“Rooms for Rent” Home Tour

 
Y’all, I am sitting on the plane with my sister waiting to take off.  They are de-icing the plane, so say a pray for us. :)
I am SO stinkin’ excited about having Bre from Rooms for Rent to be guest posting for me.  I found her blog a few weeks ago and fell in love with it.
Then I begged her to guest post for me. :)
She has written an amazing post full of beautiful pictures.
Enjoy!
(and show her lots of love!)
 
Hello Beneath My Heart readers! I am so excited to be here today!!! I just adore Traci and her beautiful blog and her beautiful heart, and I am thrilled she asked me to join her here today. My name is Bre, and I blog over at Rooms FOR Rent, where I share my love for interior design, all things WHITE, my family, and our ever-changing home.

 

 

 
Today I have a home tour lined up for you, from our first home we moved into 3 years ago next week. Yikes! And we have been busy. Well let’s just say I can’t sit still for too long, and I usually always end up with a paint brush in my hand. A common saying I hear a lot from anyone in my family is “when are you not painting?!”. Anyone else like that?! Well, Welcome to my House.
 
Our main entrance is the door you see behind me in the photo above. It leads you right into our kitchen. Which after living in a second floor apartment for 5 years, and two babies later, this was a little slice of heaven when it came time to bring in groceries.
 
 
When you walk through the door, to the right are all the cabinets and appliances. In the middle we have this fantastic eat-in island, with all the work space you could want = project central!
 
 
This past fall we completed Phase 1 of our kitchen, which you can see before & after pics here. To the left of the door when you walk in are windows that look out into our yard, so I created a little entryway spot, with a bench that has baskets for shoe storage underneath it.
 
 

 

 
Part of Phase 1 was changing up the open shelves. We got new corbels to replace small black brackets, spread the shelves out a bit and added a third one. I have no pantry, so these act as a display/storage area for me, rest assured I use everything you see on these shelves, nothing gets wasted.
 

 

 

 

 
Just past the shelves was a little hallway with a tiny coat closet. So we converted it into a more functional mudroom, adding rows of hooks so everyone can hang up their jacket, and a spot for winter items to dry after playing in the snow. A side hobby (I like to call it) is I love to make rustic wood signs. I like trying to re-create something you would have seen in the 30’s and 40’s in mom and pop stores, or at the beach. I made the one hanging in our back hall, shown below, as well as the “Bakery” sign in the next picture above my plate rack wall.
 
 
To the right of that tiny back hall, is our basement door, and then a tiny wall, and then a third door to our downstairs bath. Three doors on one wall, almost all right next to each other. Drove me nuts! So I got to brainstorming, to try and take the focus off all the doors in a row, we installed the plate rack wall you see below.
 
 
 Which leads into the downstairs bathroom. One of the first projects I posted about was painting the stripes in here. I was in LOVE after seeing them on Young House Love. Had to have him, still do, I have repainted almost every room in our house (2x in three years) except this one! It’s the only place tan still exists :)

 

 

 

 
So leaving our kitchen, is this fun chalkboard wall (for more info on that click here) and you enter the dining room, that looks into our living room.
 
 

One of our first projects this year was making the dining room table you see below. And after making it, we wondered why we waited so long to make it in the first place :)

 
When ever somebody asks me what my style is, I always answer “farmhouse-y” with an ever increasing smile on my face, because I know it sounds silly, but it’s so true! I resist saying country, because I don’t want people to think primitive, and although I like floral patterns, I don’t use them, and I don’t have any rooster statues hanging around either, even though I think they’re cute.

 

 
I can describe it and say “Well if Pottery Barn and Country Living Magazine had a baby, than you would find me!” Ha Ha. I love all things white! And pitchers, and old milk jugs, and mixing well worn in pieces with crisp clean new ones.
 
 
Even though we have a “formal” dining room space. I want it comfy, relaxed, and cozy. A place where you could sit for hours, and not be longing to vacate to a more comfier couch, although that is nice too.
I desire to create a space that makes people want to linger a little longer,
be comfortable to sit and chat, and enjoy their stay.

 

 
 Our dining and living room are sort of open concept. There is a half wall on each side with white columns, an original to the house I adore!
Our living room has evolved quite a bit since we moved in. And although the furniture has all stayed the same (with the exception of swapping out our coffee table) the walls and curtains, and accessories have changed quite often as I fine-tuned my taste.

 

 
Ok, let me start off with this first : I LOVE white! You probably know this about me by now. We got our white slipcovered IKEA couch years before kids, and my mom said I was nuts, nuts! Baby phase, to toddler phase, to tiny people now, I still love love love my white couch. People come over and say I’m nuts, but here’s what I love. I get to have my favorite couch, and keep it clean, it’s slip covered!!
I just toss it in the washing machine = heaven!
 
 
So with how much I love my white sofa, I was always afraid to have white walls, even though I drooled over them in magazines and on pinterest. Finally I found a color that made me think I can take the plunge, and last winter I painted our living room Halo by Benjamin Moore.

 

 
Insert smiley face :) And oh my gosh, I’m in love, why didn’t I do this sooner. One thing I have definitely learned over the past few years, is to take a risk! Take a risk!! Sometimes it’s the biggest reward, and sometimes (not as often though) you regret it, but what’s too big that a little paint can’t fix? Right?!
 
 
My most favorite transformations have always stemmed from taking the biggest risks. Thankfully, I’m now starting to realize this, so it’s not taking me as long (years) to pep talk myself into it.

 

 
I hope you have enjoyed your visit today, I know I sure have, and I hope you will join me over at Rooms FOR Rent,
where you can catch up with me on our latest project
(because there is always at least one going on),
my latest risk taking adventure,
and what I will be painting next!
 

Thank you so much Traci for having me, and I hope you will stop by and say Hi, I look forward to meeting so many of you! Feel free to join me on Instagram, thats were you get the most current up-to-date happenings here at Rooms FOR Rent!

 

Have a Wonderful Day!

 

28 Comments

  1. I’m sure you mention it on your blog, and I’ll check there too, but what color is on the walls in the dining area around the stone fireplace? It’s beautiful.

  2. I absolutely LOVE your style! I’ve been wanting to change some pieces in my home by painting/sanding and have been afraid to take the leap! Thanks for the inspiration! Can you please tell me where you got the slip covers for your chairs in your living room. I have a chair that is the same size and style and would love to cover it.

  3. I love how your home is both elegant and cheery, cozy! It is just beautiful! Thanks for the inspiring tour… can’t wait to paint some more now : )

  4. I love your home, and I love white so this pictures gave me some inspiration for change somethings in my kitchen.

    1. Hi Lauren! So the trim is just the plain old white you pull off the shelf at Lowes or Home Depot, And the lighter grey strip in the dining room is Mindful Grey by Sherwin Williams :) Thanks so much !!!

  5. So beautiful! I am just going to pin a few.. Thanks so much for sharing your lovely home!

  6. Thanks for sharing your home. I was wondering if you made or purchased the bench for your table? And if you did purchase where you found it?
    Thanks:)

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