It’s before-photo time! In case you missed the announcement, we bought a house. As we begin transforming each room, I’ll publish more in-depth posts with inspiration and additional photos, but for now I wanted to share a quick tour of the spaces we’re starting with.
We feel fortunate to have a house that’s structurally in good shape and full of character—original floors, molding, and those beautiful arches—so much of what we’ll do is updating rather than major renovation. That said, some areas feel oddly pieced together with random doors, odd walls, and quirky additions. Over time we’ll address those awkward moments and refine the flow. Below I’ll run through our initial thoughts and plans, and you can catch a live peek on Instagram later today.
Above are the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The living and dining rooms are tiny—we’ll need to replace our current couch and table because they won’t fit. The kitchen sits off the dining room behind a wall next to an arch. It’s delightfully wacky and charming, but not functional for daily life, so it’s one of the rooms we plan to gut and renovate from floor to ceiling.
We’re already talking with a contractor about opening the kitchen to the living room while preserving the arches. Opening that wall should make the small living spaces feel larger, bring in more light, and create a safer, more practical layout for kids. I’ll share design details once we finalize plans.
Here’s a peek at Arlo’s room. There are three bedrooms total; this one is the smallest and also the coziest. It has a lovely ledge we plan to convert into a gallery ledge. Arlo’s room will be first in our makeover lineup, so expect more details and photos soon.
This is the second bedroom. We initially considered using this as our master and repurposing the current master into a family room, but since we hope to grow our family again, we decided to keep the bedroom count. For now it will function as a guest room and office, and later it will become another kids’ room.
The bathroom shown is the kids/guest bathroom. I love the arched shower—if we re-tile it it could be beautiful—but there’s currently no room for a bathtub. With little ones, a tub is a must, so this bathroom will get a full overhaul to add function and kid-friendly features.
Above is the master suite, which feels particularly odd because it was an addition and had been used as a separate rental. That explains the kitchenette tucked into the space. I’m not a fan of oversized master bedrooms—I prefer bedrooms to be for sleeping—so I struggled with making the largest room our master. Ideally, I wanted it to be the family room because of the high ceilings and the potential for a big Christmas tree, but given our layout and plans to grow the family, putting the master here makes sense for now.
We’ve removed the outdated carpet and plan a complete bathroom renovation. We’ll also remove the kitchenette and convert that small area into a laundry room and closet—dreaming of a proper shoe closet already.
That space is our garage. It’s already partially finished, which is a huge plus. The garage sits off the master—an odd arrangement—but we’re planning to turn it into a playroom. It may need to double as a guest room occasionally, but with the main living spaces being small, we need a place where kids can spread out and play, so a combined playroom/guest space seems likely. We’ll also partition part of the garage for dedicated storage—having real storage feels like a luxury after living in a place with one tiny closet.
And the yard! We have a yard. There’s a large hot tub on the property that doesn’t work and is unsafe for a running toddler, so it’s coming out. We have big plans for the outdoor space: replace the pergola, remove the spa, add an outdoor kitchen (I’m dreaming of a pizza oven), build a fire pit, and keep a generous lawn area for kids to run and play. With our sunny climate, an outdoor living area will be a game-changer.
That’s the short version of the house tour. Next up we’ll share our overall design direction and color schemes, then dive into room-by-room makeovers. So excited to get started!
We’ll also be doing a live walkthrough on Instagram so you can ask questions and see the space in real time. Check my Instagram later today for the live session.