Creating a HOME: The Journey

So, you’ve moved into a new, or new-to-you, house and the terms empty slate or fixer upper seem like the understatements of the century.

Suddenly, all you can see is everything you want to change or update and it’s overwhelming, at best.

I enjoy what I do but having “an eye” for how things could be improved upon makes it difficult to enjoy the improvements that have already been made.

Y’all, I get it. I’ve been there.. am there.. will probably always be there in some aspect.

An issue that tends to arise from having a passion for decorating, remodeling and DIY is that I’m constantly wanting to redecorate, remodel or start a new project. I’m sure my husband would agree that it’s both a blessing and a curse. Sure, things [usually] end up looking nice once my vision comes to fruition but my wheels don’t simply stop turning just because that vision was brought to life. After one project is complete I’m moving right onto the next. I enjoy what I do but having “an eye” for how things could be improved upon makes it difficult to enjoy the improvements that have already been made.

I look around and see endless potential in every room, every piece of furniture, every wall. Everywhere I go. If I’m being honest, sometimes it’s mentally exhausting.

We moved into our home five years ago and while I’ve redone many rooms, there are still some I’ve yet to even touch. Our master bathroom and the spare bedroom in the basement (though currently a storage room) to name a couple. Oh and the loft, which is [supposed to be] our theater room except it’s mostly just thrown together, half painted and lacking cohesive decor or a uniform color palette of any kind. To sum things up for you, it looks as if we stuck a few theater chairs in the middle of a mismatched living room that happens to have a screen on the wall.

Here’s the thing, though. Most of us can’t do it all, all at once. For many of us, it’s simply not feasible to drop a ton of cash on fixing/replacing/repairing everything we’d like to update or change about our home, in one foul swoop.

Start small.

Even if it’s very small.

For a house to truly feel like a home it requires some personality and character.

My husband and I went the “new build, move-in ready” house route—two separate times—and they were just that, only that. Move-in ready. After the moving in though, we had a blank slate starring back at us from every wall. Lots of potential means lots of work. For a house to truly feel like a home it requires some personality and character. It needs to showcase your family’s unique style or taste. New builds are wonderful in many aspects but bare walls and [mostly] builder-grade finishes don’t scream character. They, in fact, do the complete opposite.

I know from experience that it can be overwhelming to feel like you need to paint and decorate every room at once or fill each room with the exact pieces of furniture you dreamed of putting there. I can recall telling my husband in our last home that it almost felt like a house sized version of an empty warehouse. What a daunting realization.

Our current home was (is) a fixer-upper. Ha! Yeah, that’s a bit of an understatement. It’s a great house.. good bones and all, but 95% of it wasn’t our style when we moved in. And that percentage is a bit generous.

But this time I made a promise to myself. I decided I would do things differently. I made a conscious decision to decorate slowly and not allow myself to feel pressured or overwhelmed by empty rooms, unpainted walls or outdated light fixtures. I’d take my time and plan out my vision for each room. Then, I’d slowly remodel, refurnish and decorate. I mainly chose to do one room at a time so I could stay focused but if you’d rather slowly complete little bits of multiple rooms at once, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with going that route. After all, it’s your house.

Y’all, we live in a log home. Believe me when I tell you that neither my husband nor myself e v e r envisioned or dreamed of living in a log home. Now, that’s not to say we don’t feel incredibly blessed to be here. Please know that we do. But did we anticipate it being a log home? Not in our wildest dreams. This place checked off every non-cosmetic item on our wishlist though, with the exception of a kitchen pantry, so it was an obvious choice.

That being said, when you find yourself living in a house that doesn’t necessarily appeal to your taste, “speak to you” or feel like home, I truly believe on some level, it can do something to your psyche. I experienced that in a big way about six months after moving into our current house. One thing you might not realize about log homes if you don’t live in one is that, depending on the color of the stain, it can seem very dark inside. Also, so much orange-ish stain everywhere. Floor to ceiling. More on that in a minute.

I learned something about myself during that time. Turns out, I don’t cope well with dark living spaces. I crave bright, airy rooms and log homes aren’t exactly what comes to mind when you think bright and airy homes. Know what I mean?

Now about that orange-ish stain. It was bad. The floor, log walls, tongue and groove ceiling, beams and even the staircase. All of it. And don’t get me started on trying to find decor that compliments orange-ish wood stain. I’ll give you a hint: there isn’t any.

I’m a firm believer in changing what you can to improve your life. And yes, that includes the aesthetics of your home.

So, I decided to fix two problems with one solution. I chose to whitewash the logs. Easy enough, right? Oh my word, no. It took forever and I’ve never questioned my choices more than I did during those couple months (yes, months). I ended up using a 4” paintbrush to paint the logs, which is about as crazy as it sounds. Rollers simply don’t work on logs with the depth they have where their edges meet. After the paint dried, I hand sanded each log to emphasize their natural curves. Again, as crazy as it sounds. The entire process was severely painful for both my hands and arms. It was a nightmare of a DIY but to this day it’s still #1 on my list of favorite BEFORE/AFTERS.

I’m a firm believer in changing what you can to improve your life. And yes, that includes the aesthetics of your home. Think about how much of your life is spent within its walls. It should be a peaceful escape from all the craziness and unpredictability of this world. Not only for you but for your family, as well.

But it’s the journey that helps pave the way to the making of a home.

Turning a house into a home is a long process. The picture above was taken just a couple weeks ago.. nearly five years after moving into our house. I took this picture because it was the week I completed our living room makeover. After five years. Sometimes bringing a vision to life takes much longer than we anticipated. But it’s the journey that helps pave the way to the making of a home. It’s the combination of planning, doing, rerouting, planning again, delays, redoing and visions finally coming to fruition that creates your home.

So, put out the pictures with mismatched frames. Hang up those inspirational signs that cause you to reflect for a moment or perhaps just make you smile. We could all go for a few more smiles. Toss the throw pillows on the couch simply because they’re cozy. Grab a gallon of paint for your living room from the clearance cart—nearly every hardware store has one so ask if you don’t see it—just because the color feels calming to you. Attempt the DIY you’ve been dreaming about. Don’t wait for every room to be painted before you buy a new sofa. Don’t expect to have every light fixture updated before you hang the new family pictures you just had printed.

Don’t wait to decorate, just because everything isn’t “perfect” yet. Start small.

There’s no rule saying that when you buy a new couch for the family room you have to also replace the dining table because it’s even older than the hand-me-down sofa you’re swapping out. You don’t need to do it all at once.

Small steps make a staircase and you’ll get there, eventually.

Whether you work on one room at a time or small parts of multiple rooms until one day they’re all complete, you can’t go wrong. Small steps make a staircase and you’ll get there, eventually.

Every house has the potential to become a home. It just takes work, time and patience.

Trust me when I say that your home might never feel entirely finished. If by some chance I’m able to complete every renovation, room makeover, DIY or remodel I’d like to accomplish in our home, it’ll no doubt be just in time for my style preferences to change. Trends tend to repeat on a 20-30 year cycle, right? Yeah, that seems accurate then. It’s never ending for this girl, so we can keep each other company.

Most importantly, enjoy the journey while you’re creating a home. The memories will mean more than any before/after ever could.

.

.

*Click any ‘AFTER’ picture to shop the links for the decor and furniture shown in that room. Or click here to shop my home.

*Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. This does not affect your purchase or payment method in any way. Please keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. These are simply products I love, use and want to share with you.