A Glimpse At Our Home

I'm finally back, and with pictures no less! You finally get to see some of the finished product. The living room, guest room, and back porch/pool will have to wait as they are still works in progress. I want the guest room to be perfect before I let you see it, that way hopefully I can lure some visitors to the sunny south. Those of you who know me well, know that renovating a home has been a dream for me. I wouldn't have wanted a house ready to be lived in, that is no fun. Harold and I have had an absolute blast picking out colors and flooring. It feels like our home has been custom made for us. I guess it has been. While I know that I am no interior decorator, I love doing it anyway. On nights that I work HGTV is my weakness. Believe it or not my house is almost completely furnished and decorated from garage sale, thrift stores, and hand-me downs. (That even includes my bedding, which I dearly love) My goal in decorating this house was to create a haven for my family. Kids face so much more now than we did when we were growing up, home should be a "safe place", a place that they look forward to getting back to. I also want my home to be a place that enables romance to continue to blossom through the years. We've all heard stories about the man who never wants to come home because of the chaos. While everything here is far from perfect, I hope that Harold feels like coming home every night is like going on a little retreat. We are also looking forward to having a continuous stream of guests in our home. There always missionaries coming through MFI who need a place to stay overnight. We are so excited about being able to open up our home to them and exposing our kids to some real "heroes". I know, I know, come on Kayla and show us the pictures.

I'll start with the kitchen. My dear Father-in-Law did a phenomenal job painting the cabinets. Since the previous owners stripped the house of appliances I finally got my dream of stainless steel ones. Actually they aren't the real thing, just the cheaper version, but they make me happy. I'm trying to give my kitchen and dining room a LA feel. Does anyone get a craving for a good cup of coffee or a big bowl of gumbo? Oh well, I'll keep working on that. So here's before,

and here's after.

I can't seem to find a before picture of Harold's office, but here is the after picture anyway. We were trying to find office furniture when someone brought over these two tables. It worked perfect to put one in the middle of the room looking out at the yard and the other behind for the printer, books and other junk.

We didn't have to do much to the main bathroom to make it usable, just put in a toilet. We did rip out a box light over the sink and paint it a lighter color. So here's before,

and here's after.

The boys room is definitely the most fun, as it should be. Ethan and Collin's room was done in nautical stuff before so I decided to just make it the same for all four. This room is so big that we decided to put all of them together since they prefer it that way. Here's the mustardly before,

Since I can't fit it all in one picture I'll go clockwise around the room. Here are Collin and Landon's bunks.

Dylan's bed is definitely the focal point of the room. I told you before about exchanging cheese for the boat. It is no longer sea worthy, so Harold offered to take it off the owner's hands, so with a little bleach and paint we now have a boat/bed. My Mom hit the after Christmas sales and got the tree. Harold wants to put some coins and beads in the chest, but it sounds like a nightmare to me. I don't want the rest of the house decorated with fake gold and that is exactly what would happen.

Ethan ended with the Captain's bed since he is the oldest, not because he is in charge (contrary to his opinion)

Last but certainly not least is our room. (mine and Harold's) This was the room with all the dog hair, if you care to remember.

Here it is as it appears at this time. Please excuse the curtain, I realize that it needs some work. Don't be too hard on me.

Since I'm trying to cultivate romance I'll let you see our AMORE sign under our wedding picture. Now don't you feel warm and gushy.

That's all you get to see for now, come back for more in the future.

We are still so overwhelmed with the home that God has given us. We are paying less a month to live here than we were paying for our trailer. It hasn't sold yet, but we are confident God has everything under control. Thanks for your interest in our lives, we have the best friends and family.