Decor

02.14.2023

15 Room Makeovers

This fall, we will celebrate a decade in our home. I thought it would be fun to share 15 room makeovers we’ve worked on over the past 10 years.

Most don’t have the resources to remodel a home before moving in, and creating a home you love takes time, energy, and money. Patience is key, and I hope these spaces inspire you to create!

15 Room Makeovers

Home Office

When we first moved in, I painted the desk the previous owner left behind, painted the walls, and added curtains and furniture from our previous home.

Since then, I’ve added a mural, built-in bookshelves, repainted the room, and installed marble floors.

Dining Room

This dining room is a space I still haven’t quite figured out. But, this is how it looked for our first Christmas.

Since that first year, I’ve added several wall treatments (I first tried a square wall treatment and later added the current paneled walls). It’s been painted several times and have a new table and chairs. We also installed an antique chandelier which used to belong to my grandparents and hung in their Iowa farmhouse.

Living Room

Our first year in the house, I got a little crazy with the walls. I painted the fireplace in stripes and used a stencil on either side of the fireplace.

Since moving in, I painted over the stripes and stencil with a deep navy. I added a unique paneled wall treatment to either side of the fireplace and replaced the furniture and rug we brought with us from our previous home.

Kitchen

When we first moved in, I painted our cabinets, but the layout of the kitchen was terrible. It was also very closed up from the living space.

After winning a competition with The Home Depot, we remodeled our kitchen five years ago and still love it!

Mudroom

Our back entry (the entry from the garage) is our mudroom. It was pretty boring with popcorn ceilings and some 90s white tile which showed every single spec of dirt.

Since then, I’ve painted the doors, covered the popcorn ceiling, added wallpaper, and replaced the floors.

Laundry Room

Our laundry room is gigantic, and at first I added antiques to add interest.

Since moving in, I painted the cabinets, installed subway tile, and replaced the white tile floors.

Main Bedroom

I am still trying to figure out our bedroom, but when we first moved in, we brought the furniture from our previous home.

Since then, I have painted the wall, replaced the furniture and carpet.

Main Bathroom

Our bathroom was very dates and the shower was unusable since it leaked.

This is the only remodel we hired out – mainly because we didn’t want to deal with the shower leak.

Main Closet

This is our most recent makeover, and it was a tough one! But the result speaks for itself.

It is so pretty now, and this remodel was one of the more time consuming remodels.

Bonus Room

Our bonus room (the room over the garage) is our family room.

We painted the walls, the carpet has been updated, and the biggest change is definitely the addition of skylights.

I have added an accent wall since I took the after photo.

Playroom

When we first moved in, the kids were young and we had a playroom.

Since then (and Covid), the playroom is now my husband’s home office since the kids are now teens and preteens.

Boys’ Room

When we first moved in, the boys were young so obviously their room has changed some as well.

My boys are both so tall, so we did switch out their twin beds for doubles, added a wall treatment, wallpaper, and new furniture.

Boys’ Bathroom

This room was bland and boring for several years.

I added wallpaper, a new vanity, had new floors installed and painted the walls.

Girl’s Room

When we moved in, my daughter was 2. She’s now a preteen, so she has an opinion on what she wanted in her space and helped me redesign the room.

I created a marquee sign, and we painted the walls and bought her a larger bed.

Girl’s Bathroom

This bathroom was boring and needed to be a little more fun.

I tiled the walls and floors, added a new vanity and installed wallpaper.

Are you new to my blog? Go HERE to see my home tour and HERE to shop for items I use in our home.

Find me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Boys Bathroom Remodel

I am in love with our boys’ bathroom remodel. We kept the same footprint of the bath to help with the budget, but we updated the walls, paint, flooring, and vanity. The cosmetic changes made a huge difference in updating the bath.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Signature Hardware. All opinions are 100% mine.

Here’s a before of the space:

And the after:

My goal was to design a space that was masculine enough for my boys while still maintaining the sophisticated traditional style of the rest of our home. I also wanted to add the navy in their bedroom while adding some additional pops of color. Bathrooms are spaces you can have a little more fun in with patterns and color.

Obviously the centerpiece of the bathroom is the gorgeous double sink vanity. It is from Signature Hardware, and it is the Robertson Mahogany Console Double Vanity in midnight navy blue.

We added the matching Halifax Mahogany Vanity Mirror Set above the sinks.

