Today is Day 2 of the Small Home Tour series hosting by Stacy of Not Just a Housewife. If you are here visiting from Decor Adventures, welcome! If you missed any of yesterday’s tours, start HERE.
Before I began my blog in 2012, I was a blog reader. My two favorites were Dear Lillie and Miss Mustard Seed. I read Jennifer and Marian’s daily posts and soon learned something that changed my whole outlook on our home – they lived in relatively small homes! Wow – it’s not all about having the big dream home – it’s more about what you put into the home you have. These talented ladies had their homes photographed for national magazines and had thriving businesses! From that moment, I was determined to work with the space I had and make it warm and welcoming!
Here’s some brief history of how we got here – we were young marrieds with two little boys ages 2 and 4 and sold our first home to move to Lancaster County where Mark would attend bible college. We rented a home from a couple that was on a short term missions trip for the first two years that we lived in Lancaster. While we lived in the rental, we had our third son, and decided it was time to find a place to settle down. We loved Lancaster County and in a short time had met some incredible friends and we knew this is where we wanted to raise our boys. So, we purchased what would be considered a “starter” home – a 1500 sf. semidetached home with three small bedrooms and one full bath and one half bath. The main selling points were the great neighborhood, a beautiful finished family room in the lower level, a screen porch and a yard that backs up to a farmer’s field as far as the eye can see.
This home was the “perfect” house for our boys growing up. We have the best neighbors and the boys had great friends – the kind you don’t have to worry about your kids hanging out with! There were times when we thought about selling. I’d look at listings on Realtor.com, but nothing ever seemed right. My boys didn’t want to leave their “hood” or change schools. They were happy here. So, we just stayed put – and I’m so glad we did! We still have such great neighbors and my boys had a great childhood full of fun and great memories here.
Okay – so now my boys are grown and are young adults – and we still live here!!! We are down one boy – Josh got married, and it won’t be much longer before the other two move out. We’ve talked about moving, but when we look at the homes on the market – gosh, they have so much work to be done! Mark and I like to think we’re Chip and JoJo, but honestly, the idea of a fixer upper isn’t that appealing anymore!!! So, we’ll continue to make improvements and upgrades here. It’s taken me a while, but I have to say that I’m content right where I am.
So – here’s a look at my small home.
LIVING ROOM
This is the room you enter when you come through the front door. The main thing I did overall is lighten things up. The wall color went from a warm yellow to Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (a Griege – it definitely looks more gray in my home, which I like)! My fireplace mantel went from a dark cherry to white with Annie Sloan chalk paint. My dark green sofa, although nice, was changed out to a white slipcovered sofa.
You do make some sacrifices when you live in a small space – I would love to have a large French farmhouse style chandelier, but it just wouldn’t work. Remember to think about size and scale when purchasing furniture and light fixtures for your home. I have several chests/trunks that I move around the house. They are not only decorative, but useful for storage.
These photos are from last summer and I brought in a lot of real plants. I think they add to the lightness of the space. The dresser below was an auction find that I painted a light gray. You can kinda see the stairs in this photo. They had carpeting and we ripped it out and painted the stairs black with white risers. I don’t know why, but I think a room seems larger without wall to wall carpeting. We are actually in the process of choosing new wood floors – so excited!
Keeping curtains light is another tip – as well as the “high and wide” rule when mounting your curtain rod. It makes your ceilings seem higher.
The living room leads right into the dining room. When we bought the house, I didn’t like that the spaces weren’t more “defined”. Who knew that open concept would become so popular!
DINING ROOM
The dining room and kitchen areas are where everyone needs to maximize space for storage purposes. We built the plate rack last year and I repurposed an old 70’s TV stand to use as a bar/tea cart.
The corner cupboard was my grandmother’s and it holds a lot! It can be used to display dishes or closed when I need the extra storage! My kitchen table got a little makeover last year. We removed the wider top and made our own planked “farmhouse” tabletop (which is not as wide, but is longer). This gave us more room around the table without taking up more space.
KITCHEN
And, here’s a glimpse of the kitchen from the dining room. The kitchen had builder grade oak cabinets and a dark brick backsplash. We added trim to the top of the cabinets, built the range hood, and painted the top cabinets off white and the lower cabinets black. I chose to paint the lower cabinets black, not just because I like the look, but because my appliances are black and it gives it a more seamless look. I also whitewashed the brick to lighten it up. You can also see a bit of the doors leading out to the porch. We added moulding to these doors as well, adding visual height to the space.
