the summer!



The boys have spaces of their own, too.  Downstairs is their bright and colorful playroom where I display their recent pictures and artwork:

...back upstairs I had fun decorating their bedrooms.  Full details of my older sons "Industrial Big Boy Room" are here:

..and the nursery details, including DIY bedding, curtains, and wall letters, can be found here:

Finally, I love having a calm and peaceful master "retreat" to relax in at the end of each day.  Full details on our "winter" bedroom can be found here:

Thanks for taking the time to tour our home. 

Sharing at: Timewashed / Wow Us Wednesday / Clean and Scentscible / Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits / Liz Marie Blog / Flaunt it Friday / Inspiration Gallery / Jennifer Rizzo / Romantic Home / Make It Pretty Monday / Coastal Charm / Home Stores A - Z / Cozy Little House / DIY by Design / No Minimalist Here