The Day I Have Been Waiting For…
Almost exactly thirteen months ago Mark and I first stepped foot into the home that I am sitting in tonight with a laptop in my lap and a glass of wine on the coffee table. A home that thirteen months ago almost anyone would have seen as… a) the biggest project on Earth OR b) the biggest money pit on Earth OR c) nothing but 2 x 4’s and old dilapidated siding OR d) all of the above. Although it was and still is probably answer D, for us it was literally love at first sight. To tour “Our Historic Wonderland” in the early days, Read “Our 1908 Treasure- Update!” (yes, we were wrong at first and it was really 1905). Ha! My love for interior design and Mark’s love for construction saw absolutely incredible potential. The most amazing bones paired with the fact that we have loved this historic road FOREVER and have driven it a million and one times looking for “For Sale” signs, PLUS the fact that we have ALWAYS wanted to restore an old home… all of that has led us to today. And although we have experienced an absolutely horrendous (home construction wise) week of which I shared a little of in my Black Friday Deals post, tonight I choose to focus on the positive. Don’t worry… I will share the crazy another day 😉
Tonight I am doing what I dreamed of doing thirteen months ago. I am sharing “Our COMPLETED Historic Wonderland“. I say completed as in “move-in ready”. As in functioning and “finished”. However to me, this is where I get to COMPLETE it with what I love doing most… designing and decorating! And to let you in on a little secret… I have BIG magazine dreams for this one. A girl can dream… So after thirteen months of complete insanity, I do get to pause for a moment and get a little sappy. You guys owe that to me right?!?
Let the sappiness ensue… Mark and I have both been in the design/construction/renovation industry for the last thirteen years. And we have pretty much done it all, seen it all, designed it all. And I do mean it all. I almost feel like God placed everything in our lives up to this point to prepare us for this… our dream project… our forever home. Yep, I told you it was going to be sappy. And it will only get worse. Sorry. As I was saying, it has been a project to say the least. As you may remember from my first posts, the home was built in 1905. It was gutted in 2005″ish” and then it sat. For ten years. When we purchased the home last December, we purchased a 6,000 square foot, 111 year old home that looked as if it had just been framed. And that is all. There was no plumbing, no electrical, NOTHING. They did leave about 2,000 square feet of original heart of pine floors and two original pocket doors. But that is ALL. Mark and I did every single thing from the designing to the planning to the managing completely solo. Just the two of us. Of course with the help of an amazingly talented crew. From completely changing the original floor plan to adding walls, moving walls, re-running EVERYTHING and even restoring 111 year old windows. We did it alllllllll. I designed every square inch and Mark planned and managed every square inch. And as dreamy as it may sound, DO NOT try this at home. Like for real. It tested our limits more than we thought humanly possible. There were moments we wanted it to be over. There were moments we thought “what in the hell are we doing?!?”. And there were moments we both just wanted to cry (that would be me) or scream (that would be Mark). But in the end, WE DID IT. We finished “Our Historic Wonderland” and I can honestly say I am SOOOO proud of us. We brought this beauty back to life and I could not be more in love.
With all of that out of the way, let’s take a peek at where our living/dining room began…
After Wall Removal…
When we blessed our home… Read more about that HERE!
So what all did we do???
1. First, we removed a wall opening up the living room to the hallway and then we closed off a doorway to the original “library” to create our master bathroom.
2. We re-ran all electrical, all HVAC, restored the original windows and restored the original pocket doors leading to the kitchen (what used to be the dining room).
3. Spray foam insulation- BEST DECISION EVER.
4. Sheetrock!
5. We created beams on the ceiling and beautiful thick molding on the baseboards, crown and windows. Read more about that HERE… “Trim, Ceilings and Moldings Oh My!“
6. Paint! Read more about that HERE… “Paint, Paint and More Paint…“
Walls- Gossamer Veil by Sherwin Williams
Trim- Alabaster by Sherwin Williams
Ceiling- Inkwell by Sherwin Williams
Beams- Dark Walnut Stain
Window Sashes- Inkwell by Sherwin Williams
7. We restored the GORGEOUS 111 year old hardwood floors! And boy was that ca-RAZY! Read more about that HERE… “They Nailed It! Or Maybe Stained…“
8. And then came lighting… SWOON! My very favorite part!
Shop Our Lighting…
Living Room Chandelier… Shop It HERE or HERE
Dining Room Chandeliers… Shop It HERE or HERE
And here she is today!!!