I used to have a window treatment at this window, but taking it off and letting the sunshine stream in, makes this space much brighter. The countertops are concrete overtop of the laminate and I love them. The main thing we want to do in this space is add a new farmhouse sink and update the appliances.
SCREEN PORCH
This is a bonus space. It is just a screen porch, but gives us three seasons of additional usable space to hang out. Plus, it’s fun to decorate! Even in this outdoor space, I kept size and scale in mind when I was looking for seating options.
MASTER BEDROOM
This room had been so dark. In this room I chose a light silvery blue paint called Silver Cloud by Benjamin Moore. We ripped up the carpet, but didn’t have any extra wood to use upstairs. So, I painted the plywood for a temporary fix! The light patterned floor adds interest to the small space. We switched out our headboard and footboard bed for a DIY upholstered headboard in white.
As you can see – these pics were taken at Christmastime (it’s been cloudy and rainy here all week, so no updated photos). Mirrors, mirrors, and more mirrors help brighten up a space and make it appear larger.
SETH’S ROOM
This room is the smallest room in the house and is about the size of a closet in some homes!!! We worked hard to maximize every bit of useable space in this room. The closet doors were removed and Mark and Seth designed this built in workspace.
Don’t be afraid to take your artwork up to the ceilings – those are speakers from a vintage stereo that Seth bought at auction and gutted! I also watched for a while for the perfect dresser for this room – I wanted midcentury and found it in this piece. Can you believe it was glossy and blond with shiny gold pulls!
To give you an idea of how small this room is – this photo was taken in the doorway and that’s the wall you see with the windows! But, it’s cool now and he practically lives in there!
Thanks for taking time out of your busy Friday to take my small home tour! And, a huge thanks to Stacy for putting this series together!!! Up next on the tour is Kristi at Chatfield Court.
In case you missed any of the earlier tours – here are all the links:
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Hymns and Verses
Sharing today at:
Your home is beautiful! Your back porch looks all ready for spring! My son has the smallest room in our home too. I love what you did in Seth’s room. You would never know it is the smallest! It has been a lot of fun touring with you this week!
Thanks, Lindsay! Yes, this tour has been so much fun! I’ll be visiting each stop this weekend!
I love everthing about this adorable home!!! Your decorating is just beautiful!! We are going more towards the farm house style like you!! Our decour now is Tuscany style. I want a crisper, lighter, easy comfortable style. You have encouraged me to start with a lot of new wonderful ideas!! Thank you so much for sharing your adorable home with us!!
Your home is beautiful! Love it 🙂
All I can say is that all of the ladies have an eye for style, form, function, beauty, you name it! While each is different, I love them all. Goes to show with a little hard work, elbow grease, common sense these homes are all far more beautiful and meaningful than mega mansions dripping with expensive things but have no soul. I commend all of you. May you all be blessed with continued health, happiness and success. You all are an inspiration to anyone that stops by to take a look see.
Thank you!!!
You are so welcome!
Absolutely LOVE your home!
Thanks so much, Anne! Have a great weekend!!!
You have a lovely home and I am sure it is full of wonderful memories! We too have a smaller home that we built as newlyweds 35 years ago on my husbands family farm, it was and is the smallest house on and around the farm. It may not be physically large but is massive in memories. God has blessed us tremendously and I am so grateful.
I have been trying to redo everything lighter and brighter.
May I ask where your jute rugs under table and in front of sink came from and do you like them. I have been wanting to get some since painting kitchen/dining area.
Thank you for your posts.
Many Blessings to you,
Candy
Thanks so much, Candy! The rug under the table was purchased at Rugs.com. The smaller version by the sink I picked up at HomeGoods.
Your home is seriously breathtaking! I LOVE that you shared the back story. It made me love your house even more 🙂
Thanks so much, Stacy! And, a HUGE thanks for putting the tour together! I’ll be visiting all the stops this weekend!!!
I love how your styled your home,especially the fireplace!!
Thanks so much, Jen! I don’t like to repeat things – but I did love those fresh green clippings on the mantel last summer!
Doreen,
Your house looks amazing! You’ll have to see what I’m doing to my little room like Seth’s. (Or rather what Kevin is doing)
I love your curtains and I think I could live in your screen porch.
