A Year of Transforming a House Into A Home

When was the last time you looked at all you accomplished, or did in a 12-month time? It’s wild! I’m pretty sure I shared that when we decided to move to this “random to Us” town, we weren’t exactly in the market for a multi-million-dollar lake house. But as luck found it, we found a fixer-upper, lakeside that was in the budget…. It just needed some serious TLC to turn this house into a home. But we were up for the challenge.

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since we became proud owners of this lakefront hot mess beauty of a house. Time flies when you’re knee-deep in renovations, let me tell you. So, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and catch you up on all the projects we’ve tackled in our first year. That way, we can focus on the present and future updates rather than dwelling on the past.

Before We Moved

While I was at our house in Texas packing up, Ryan spent a week at the new-to-us lake house. We knew the only way we could even consider making this tiny house work for full-time living was if we made the basement liveable.

The basement was full of overhead fluorescent lighting- Let’s just skip over the fact that overhead fluorescent lighting should always be a hard no, imagine it being placed on top of a beautiful cedar plank ceiling. Makes no sense! So this was the first project tackled. And wow it made a difference.

In addition to finishing the basement lighting, he was also able to put a fresh coat of paint on the walls in the main room, which we would ultimately use as a toy room and home fitness gym.

Ryan must have been losing his mind a bit, as he was spending his days working his job,  and then spending every waking moment after trying to get this basement liveable so we could move in the following month. Thank goodness for handy husbands! 

Painting Transforms A Space

Painting became our cardio as we tackled room after room, putting new life into each space. I am pretty confident in saying that the paint was original, and the home was built in 1997… resulting in a tired, dirty blah of a paint job. I swear in some rooms it was as if the paint wore off the walls and it was just drywall.

So to say paint cleaned up this house is an understatement. The key here is 1. Having a house color palette- makes making decisions 1001 times easier and 2. Having organized paint supplies. Brushes, drop cloths, painter’s tape, paint trays the whole 9 yards.

In this past year, no room has gone untouched when it comes to paint:
Kitchen, living room, entryway, hallways, bathrooms, bedrooms, toy rooms…. You get the idea- a fresh coat of paint has transformed this once dreary, dirty little home into a bright clean space! 

Favorite Projects

Our first major transformation (outside of paint) was revamping my office. I spend a lot of time on video calls, and having a drab office wasn’t going to cut it… So of course I went down the Pinterest rabbit hole.

The biggest issue for this space is we were working with Ryan’s Executive Desk… And this baby is BIG and this room is not.

In this space, we created an accent wall, with board and batten plus this most amazing wallpaper… It has canoes on it (from SpoonFlower)!

(Side note, I think Ryan is hating my new love for wallpaper… but gosh I am hooked! I just wish it was a bit cheaper)

I wanted a window seat, but the reality is… there just isn’t enough space.

I spent a bit more time trying to make the closet functional. That’s the thing about living in a tiny house, every closet has to be maximized… And this one is no different, not only does it house traditional office things like books and printers, it also has to store fancy dresses, craft supplies, and more.

Y’all this room came out great, granted it’s a bit cramped with the furniture but outside of that it’s just perfect (and functional!). 

Entryway

Next up was the entryway – a space begging for a makeover, but oh gosh Ryan was so annoyed I wanted to redo this space. See we plan on having a massive renovation on this house, raising the roof, adding beams, and giving it that Adirondack Character I dream of… So because of this, Ryan didn’t see the point in updating a space that was just going to get torn down….

But here is the deal, we live here now so while I don’t want to spend a million dollars on upgrading the space that will be eventually ripped apart, I do have to look at it every day so it needed some charm.

We added an accent wall, to save money we used a rough cut of sheet siding and painted it Cottage Green by Magnolia Homes. Put a little ledge on top, and update the lighting. I can’t wait for the day we can replace the floor… but until then this is a good start. What makes the room extra special is this beautiful custom Lake Keowee map my inlaws sent as a housewarming present. It’s just beautiful and goes with everything perfectly! 

And let’s not forget about that basement – a true labor of love. From revamping closets to overhauling bathrooms, Ryan worked his magic to turn those forgotten spaces into something spectacular.

Plus a new mailbox. half of a primary bedroom makeover, a full bathroom upstairs… The List of what we accomplished is HUGE when you sit back and take inventory.

But amidst all the chaos and the projects, what I am most proud of is we never stopped living life, in fact, we lived more! We didn’t move to the lake to be consumed with work and home projects. We are here to make memories, explore, and live life on our terms. And gosh that is what I am most proud of!

So while we will continue to forge ahead and make this house a home a place that we love to spend time in, it won’t be at the expense of getting out and seeing something. 

Here’s to another year of turning this house into a home and filling it with laughter and memories.