P.S. EVERY Single Room is COMING! This week is CRAZY so I had to start with the easiest to share. And a HUGE thank you to David Cannon Photography for your mad photography skills! So keep checking back for more! This is just a drop in the huge reveal “bucket”! XOXO
Shop Our Living/Dining Room:
Shop Our Living/Dining Room:
XOXO, Brittany Hayes
Jessica Devlin says
Eeee! I’m soooo excited for all of your reveals!
Looks wonderful
Brittany Hayes says
Awe you’re the best!!!! Thank you!
Norah Randles says
Your ro is gorgeous! I have been looking at a similar chandelier to your dining room ones but only need one. What is your thoughts on the amount of light it puts out?
Brittany Hayes says
Gosh that’s a hard one! I do love it but it is only one light bulb! We have living room lighting and a foyer light right there so it’s fine for us but maybe not for the only fixture in a room :-(. Sorry!!!! XOXO
Florence says
Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to watch it all unfold.
Brittany Hayes says
Yay thank youuuuuu!!! XOXO
Mysha says
Amazing! I love that you kept as much as you could of the old house. The new lighting is amazing
Brittany Hayes says
Thank you Mysha!!! I appreciate that! I did try really hard to maintain some history. You are so sweet girl! XOXO
kai says
Hi Briittany, it’s gorgeous and beautiful. Your both came a long way and happy for you all and excited to see your reveal
Brittany Hayes says
Yes, thank you!!! It’s been a looong road but it is finally DONE!!! XOXO
kathy says
I stopped what I was doing last night to show my husband your photos of your home!
I love, love everything. I especially love that brick fireplace. I can’t wait to see how you style everything.
I’m so happy for you all!!
Brittany Hayes says
Oh my goodness that is so awesome! Holy cow thank you!!! XOXO
Bree says
Brittany It’s gorgeous my friend!!! So excited you are finally getting in and I can’t wait to see more of your beautiful home:))
Brittany Hayes says
Bree you are such a doll! I appreciate the love SOOO much! Miss you dear! XOXO
Debbie says
Can’t wait to see it furnished! Gorgeous!
Brittany Hayes says
Me too!! HAHA thank you! XOXO
Angela Aguirre says
So pretty but I didn’t see a coffee table or a wine glass!! I want to see!!!!
Brittany Hayes says
Haha it’s coming, it’s coming 😉 XOXO
Fiona Hiles says
Wow that looks absolutely amazingly fantastic. The ceilings! The lights! I’ve been following along since last year – can’t wait to see more
Brittany Hayes says
Awe thank you!!! It’s been so fun and I am sooo excited to share it all! XOXO
Andrea says
So excited for you! And I cannot wait to see all the rooms in detail! I want you to design my house!!! Gorgeous!
Brittany Hayes says
Thank you dear! That is so incredibly sweet. I appreciate it so so much! XOXO
Tamara Anka says
Brittany this is absolutely incredible! I am DYING to see the rest and see all your fabulous decor in here! Congratulations my friend! xoxo
Brittany Hayes says
Girl you are SUCH a sweetheart!!! Thank you so so much! XOXO
Rachel Bachman says
Wow!! It’s turned out so little very already I can’t wait to see the rest! -along with your personal style touches as well! (Dark ceilings- I’ve ALWAYS LOVED them)
It’s a dream if mine to one day do this to a historical home…. you and your husband are an inspiration
Brittany Hayes says
Thank you Rachel! My goodness your words mean so so much! Thank you!!!! XOXO
Andrea says
It’s all so gorgeous!! If you do t mind sharing, what color is the blue door I see in the background of one of the pictures?