Our House

Here is the floor plan on our first home courtesy of floorplanner.com. Note this is not drawn to scale (hence the huge car!) but was put together rather quickly so you guys get the idea of the flow of the house. I also put in basically what furniture we have now, which isn't much! Our house was built in 2001 so it is still a baby. It is a maintenance free rancher with three bedrooms, two full baths, an open floor plan, separate laundry room, two car garage, and a huge private fenced in backyard with no deck! We love it and it is in great shape with new carpet and a fresh coat of neutral paint throughout the house put in right before we bought it. The house is definitely lacking in the personality department though. We live in a great part of Chesterfield but the houses are all very similar. It will probably take a long time, but we are determined to make this house our own. 

Here is the front of the house, that is my mom helping us move in, and no that is not our truck. The landscaping leaves much to be desired and unfortunately we haven't done a thing to it yet. 











Here is the backyard...I told you it was big. We could built a whole other house back there. And like I said before there is no deck, which in a way is nice because then we can customize it the way we want and take advantage of having so much space. The decks are the houses in this area are extremely small anyways so even if the house did have a deck we would either have added on to it or completely torn it apart and rebuilt it. We like BIG decks and we cannot lie....sorry, I couldn't help myself. And also bigger deck = less yard for Stephen to mow which makes him a happy boy. The fence is great to have, especially with having our Lettie puppy but it is old and wrinkly unattractive so eventually we would like to put up something nicer.

And here is the two car garage. This picture was taken sans drift mobile (Stephen's drift car) so it is looking extra spacious but let me assure you that it currently looks like a madhouse with the car and all of it's insides spread out everywhere. Eventually we will insulate and put up drywall and pegboard, paint the floor and organize all our tools so that you will be green with envy over our fabulous space.

From the garage you go into the laundry room. It's not that big but we make it work. We bought the new front loading washer and dryer when we moved in and they have been great.
To the left of the picture is the panty. Having the pantry in the laundry is great annoying sometimes but I'm pretty much used to it by now. My plans for this room include replacing the one metal shelf with two pretty white cabinets and maybe a white wood shelf in between or below the cabinets and then to put a counter top over the washer and dryer. I also want to replace the beautiful horrible hospital style light with something a bit more lovely. The biggest change I want for this room is to replace the regular door that goes from the laundry room to the kitchen and put in a pocket door because as of now the door blocks the bi-fold doors to the pantry which is a pain in the you know what.

Moving from the laundry room directly into the 1960's 2001 kitchen. When I look at our kitchen it is hard to believe that just 11 years ago someone was building this house and said, "we just have to get our hands on some knotty pine for the kitchen, it will look so divine". Clearly someone had been breathing in a bit too many paint fumes when they designed this kitchen but that's okay because it allows me to be able to have some awesome before and after photos, which I love.

Please excuse the mess. Apparently I was having a battle with the dirty dishes that day, which they clearly won. And yes that is a nutcracker sitting on the windowsill, it was Christmas time. So the fridge is big and new but the stove and dishwasher are not. Eventually we would love to replace both but that will probably be one of the last things we do, unless of them decides to bite the dust and ruin our plans. We are also going to get a microwave/hood combo to put over the stove and clear up some much needed counter space. So far the only thing we have done to this kitchen is to put some wood filler on some of the bottom trim. Apparently the previous owner had some dogs that loved to eat wood. We will also replace the lights and counter top, put up a back splash and paint the walls.

Directly off the kitchen (which is to the left) is the dining room. Sorry the picture isn't the best. And yes it is a dining room even though it doesn't have a table. In fact the only table we have is our coffee table so most of our meals are currently eaten there. As you can see we have hung some curtains, and we have updated the light. More on that later. The next step for this room will be to get a table and then we will go from there. I have some design ideas in mind so we will see what happens.

So the dining room and family room are essentially one big open room. We bought all the stuff you see here (except the corner light) when we bought the house, thank you garden ridge! The couch has already taken a beating thanks to our rambunctious kitten who has razor sharp claws so it is no longer in 'new' condition. Recently I have been feeling that the space is a little to dark for my liking so I will hopefully be fixing that with a nice coat of paint, some new bright pillows, and maybe even a rug. This space is also in desperate need of some wall art. The lamp is also going to eventually be replace with something a little bit brighter and more cheerful.

Behind the couch is the front door and to the right is the master bedroom. If you look closely you can see our stinky pit taking an afternoon nap in her bed.

Here is the entry way. Obviously nothing special going on right about now. I like the mirror we put up and having some coat organization is nice. I would like to get a bench so that people can sit down and take off their shoes. If you turn around you see our ladder bookcase thing. It definitely needs to be re-designed and to have a more cohesive look to the things that we have on display.

Have you ever seen a more amazing boring bedroom in your life!? I definitely haven't. It's hard to believe I sleep here every night. Our mattress is old, I'm talking ANCIENT, and even though it's a queen size, it's too small. I like to be able to spread out. The bed set was handed down to us by Stephen's parents, and I am very grateful for it because it has held us over for many years but it's time will soon be up. I am hoping for something bigger yet sleeker looking. I also want to change up the bedding even though I just got the brown and green one less than a year ago.

And this is the breathtaking life-sucking view from our bed. Basically we could do anything in this room and have it looking better. I have been getting most of my design ideas on Pinterest so I have plenty to contemplate over.

Here is the master bedroom's walk-in closet. It's great to have but clearly it is a disaster right now. It will be replaced with a more organized layout complete with shoe storage.

Here is the master bath. It's boring and it's ugly, and unfortunately it's going to stay that way for awhile. For the purpose of functionality the bathroom does everything we need it to except entertain our eyes. There is enough room for a second sink but I don't know if I want to give up the counter space. The plans for this room are paint the walls, add some shelves and pretty things, change the light, replace or renovate the vanity and replace the mirror.

The shower is quite typical and nothing special. Other than the pretty curtain rod, two towel hooks,  and some bathroom accessories (a toothbrush holder and soap dispenser) we haven't done a thing in here.

Next we have the office. Again, nothing special to look at. We basically have a typical ugly bulky office chair, a black filing cabinet, a black Walmart bookcase (not pictured), and a glass desk which shows all fingerprints and smudges. I see an entire make-over in the future of this room.

I almost didn't post this picture because it is in such an embarrassing disarray. This is the guest room although I don't think I would let anyone stay in this room no matter how much I didn't like them. Right now this room serves as a dumping ground for stuff from our wedding, Christmas decorations, old furniture and my current sewing projects. Eventually we will have a nice pull out couch and this room will be a cozy little get away for anyone headed our way.

Last, but not least we have the spare/guest/hall bathroom. No you do not need to adjust the color on your computer, that is a GREEN counter top you are seeing. The bathroom is a decent size but right now that is about all it has going for it. Obviously the vanity has to go far far away and never return. The walls need color and I plan to add some cute shelves and accessories to complete the look.