Open House at Christy’s–Updated Home Tour

If you’ve been hanging out on Magnolia Lane with us for any amount of time, you know that Terry’s about to bring Baby Boy K into the world and that Amy and I are getting ready to move.  To say that we’ve all been just a bit frantic these last few weeks would be an understatement.  Amy showed you guys her updated home tour {here} a few weeks ago, right before they put their home on the market.  Gorgeous!  Well, we just put ours on the rental market a few days ago, and I’m going to give you a tour, too.  As I look back and realize that I’ve painted every single room (except for the two-story great room) and completed projects throughout the house, I have to admit that I do feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in the almost-two-years that we’ve lived here.

Here’s my favorite place to sit while I watch the kids ride their bikes:

But you probably wanted to see inside, so, without further ado, come on in!

My foyer opens directly into the dining room on the right, with the great room straight ahead.  I keep a little old chippy dresser in the hall and store table linens in the drawers–so convenient for entertaining!

The dining room has undergone a transformation, with painted walls, a new chandelier, open shelving, and painted window treatments.  I love how it turned out–not too formal, not too casual, but JUST RIGHT!  Read about the dining room and see more photos {here} and {here}.  By the way, the dining room table and chairs just got a coat of white chalk paint, plus new fabric on the chairs (complete with a monogram because I’m addicted), so expect another update on how I did all that soon.

Our great room has a huge two-story bank of windows on the rear wall.  Thank goodness I loved the paint color (Fawn Brindle by Sherwin Williams) because it would have been a challenge to paint!  We have great built-ins on either side of the gas fireplace, and my stained glass window has pride of place, as always.  Many of you know that the window is from the church in which my parents were married.  My mom’s been gone for ten years now, and I find it so comforting to have some of her favorite things in my own home.

The stairway separates the great room from the kitchen, although the entire downstairs is nice and open.  My kitchen has had tons of work done to it, as many of you know.  We started out with blue walls, cherry cabinets, black appliances, and a brown tile backsplash, and wound up with this:

The Better Homes & Gardens special interest magazine (Kitchen + Bath Makeovers) featuring my kitchen hit newsstands earlier in March, and I’ve gotten permission to show you a couple of the amazing photos they shot (below).  It’s truly amazing what a professional photographer, stylist, and lighting can accomplish!  Read more about the projects I did in the kitchen {here} and {here}.

The pantry was a great big corner space, but it had white wire shelves (my nemesis) so I ripped them out and built solid shelving instead.  I put in a chandelier while I was at it–why not?

The laundry room is nestled between the kitchen and the dining room.  This room was so fun to decorate–from the painted wallpaper, to the Ballard Designs drying rack, to the cafe style shelving I built.  After a search for the perfect metal storage cabinet, I found it at the Nashville flea market (I will SO miss that flea market when we move!).  The laundry room was featured in the January 2013 issue of Cottages & Bungalows magazine–very exciting!

Just off the kitchen is the screened porch.  This was on my must-have list when we moved here.  My hubby is irresistible to mosquitoes and this is the only way I can keep him outside in the summertime.  I put a chandelier out here and added sheers to one of the side walls, both for privacy and to block the sun.  We eat dinner out here during the warm months, and it’s a great spot to relax with a glass of wine in the evening.

The powder room got a major facelift, too, going from dark brown to bright white with paint and beadboard.  I changed out the light fixture, painted the mirror, and added decoupaged toile switch plates.

Our master bedroom is on the first floor; our kids are old enough that this worked out wonderfully.  This space started out apple green, and after three gallons of Benjamin Moore’s Pebble Beach, the bedroom (all the way up to the cathedral ceiling), sitting area (which is my 11 Magnolia Lane “office”), and bathroom were a much more restful color!  The bedroom and sitting room redo is {here} (although the sitting room has changed again since then), and the master bath redo is {here}.

We have his and hers walk in closets between the bedroom and the bathroom.  I just worked on my husband’s and will post that in the next few weeks, but my closet redo is {here}, {here}, and {here}.  I painted everything pale pink and added a silver glaze in a harlequin diamond pattern.   I also added a chandelier and lots of other girlie touches.  I love how it turned out, and I think this might be the room I’ll miss the most when we move.

Now we’ll move upstairs.  I wanted to rip the carpet off these bad boys and do beadboard risers like my friends Steve & Robyn did {here}, but I ran out of time.  I do love the painted banister, though–it really pops against the gray walls.  Amy gave me the candelabra at the top of the stairs.  We swap stuff all the time to mix things up.

We have four rooms upstairs:  my daughter’s room, my son’s room, the guest room, and the bonus room.  My daughter’s room has been changed up slightly since the last post {here} on it; we painted her iron headboard again.  I swear, it’s some sort of OCD disorder with me (one of many, my husband is thinking as he reads this…).

The DIY ballet barre has been a huge hit with her; it will probably have to move to Savannah with us.

My son’s room looks a lot like it did in our old house in North Carolina {here}.  I do love the old World War II footlocker that he uses as a nightstand.  It was his great-grandfather’s.

The gumball machine is frequently running low thanks to my two kids and their friends in the neighborhood.  The Coke crate holds a few loose Legos, although video games and Minecraft are taking over at this age!

Here’s the guest room (aka the “hodgepodge room”–we all have one!).  You can read about the anniversay pillow slipcovers {here}.  Also in this room is the old entertainment center that I painted green, although it’s not in this shot (you can see a tiny bit of it in the mirror).

My teeny-tiny craft and sewing area is on the wall.  I posted about it {here}, although since then I have painted the sewing machine table and chair white.  I keep the Rustoleum people in business singlehandedly!

We also have a bonus room, and I’ll show it to you, but don’t judge, OK?  It’s where the kids play video games (and even board games, sometimes), and I haven’t done much with it.

Oops, I forgot that there is a bathroom up here–the urchins are not using my gorgeous master bath!  I posted about the board and batten treatment I did {here} and if you’re at all handy, then I highly recommend this easy project.  My kids will hang towels up on hooks, but just drop them on the floor when confronted with a towel bar.  Who needs that?

The only other area that I’ve wanted to show you for ages is our walk-in storage off the bonus room.  Half of it is packed full of boxes (Christmas ornaments, old photos, etc), but the other half is my daughter’s play area for her dolls.  All of her American Girl dolls and their tiny furniture are set up, and since the door shuts on whatever she’s done, she never has to clean it up.  Of course, that’s why we’ve never shared it with you, as it has yet to be neat enough to photograph!

I’m so glad you stopped by for a home tour–I enjoyed having it neat enough for a few brief moments to share it with you (kids! dogs! cat! hamster! laundry!).

PS Want to see our new house in Savannah?  That home tour is {here}.