The stunning faucets are the Rotunda Widespread Bathroom Faucet with Lever Handles, and I love their modern lines.

The vanity provides plenty of storage for the boys, and they each appreciate having their own sink. The bottom open storage provides for customizable organization. We added a basket for each boy and use the center to store towels.

I painted the toilet room a deep green (Vine Green by Behr) to add a little unexpected color (and it’s the boys’ school color).

The flooring is luxury plank vinyl which looks like wood floors, and we added a schoolhouse light and vintage artwork which adds a fun contrast to the more modern wallpaper.

The boys love their updated bathroom and promise to keep it clean, but time will tell…

Thanks so much to Signature Hardware for partnering with me on the bathroom remodel! Go check out the half bath remodel I did with them earlier this year.

Are you new to my blog? Go HERE to see my home tour and HERE to shop for items I use in our home.

Find me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

DIY Kitchen Remodel Cost

A little over two years ago, Steve and I remodeled our kitchen. I am often asked to share our DIY kitchen remodel cost, so today I’m breaking it all down.

We hated the kitchen layout from the day we moved in. The space was closed in, you couldn’t see the living room from the kitchen, and the appliances were outdated and poorly placed.

Knowing how expensive and time consuming a kitchen remodel would be, I painted the cabinets and changed out the hardware which bought us several years of being okay with the space. You can see why I painted the cabinets TWICE here.

I have attended Haven Conference for several years, and in 2017 I won a competition with The Home Depot. I had the amazing opportunity to partner with them on the remodel. Although I priced them out for you, we did not have to pay for the appliances or the countertops thanks to The Home Depot.

In complete transparency, I also partnered with Custom Service Hardware on the Cabinets, Hickory Hardware on the hardware, Delta Faucet on the faucet and pot filler, and Blanco on the sink. Keep in mind this blog is my full time job which is why I am able to partner with companies. So for us, the cost of the kitchen included all the things that snowball after a remodel – we had to hire a drywaller for our shortened wall and to patch the ceilings where the wall once extended. We also had to paint the ceilings throughout the entire first floor. Because we changed the layout of the kitchen, we had to patch the floors and ended up refinishing/staining the entire first floor as well.

DIY Kitchen Remodel Cost

Cost of Labor: $0

Cost of Supplies: $11,465

Quartz Countertops: $4685
RTA Cabinets: $4560
Farmhouse Sink: $720
Kitchen Faucet: $375
Pot Filler: $450
Cabinet Hardware: $425
Miscellaneous Plumbing and Electric Supplies: $250
TOTAL: $11,215

Cost of Appliances: $5,200

Oven: $2200
Refrigerator: $2000
Dishwasher: $800
Microwave: $200
TOTAL: $5,200

Total Cost of Kitchen Remodel: $16,465

Now, as I mentioned before, we had a snowball effect. Because of our remodel we had to patch and paint the ceilings throughout the entire first floor. We also had to patch parts of the kitchen flooring and as a result refinish all the wood floors on the first floor. Keep in mind that with any remodel, additional costs like these will come up.

Cost of Flooring: $4,200

Since we changed the layout of the kitchen, we had some areas that needed patched, and while we were at it wanted to refinish the floors and have them stained a different color. This cost actually included our kitchen, kitchen nook, family room and dining room.

Drywall and ceilings: $3,900

We opened up a wall in our kitchen and took out a little coat closet. As a result, we needed some drywall work and the ceilings needed patched as well. We ended up repainting the ceilings in the kitchen, kitchen nook, living room, library and dining room.

Total Cost of Kitchen Remodel (including our unique additional costs): $24,515

I was curious what the average kitchen remodel costs, and I obviously found there is a huge range of costs. However, I feel pretty good about our kitchen knowing that the average upscale kitchen remodel (although I would consider ours in the mid-level range) is over $80,000!

Obviously the fact that we did most of the work ourselves helped save a lot of money. We recruited friends for the demo and throughout the kitchen remodel.

As I mentioned earlier, we brought in professionals for the projects that were beyond our expertise.

For nine weeks, we spent every spare moment and lost lots of sleep working on the kitchen. However, two years later, we still love our kitchen and feel and extra since of pride knowing we created so much of it!

Want to get my kitchen look? GO HERE!

Are you new to my blog? Go HERE to see my home tour and HERE to shop for items I use in our home.

Find me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest