This year, I started a new series over on Instagram, touring a different room in my house every week. I have new followers over there and thought it would be beneficial for them to see all that has gone into transforming each of the spaces in our home. You can see all of the behind-the-scenes tours from those Thursday stories right here in this highlight.

Home Doesn’t Happen Overnight

At first glance, you might look at a few pictures of my home and think, “My home could never look like that.” That’s why I think it’s so important to showcase the evolution of a space, instead of just the pretty after pictures. When we bought our home in 2019, it was straight out of the 90s and hadn’t been updated in 30 years. Slowly, we’ve worked hard to put our mark on every room in our home. This certainly didn’t happen overnight. Creating a home is a slow process.

Buying Our Home In 2019

Today, we’re going to take a look at four room transformations on the second level of our home. Our home was originally built in 1921, but the second floor was added in the 90s and hadn’t been updated since that time. You’ll see lots of carpet, oak doors and millwork, and unique paint colors in these before photos.

Before we even moved in, we replaced the flooring with this beautiful white oak, swapped out the doors and millwork, and gave everything a fresh coat of paint. You can read more about stage one of our renovation right here, along with a peek at the budget.

Then, once we moved in (September 2019), we were able to get our hands dirty with DIY projects to customize each and every room.

Our Main Bedroom – Before & After

Our main bedroom is such a calming space for me. Every night, after a long day with the kiddos, I climb into that big bed and relax for the evening. The serene blue walls (Benjamin Moore’s “Boothbay Gray”) bring me comfort and I lay in bed and stare at the gorgeous wallpaper on our ceiling. We didn’t work on this space until the spring of 2021 (two years after buying our home), and I wish we would have done it sooner! It’s been a wonderful place to recharge and I wouldn’t change a thing about this space.

Here’s everything that went into this main bedroom transformation and you can watch a video of the process right here.

• Our IKEA Closet System Build
• Wallpapering the Ceiling
• Painting the Walls a Blue Gray
• Our New King-Sized Mattress
• Using Rub ‘n Buff on Our Curtain Hardware
• Adding Brass Bedroom Sconces
• Installing the Frame TV
• Main Bedroom Makeover Reveal

Our Main Bedroom – Sources

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore “Boothbay Gray” // Trim Color: Benjamin Moore “Simply White” // Bamboo Shades // Dresser (Restoration Hardware Outlet) // Door Knobs  // Nightstands (Vintage from Megmade) // 9×12 Rug (in natural/sand) // Cream Bed (Zuma White) //  Wallpaper // Rug Pad // Mattress // Gray Velvet Curtains // Curtain Rods (with European Gold Rub ‘n Buff) // White Duvet // Sheets // Cream Bed Blanket // Bench (Article no longer sold)  //  Large White Vase // Brass Sconces // Frame TV // Marble Tray // Marble Picture Frame // Planter // Faux Jade Plant // Flower Art

Rory’s Room – Before & After

When we bought our home, we were going through a three-year-long journey to start our family. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, I was in a bad place. However, I was excited about our new house and diving into lots of DIY projects to keep me busy and distract myself, while keeping my business moving forward. At the time, this house seemed ginormous, with four bedrooms. What would we do with all of these bedrooms? A home gym? Office? Multiple guest rooms?

By the time we moved in, in September 2019, I had just found out that I was pregnant with my daughter, Rory and I looked at this bare room with newfound hope. A nursery. It would be a beautiful nursery for my beautiful baby girl. I immediately got to work, DIY’ing most of the room myself throughout my entire pregnancy.

Here’s everything that went into Rory’s room transformation and you can watch a video of the process right here.

