a new lease on life, a new lease on a house.

Hello friends!

I thought I might share a few "before" shots of my new place with you all. I'm still moving in (read: 50% of my life is still in a box and I am so stressed out that I have to stifle the urge to sob uncontrollably at some point in each day) so there are no "afters" to reveal just yet.

The goal for now is getting the place unpacked and functional and then decorating one space at a time. Last time I decorated a house, I was expecting my firstborn child and had a little more time on my hands. I smile as I look back, remembering how exhausted and "woe is me" I felt - all big and pregnant and decorating... "I'm dealing with so much," I thought, while quietly wandering store after store, finding perfect items, bringing them home and placing them just so. (Omg, and then they would STAY that way!) It seems like such a cake walk now. What I wouldn't give to shove them both back in my belly for a couple days of quiet, child-free shopping and decorating. But since that's not going to happen...here are the completely unstaged, cringeworthy, real-life 'just-unloaded-the-first-load-from-the-trailer-when-I-realized-I-didn't-take-"empty-house-shots" of my house photos.. Ignore the crap everywhere please, and let's focus on the potential yumminess that is soon to come, mmmm-k? I'm going to start with the prettiest spaces and ease you into the mess.


 We'll start in the living room.

I've never had a fireplace before and I am beyond excited!




Opposite the fireplace wall are some lovely french doors leading to the dining room. <3




Built in bookcases! (is the sound I hear angels singing?? I think so...)




Eeeeeeeee. I love this space.





 So before the move-in, I came and put two coats of primer on the wood paneling in the dining room.  There's only one shot of the wood and the rest have the primer.



I love these checkerboard floors! You can see through to the kitchen from the open door, and the living room is through the french doors.






You can see my bedroom off the dining room there. Old homes have the weirdest layouts.



My teeny tiny kitchen. The door to the garage is going to be mint, turquoise or red. I can't decide...



Original Cabinetry, circa 1940.



And back to the hallway off the living room. Boys room straight ahead...(prepare yourself.)





Angle from the doorway, standing in the hall.



 

and then inside the room, looking back toward the hall, down to my bedroom.
The bathroom is to the left, that's where we are headed next.

This photo below is the one where I think to myself "Really? You're going to post this?"  Mostly because the problem here is not the room itself, it's MY mess inside it!




So the bathroom freaks me out.
The lighting is terrible, the tile is outdated and dirty, and the window...blech. I need a curtain on it, STAT.



If I were to let you read my thoughts, you would then know that this reminds me of a dated, dirty motel, and I feel a little like Norman Bates might be hiding inside the shower curtain once I put one up. But that's just a glimpse into my mind, and I tend to be a bit dramatic.

It needs some paint and a cute shower curtain and then we'll deal with the rest in time. :)

And finally, my room. This view is from the hall....

and here we are standing in the pocket door to the dining room.

 I present my personal challenge in decorating this house to you now- I am going from owning the home I just sold and moved out of, to renting for a little while. After 7 years in my old home, and falling into the trappings of owning the "dream house" with a less than dreamy mortgage payment, I decided to sell it and downsize. My husband and I were separated at the time, and we agreed that we struggled enough to maintain it and it was a constant source of pressure, even as a two-parent, two-income household...but me on my own? It would have been impossible. We have since decided to work on things and save our marriage, but the house was already under contract. We decided it would be great to have a fresh start in a new house, so he will be joining us in this tiny house that I found for me and the boys to live in. So...things will be interesting to say the least! There are many dynamics at play - moving is always stressful, doing the work to save a marriage is also - then downsizing from a very comfortable & large home down to a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home will be another challenge we face. But I feel very hopeful, and happy to be making the changes we are. (However, prayers are always appreciated. lol.) We are focusing on living our lives honestly and frugally. Killing ourselves to maintain a large home doesn't fit into that equation for us, so I am excited about the quality of life that living within our means will allow.

In the meantime, I am excited to get to show you guys how I transform this little place with a renter's more temporary status in mind. I promised myself I would not spend over $50 to transform any one thing in this house. I don't want to sink an unnecessary amount of time or money into it, but I will live here for the next few years, so I want to make it home.

I love a good challenge and this house has quite a few. (on the list - kitchen cabinet makeover, clever storage solutions, window treatments, bathroom spruce up and lots lots more.) I hope you guys will enjoy the budget-friendly transformations I make! Stay tuned.

Love,
Jess