My Home Tour and Blogger’s Summer Tour of Homes
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I know, I know. How can I call myself a home blogger without having a home tour on my blog?
{hanging head in shame}
Well that’s all being fixed today because I’m super excited to be part of the 2013 Summer Showcase of Homes. You can see the full schedule at the bottom of the post to see the other 25 bloggers who are joining me in sharing our homes with you all!
My husband and I built our home last year and in the 14 months since we moved in we have slowly but surely been taking it from builder grade blah to our perfect space. {Disclaimer before we get started: these pictures are from various times throughout the past year-with three little boys under 7 my house is never clean all at once so I had to work with what I had!)
Let’s get started, we built our home and were lucky enough to be able to choose many of the colors and finishes of the house. I knew I wanted a red front door-I picked Sherwin Williams Pompeii Red and I love it so much!
Let’s step on inside, y’all…
One thing I love about our home is that we have a very generous mud room off the garage door. With three little boys we have a lot of “stuff” and it’s the perfect place for keeping things organized. I made a no-sew bench cushion for the built in bench and made numbered baskets for the cubbies to hold everyone’s shoes.
The first actual room see walking in the house is our sitting room. It used to be our formal dining room but it was never used so we recently transformed into a sitting room/bar area. The boys call this the “grown up room.” It’s a place where my husband and I can sit and have a cup of coffee and listen to music on the weekends while the boys watch tv in the living room. The room itself isn’t quite finished yet, we’re still working on decor for the walls and accessorizing it but it’s coming along!
The living room is open to the kitchen and it is a comfortable space, with lots of neutrals and small pops of colors. We recently made over a thrifted buffet to turn into a media stand so that I could move the tv from over the mantle. I love being able to decorate my mantle now without working around the television!
Directly behind our monstrous sectional is the kitchen, which might just be my favorite room. We had a lot of leeway to customize the space so we picked dark cabinetry with no handles/pulls, a white subway tile backsplash, and a lighter granite.
The home plans had an island with a raised breakfast bar but the builder allowed me to have a larger one level slab installed instead which I love because it gives me more room to bake all the goodies I post here on the blog! We also had the entire island moved out towards the living room about a foot and a half to make the kitchen larger and take better advantage of the open floor plan.
We have an eat in area in the kitchen that looks out over the backyard. This is the part of the house that was flooded when my youngest decided to flush an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet last November!
Upstairs I have my office, which used to be my middle son’s room until he decided to bunk with his older brother. This room is my happy place-a place decorated just for me (that I’m sitting in right now typing this!) I painted some IKEA curtains with gray stripes, gave a desk a regency makeover, and lots of other DIY projects.
My youngest son’s room is Montessori inspired and very colorful. We recently moved his floor bed higher as he is old enough to climb up but I don’t have pictures of that yet…I’m thinking I’ll need to build him a little bed now for his “big” bed! (I’ll add that to my never-ending list of things to do!)
The master bedroom is another area that seems to be a constant evolution. I’m craving a change in here but haven’t quite narrowed down what I want yet. Last year I painted the entire room Benjamin Moore Alaskan Husky and then did a tone on tone stenciled focal wall. We also build our own headboard way back when this was a tiny baby blog.
Probably my favorite part of the house, at least for the past few months, has been our backyard. We put in a pool last summer and have spent a lot of time getting our yard and patio in order this year.
What was brush and scrub and trees is now tamed and we love spending time out there. We built our own Pottery Barn inspired dining table, painted and updated thrifted chairs, and did lots of DIY pillow covers to create a comfortable and colorful space.
I hope you enjoyed my home tour! Thanks so much for stopping by…if you’re new here I’d love it if you followed along with my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I also tend to be a bit of a Pinterest addict so you can find me over there as well!
I am late to the party, but your home tour was great! I want your dining room table…sigh. It is just what I am looking for. And I am jealous of your new pool..although I don’t think we would have used it much this summer since it has RAINED EVERY SINGLE DAY here in Georgia. Enjoy your three boys! They don’t stay little long.
I so enjoyed getting to see your gorgeous home!! I love the red front door. So glad to be on the tour too!!
Thanks so much Anita!! I had no idea how much I would enjoy this tour, so happy to be a part!
Beautiful home!!! I love your kitchen!! That’s exactly what I want. Also, love your desk!! Backyard is absolutely amazing!!
You have a lovely home!
I definately need to revisit often to catch up and read all your DYI crafts- wow, you and your hubs are amazingly talented!
I looooove your backyard pool – this summer has been so horribly hot, sure could use one of those right now!
And your covered patio is absoluly to DIE FOR!
Wow! Your home is beautiful! I love the blue exterior and red door and that stenciled wall is gorgeous! Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof
So gorgeous, Melissa! It was so fun seeing it all in one post. I
love that huge island! That was a great decision you guys made!
Love your home. My kitchen has the same color cabinets, same shaped island, similar counter tops, and similar paint color. I almost thought I was looking at pictures of my kitchen. 🙂 LOL
Great minds think alike!! Thanks for stopping by!
Your sitting room is picture perfect. Love the settee in there!
Thanks Jennifer, I hunted for that settee for a long time and finally found the perfect one at Pier 1. Thanks for stopping by!
I am so glad you allowed us to tour your home! It is so lovely and I love the kitchen combo {even the white items on the shelf!}
It was great to visit you!
Hugs
Sandra
The Adored Home
Thank you so much Sandra!!! I’m so glad you stopped by!
Your home is gorgeous! I love that light fixture in the eat-in kitchen…so unusual! Also love that your kitty photo bombed your post. I get that every time! lol Hugs…Debbie
Thanks Debbie! Between the dog, cat, and three boys its amazing I ever get a picture that isn’t photo bombed! Thanks do much for stopping by!!
Enjoyed your home tour. Thanks for having us………Sarah
Thank you so much for stopping by Sarah!
Wow, what a beautiful home you have! I’m posting it on my FB page today. So excited to be a part of this amazing summer tour!!
Hugs,
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com
Thanks so much! I’m so excited to start browsing the rest of the homes on the tour!
I loved your tour! That red door says come on in and the rest of the home follows with the same welcoming coziness! You have some beautiful spaces and it looks like you also have a golden retriever…(my fav) so precious!
-Shelley
Thanks do much Shelley! The dog (Bear) is seriously the best dog ever!!! Thanks for stopping by!!
so many beautiful touches. LOVE that wonderful settee!!
Thanks so much Debra, I was on the hunt for that settee for months, I ended up buying that one from Pier 1!
So pretty!! Your home is beautiful and I am loving that backyard!! Looks soo inviting!! Wonderful tour!! 🙂
Thank you Courtenay! I so appreciate you coming by!!!!
You had me with the red door! Everything is lovely. Very soothing and pretty. Your backyard is wonderful, too.
Thanks so much Patti! if only the mosquitoes would leave us alone we’d be in paradise!!
Your house is so charming, I especially love the outdoor colors! Swoon for the red door 🙂 and your back patio – LOVE!
Thanks so much Kelly! I appreciate you taking the time to come by and visit!!!
Your home is absolutely beautiful! Loved this tour!
Vanessa
Thank you SOOOO much Vanessa! Looking forward to meeting you at Haven!
Thanks for the tour, Melissa! I love that your home has so many personal, DIY touches!
Thanks so much for pooping by to take the tour Keri!!
lol I’m so happy it’s you and not some stranger that I accidentally wrote “pooping” by to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
your home is beautiful, I love how you have styled it and everything you’ve chosen! your family room and kitchen are gorgeous!
Ingrid
Thank you so much Ingrid, I so appreciate you taking the time to stop by!!