When we purchased our home, way back in 2002, we were drawn to it because of the beautiful setting and the property that came with it. This is a look from the back of our pasture up to the shop and house.
We knew we would be making some changes to the house, originally built in the mid-seventies, to make it our own. Over the course of the 20+ years we’ve lived here, some rooms have gone through more than one transition. None of them as much as the second and third bedrooms.
When we bought the house, those two rooms were sweet kids’ rooms with cute, farm animal and cowboy inspired wallpaper borders. The pictures don’t show much of the rooms, as they weren’t very large, and at the time, my camera wasn’t zoom-out capable.
The first change happened to the second (farm animal border) bedroom. We removed the paneling and replaced it with Sheetrock, scraped the popcorn ceiling to make it smooth, removed the carpeting and put down new flooring, and painted the room the most perfect shade of yellow. In the process, we also replaced the wood frame window with an upgraded, efficient, vinyl window. Again, you can’t see much of the room. Why do these pics from the early 2000s look so old fashioned?
That bed is my authentic Victorian era iron bed. It has been with me for over 50 years! It is one of my prized possessions, and has so much sentimental value.
The window frame on the wall above the bed was actually part of the window we removed. I painted the daisy on it for an inexpensive, and nostalgic decorative element.
Bedroom number three was then used as a makeshift gym, with a treadmill and a small weight machine. Apparently it didn’t look so hot. I can’t find any pictures of it.
Sometime around 2007, or so, because there are only the two of us, and we rarely, (if ever), had overnight guests, we thought it would be a good idea (?) to remove the wall separating the two bedrooms and combine them into a space big enough to accommodate a larger weight machine, a treadmill and recumbent bike, so we could work out together, and still have a little room for floor exercises. Couldn’t skip the TV, of course! It was a nice space, and gave us what we needed to effectively workout.
In retrospect, we really wish someone had sat that overzealous, DIY-ing couple down for a long talk about the implications of converting a three bedroom house to a two bedroom house! As far as appraisals go, not a smart thing to do 🫤
Over time, the “gym” wasn’t being used quite as much, and had become the place all the odds and ends would wind up. Basically, a large storage/junk room. After quite a bit of back and forth, and battling DIY Fatigue, we finally agreed in Spring of 2022 that we would begin the process of rebuilding that wall, (sorry President Reagan) and once again have a three bedroom house. We did make some changes from the original layout. As we had absorbed the closet space from bedroom #2 to create a walk-in closet in our primary bedroom, (NO REGRETS on THAT part of the renovation), we had to build out a new closet in a different location.
The project took a lot of planning, many, many trips back to the drawing board, and a lot of compromises between the “designer” and the “contractor”, but, it finally came to fruition! Though I don’t mean to give the impression it was quick, or easy! After many interruptions, courtesy of life, including a few surgeries, an emergency hospitalization, various other commitments, time consuming projects, and several bouts of burnout, here we are, about 16 months later with one completed room!! (We are not thinking right now about the unfinished hallway, or bedroom number three. 🤫)
The changes we made to the layout did result in a bit smaller third bedroom, but we are loving the extra space in the second bedroom. I am so proud to share these pictures here, with the disclaimer that the decorating is unfinished. The styling on the nightstands is not the finished look I’m going for, and the lamps are placeholders while I look for just what I want. I wanted to wait to share the end results after I had art above the bed and on the other walls, but since I’m going for a “curated” look (translated to mean I’ll be thrifting and we’ll be creating some of the remaining pieces we need), it’s going to take a little longer, and after 16 months, I just couldn’t wait to share!
I really do love how it’s all coming together. Just a couple more key pieces, and some wall decor, and it will be all done!! Whew 😅
Thanks for hanging in and reading through our adventure! Special thanks to my “contractor” who tried diligently to make each of my little ideas and visions come to be. 😘 I LOVE it!
Sharly