• Wallpapered Closet
• Nursery DIY Plan
• Sage Green Built-In Reveal
• Nursery Furniture & Design Plan
• Adding DIY Chair Rail
• Painting the Nursery Blush
• Nursery Closet & Organized Drawers
• Window Treatment Plan
• Nursery Reveal
• Nursery Before and After + Sources
• Rory’s Nursery – Changes We’ve Made
• Making Special Vintage Art for Rory’s Room
• Creating Rory’s Nursery Gallery Wall
• How to Attach Heavy Furniture to the Wall
• Tips to Style Nursery Shelves

Rory’s Room – Sources

Wall Color: Valspar “Warm Fog” // Chair Rail Color: Custom (formula in this blog post) // Light Fixture // Vintage Rug // Crib // Mattress // Mattress Pad Cover // Wood Dresser // Table Lamp (spray painted this color) // Marble Side Table // Wood Frame // Personalized Ultrasound // Family Stitch // Wallpaper // Cabinet Knobs // Easy Track White Wood Closet Kit // Bow Hook // Bow Holder // Window Treatments by Urban Workroom

Our Laundry Room – Before & After

I had to include pictures of the upstairs hallway to explain how our laundry room came to be. If you take a peek at that before photo, you’ll see that our hallway used to have a landing area. I had no clue what the heck we were going to do with that awkward space. Then, our contractor suggested that we knock down the wall and add those extra feet to create a larger laundry room. At the time, I remember being very hesitant. It was going to cost an additional $1,500 for the work and we were already spending so much money. But, we went for it and I can’t imagine it any other way!

We now have a very functional laundry room, with tons of storage for our dirty clothes, cleaning supplies, and more. We use this room all day, every day and it’s nice to have it working hard for our family.

Here’s everything that went into our laundry room transformation and you can tour a video of the process right here.

• Choosing Patterned Floor Tile
• The Before & Gameplan
• Installing Cabinets
• Adding Butcher Block
• Tiling the Wall
• Laundry Room Makeover – The Reveal
• Organizing The Laundry Room
• Sealing The Tile Floor

Laundry Room – Sources

Paint Color: Benjamin Moore “Ballet White” // Trim Color: Benjamin Moore “Simply White” // Washer // Dryer // Pedestals // Floor Tile // Green Tile // Wood Counter on Appliances // Butcher Block // Drying Rack // Cabinets // Gold Pulls // Gold Handles // Hampers // Rug // Window Treatment (Color: Quince) // Wall Art 1 // Wall Art 2 // Hallway Chandelier

My Home Office – Before & After

We finished this office in March 2020, right when everyone was suddenly working from home 24/7. I’m relieved we got this space done when we did because it has served as an office for both my husband and me over the past few years. Finn has since moved his office to our basement, so now this space is all mine!

The DIY built-ins were by far the biggest project we did to this room, and probably the biggest project we’ve done…ever. They took many weekends to complete, but I am still so damn proud of them. As I type this, I’m looking right at them and smiling at all of the hours of hard work and learning that went into creating them. I get emails at least a few times a month from people who have re-created these in their own homes and it makes me so happy!

Here’s everything that went into my home office transformation and you can tour a video of the process right here.

• Office Design Plan
• Built-Ins Part 1: Installing the Base Cabinets
• Office Furniture
• Built-Ins Part 2: Building DIY Bookshelves
• Priming & Painting Built-Ins
• Built-In Reveal & Budget Breakdown
• Installing a Wall Mural
• Home Office Makeover Reveal
• DIY Acrylic Dry Erase Board
• My New Office Hanging Planter
• Our DIY Organized Closet
• Our Temporary Home Office Setup (with both of us working in here!)

My Home Office – Sources

 Wall Color: Benjamin Moore “Ballet White” // Trim Color: Valspar “Simply White” // Built-In Color: Valspar “Chimney Smoke” // Built-in decor sources in this blog post // Drawer Hardware // Cabinet Hardware // Chandelier // Wall Mural // Futon // Rug // Desk // Office Chair // Faux Fiddle Leaf // Basket for Fiddle // Gold Planter

Let’s Keep The Tour Rolling…

Every Thursday on Instagram stories, I’m sharing a tour of another room in our house, so stay tuned as I make my way all around here. I’ll be sure to do another post in the coming months, highlighting even more spaces. These room transformations are so fun to re-live!