This is our Real Life Pre-Baby Home Tour | Part One

I figured it was high time to give you all a glimpse at our home – a real life, pre-baby home tour… before the chaos of Froggy arrives.

I thought it might be fun to show you what our rooms look like now and then update you a couple of months down the line once real life with Froggy has kicked in! Consider this phase one of a massive before and after project 🙂 For the next three Wednesdays, I’ll take you on a real life home tour of our spaces, explaining how we use them, what I love about them, and what I don’t love about them.

I will also let you in on the rooms I’m currently re-designing or that I’m hoping to feature over the next 8-12 months on the blog (hint: the dining room and the master bedroom!)

Today, we are starting on the main floor in our ‘working and eating’ areas. So here we go! (PS. I’ve linked to all the projects in these spaces at the bottom of each room.)

The Sunroom aka ‘Everyone’s Favourite Room in the House’ Space

Not much changes in here except for some decor here and there. It’s essentially been the same way since a few months after we moved in. I’d love to get rid of the uneven bead board, upgrade the light fixture and repaint – but it is staying exactly the way it is for now.

The only major change in here is that we’ve moved my office space into this little corner. I used to have a giant office upstairs, but it is now going to be converted back into our Master Bedroom (which I will show you in Part Two of this tour.)

Outside the sliding door is a sundeck of equal size to the sunroom. It is horrible, gross, dingy and currently is home to one broken lawn chair and a cracked flower pot and that’s it. But I do so love my recently reupholstered leather chair and my tough as nails recovered ottoman… don’t you?

I’d love for someone to come and install a new slider that slides the other direction so I can make better use of my indoor space (furniture layout is a bee-yatch in here mainly because of access to the darn door) and then paint, seal and dress up the sundeck to make it feel like an extension of the living area… but… I’m being real. Probably not gonna happen any time soon.

You guys… it is REALLY hard to convince a husband that spending hundreds of dollars to replace a functioning door with one that simply slides in the opposite direction is money well spent. Like EPICALLY HARD. I don’t think this is the hill I want to die on…. But maybe a door fairy will come and just magically fix it for me? One can dream, right?

But as you can see, it’s a favourite room if only for the FLOOD of light that comes through. It’s super hard to even get photos in here because it’s just always that bright. Curl up like a cat in the sun? *Nods* Curl up like a cat in the sun…or maybe in a basket? hehe Check.

Projects in the Sunroom

The Dining Room aka the ‘Awkward Underused Middle of the House’ Space

Ah. The Dining Room. Let’s talk about awkward for a moment.

It is a teeny room… with THREE doorways. One to and from the stairway/hall, one to and from the kitchen and one into the sunken sunroom.

The previous owners used to have a low hanging ceiling fan in here (??) and this entire room was covered in dark wood panelling and beige-brown paint. BLECH. I painted it out the week we moved in and ditched the ceiling fan for the first not-terrible light fixture I could afford.

We splurged on the Pier One Imports rubber wood pedestal table (which I still abso-friggin-lutely LOVE…) and that’s it. They don’t sell the exact one we bought anymore, but here is a similar one and it’s less expensive! I stuck a cheapo Ikea shelf in one corner, my rehabbed thrifted buffet in the other (along with that giant corner lamp I got on sale for $10 because it needed rewiring!), and a set of… wait for it… $40 80s style dinette chairs I bought from a dude online. Not $40 each… $40 for the set. Hey BIG SPENDER! lol

I know. You’re jealous, right? (sarcasm font)

In reality, the chairs are a great size for the room, but they are outstaying their welcome by a long shot. I am on the hunt for the perfect replacements, but am turning up dry so far. Dining chairs are EXPENSIVE! And I can’t seem to find any that speak to me. The search continues.

This room is DEFINITELY on my hit list. I’m going to wait to see how life with Froggy evolves and then fine tune my plans, but right now it clearly involves getting new dining chairs, possibly a new light fixture, some taller more useable storage and possibly some sort of built-in transom cabinetry.  It’s all a jumble in my head… but you can bet I’ll keep you posted on progress in here.

Projects in the Dining Room 

The Kitchen aka the ‘Just Make Do’ Space

When we moved in, we had every intention of knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room to create one big space. It wasn’t going to be an overly expensive renovation. BUT, when we started to look at comparable properties in our neighbourhood (which is mostly starter semi-detached homes) the numbers didn’t make any sense. It was unlikely we’d see any sort of meaningful return on our investment.

So instead, we adopted our ‘let’s make this work the best we can’ mentality. We painted the cupboards (previously orange oak), brought in some new bar-style counters, added a dishwasher, swapped out the lighting and that’s about it.

It works for now. Nothing is going to give us more space in here though without knocking out that wall and undertaking a major remodel. I often tell Dan that if ever there is an element of our house that forces us to move somewhere else sooner rather than later, it’ll be this kitchen.

We will see how we do once Froggy arrives. Even with our improvements, I often feel like we are bursting at the seams in here. I think if we decide to live in this house for more than another three to five years, the remodel will be put back on the table as an option and hopefully, some of the properties around us will start to push the market into a better place as well.

Projects in the Kitchen

Phew! That was a longer post than I intended! I guess I had a lot to get off my chest 🙂

Next up will be the rest of the main floor, including the (hideous) powder room, front entry and living room. Watch for that coming soon!

-E

xoxo

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