Linda
Thanks, Linda! I can’t wait to see!!!
Beautiful home
Thank you, Mari! Have a great weekend!
What an up to date home. Yes very tasteful and definitely one to love. My house is small too. In a town where everyone has big homes! But it’s homey. And harder for me to change things around I’m learning so the size is just fine. Your house has that great screen area that I like!! Not found in tract homes in CA!!!
Thanks so much, Gwen! I love the screen porch!!!
Doreen, I have never thought of your house as being small. You have decorated it beautifully and I say you are living quite large in your home.
Thanks so much, Kim!!! That means so much to me! Are you heading to Haven this year??
This is my first time at your blog and I have to say, your home looks wonderful and very inviting! I love the way you decorate your space. Very clean and not over done. I really enjoy how you write and will be adding you to my list of spaces to regularly check in on!
Thanks so much for your sweet and encouraging comment! I really appreciate it!!!
Love what you have done in your lovely home!!
Thanks so much, Kathy!
Doreen, I adore your style and home! You were ALWAYS meant to be a blogger! xo
Thanks so much, Yvonne! Means the world to me!!!
I love your home. I live in an 1800+ sq ft condo. I am happy & then I’m wishing I had a house. We have been looking on and off for a smaller home.
I’m thinking it’s how you decorate your home, weather it is big or small ~ it becomes you.
Your decorating is so warm & cozy. I love it.
Have a fantastic day
Rose
Thanks so much, Rose! That made my day!
Doreen,
You have a lovely home. We are in Lancaster County too, a little further south than Yvonne at Stone Gable. I love that you’ve stayed in your home. We’ve raised 6 kids in a home about the size of yours, and now with only three still at home, we are staying put. We love our home and location!
I’m going to add you to my page of favorite blogs!
Thanks so much, Deanna! We still look, because I’d like to have a space to teach classes, but otherwise, our home suits us just fine! Thanks for following along!!!
What a lovely home. From the pictures I would not have guessed it was a small as you stated. It looks so warm and inviting.
Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Lauren, on my small home tour!
That was inspiring. I’d much rather see what someone has done with a real-life house than what someone has done with an unlimited budget and an enormous place. Your house is beautiful!
Thanks so much – that means the world to me!!!
Your home is just lovely!
I just stumbled on your home tour. Your home is so lovely. I, too, live in a small 1.5 story home. My girls are grown and gone now so I have the whole upstairs to redo and have some fun with. I am going to take some of your ideas. I love your style. You are very talented. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much, Debbie! “Love grows best in little houses”. I hope you will follow along here! In a few weeks I’ll be sharing my spring home tour with a group of other bloggers!
Lovely home! Could you share what color of paint your living room is?
Thank you,
Julie
Hi, Julie! The paint color in my living room is Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter.
Thank you !
Doreen – thank you for sharing your beautiful home. You can feel the love and warmth just from the pics. Don’t sell yourselves short looking at the projects you’ve done you could be a good sub for Chip and JoJo (I absolutely love them). We are in the process of down-sizing and that process involves getting rid of things some of which are harder to do than others. But I’m hoping in the process I’ll be able to get some new things for the family room. I love your gray chairs – can you provide any info of where you would have gotten them from, please tell me they are comfortable?
Hi, Pamela. Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I got the gray chairs at TJMaxx. I’ve seen the same ones at HomeGoods. I actually found one chair at my local TJMaxx and loved it so much that I asked them to call other TJX stores within driving distance to try to find a match! They gladly did that for me and did find a match at a store about a hour away! Hubs drove there the next day to get it for me (love him so much). They have held up really well and are a nice and sturdy chair – especially for the price. I think they were around $250 each. It is a straight back chair – so not like a chair you sink into, but overall, a comfortable chair of that type. I hope this helps. If you live near a TJX, HomeGoods, or Marshalls, keep checking because I’ve seen this style chair there often.
Can you tell me the color of your front door?
Yes, it is Benjamin Moore Mill Springs Blue. I actually just repainted it in a very similar color, but it is slightly lighter – Texas Summer by Magnolia Home Paint. I really love it. Magnolia Home Paint is only sold by the gallon, so I had my paint store mix it as a Benjamin Moore Exterior Paint so it will prevent sun fade and hold up to the elements. It really is a close match, except it is a slightly lighter shade, which I was looking for! Whichever color you choose, you will love it!