Wow it’s been a whirlwind around here. It’s amazing how it can feel like its going so slow with home renovations and then suddenly you are amazed at how it’s coming together. I have the best people working on our new old house and I am so thankful for their diligence and talent.

First off, the exterior is now completely painted white no longer gold! (Later the roof will be dark gray, someone on Instagram asked) and no we are not doing shutters.  I like the simplicity and clean look of it without shutters…seems true to the salt box design. The exterior color is SW Pure White.

Choosing a door color has been an adventure.  I love red doors but I knew from the beginning I wanted a soft pretty gray door on this house.  Dove gray. I think I tested a total of 11-12 grays.  All were too blue or too brown.  I even tried some Farrow and Ball colors.  I finally settled on SW Dorian Gray which was my first one to try! Funny how that happened.  For now, we plan on painting the entire surround AND the door.  I think it needs the color and visual weight in the middle since we aren’t doing shutters.  But I may change my mind once it’s done (sorry honey) and have just the door be gray.

I have been eyeing some amazing lanterns at Bevelo Lighting but ended up spotting some at Lowe’s of all places that I really like.  Thank you Allen + Roth, they are nice and long and large and less than  $100! That is nice on the budget when you have so many other things to cover.

After getting a handle on the exterior we moved inside. We (meaning Kevin my awesome contractor and his trusty assistant Alex) uncovered some great wood under the popcorn. Honestly I think there are lots of issues related to keeping shiplap in old homes. . . like “industrial really isn’t my style” and “but its gorgeous wood” and “but its so rough” etc… trust me there will be exposed ship lap somewhere (closets ha or maybe a boy wall one day) but this will be the last time you see this in this state in the living room . . sorry . . . Bottom line, hubs doesn’t like too rustic and we have lived with shiplap walls for years . . . before everyone on HGTV was doing it;; It’s cute and charming and I love it in the upstairs of our current home but I think it sifts dust possibly . . . it is rough and probably not great for asthma and allergies which the boys and I struggle with . . . so there you go. I could do a whole blog post on that decision believe me!

But yes that ceiling is gorgeous ! What is wonderful beyond the decorative possibilities of old wood walls and ceilings i s just to see how old houses were constructed and the beautiful materials used in construction.

Moving into the kitchen.

 The uppers came down on sink side.  But the soffit stays, yes it can happen and be okay.  More shiplap under old paneling but it was really pieced together and lot of holes, so those walls and around door will be covered with basic white subway tile and then shelves.  We are painting the remaining cabinets. Everything in kitchen is SW Pure White. I considered doing new shaker doors but didn’t want to wait for them.  They would have arrived in time I now realize but painting these has been fine too since we removed so many on sink side. Again another budget saver.

I love how my contractor put the doors up on the garage wall to spray them. I am in AWE of the awesome finish he sprayed on these cabinets.  The kitchen has various issues, and we obviously aren’t gutting it but paint in here has been huge.  He also retrimmed out doors and windows, HUGE improvement.  I will be honest, I had a little designer hissy fit in my heart and head wanting better cabinets.  But the truth is they are fine, they have tracks and they have painted up nicely.  And it was silly to pull them out when we have other changes planned down the road….way down the road..for now and/ or the next 5- 10 years this is perfect!

And there is the farm sink pictured above waiting patiently in the garage, OF COURSE it is going back in…along with wood counters.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my posts about the IKEA wood counter drama.  Again this could be another blog post.  Basically, I had heard and read online that IKEA was discontinuing their solid wood counters.  Then the IKEA Houston person told me that wasn’t true they just “fly off of shelves” because they are popular.  Friends helped me make sure there were none in stock in Texas at our three IKEA locations.  Once I was sure I moved forward with Williamsburg Butcher block counters via Lumber Liquidators.  They are more pricey than IKEA but they look fab and they are way less than marble or even granite.

I won’t lie, I will miss my marble;( But we are gaining square footage and other wonderful things in this house so I will survive; These will be a bit darker and richer in color once I oil and seal them.

Okay, and I also need to say this . . . several people have said “wow this is going so fast how do you get so much done?” Well I have had my eye on this house for five years.  I was in talks with the owners for over  a year and it was under contract for months.  It’s been a long time coming and I have had plenty of time to plan and think about what I would do with this house if ever given the chance.  Sounds cheesy but I feel like I have been decorating this house in my heart for my entire life. Nutty sounding but if you are house person you know what I mean.  We love our current house but this one feels so right and like home! That has made some decisions easy (knock on wood) and flow somewhat effortlessly.  Like I just KNEW the outside HAD to be white.

But that is just the ideas, on the practical side this is all possible and is happening quickly because we have blessed with a great contractor.  They are hard to find y’all.

Thank you to Kevin Gilmore at Oaks Renovation for all he is doing to help us get in our home and settled before school starts.  Kevin and I worked on the Old Glory project and I was so thrilled he could help with our new old house.  He is patient and creative and honest/realistic about budget and what is feasible.  I totally recommend him if you are in the Houston/Brenham/Woodlands area.  His email is above. You won’t be disappointed.

{On a side note: It’s humbling and a bit embarrassing on some level to write all of this “ME ME ME, look at us we have a new house” stuff I know but it is a design blog and what I do. But I want you to know I struggle with it a bit. Yes we needed a larger home and we are excited about the space and other things but need is relative as are wants.  #Firstworldproblems we all say. And though this isn’t hugely grand or fancy I still don’t deserve this.  That is not how things work.  Yes we have worked hard and been blessed but others work hard too.  I guess I just want you to know I am not bragging, I am grateful and I give glory to God for everything we have and I know my true treasures are stored up in heaven.  But I also appreciate beauty and creativity. And my life ins’t perfect. Anyone who knows us knows that. I don’t intentionally NOT share hard times they are just often private.  Enduring those times don’t make us deserve good times like getting a new home but I am excited and enjoying it and giving Praise to God above. At the end of the day I know even charming old houses can’t make you happy. Only God.}