The Beginning of Our Home Chronicles

When we first moved into this home I knew we had some interior design projects ahead of us. This house is very builder grade. What I mean by builder grade is that everything is very simple and plain jane. We searched and searched for the house that "sung" to us, but we never really found one. There weren't a ton of housing options and we really needed a home quickly. Noblesville (which is in Hamilton County), where we live now, is a suburb of Indianapolis and I just found out that this area is the number one growing county in the Country. That is crazy, can you even imagine. So we had a ton of competition in the summer when we were trying to find a home. Our realtor said that most homes he had sold he had gotten several offers for the home and people had to start bidding above the asking price.

Back to our story. We searched and searched for the "perfect" home, I mean to the point where I think our realtor was pretty sure we were never going to find one. We actually looked at this super cute farmhouse in the country that had a huge area for a garden and a chicken coop, and extra land. The poor house just needed a lot of work. More work then Shane or I could do. The house needed modern electricity, the well was dry, the foundation was off, it probably needed at-least 100k put into it. I was totally up for the challenge, but we really needed a home that we could live in right away.

So I started making a list of things I really wanted in our home. I knew I wanted a big kitchen, a large living room for hosting, a dining room, a bonus room, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms. We had looked at several homes that were "builder grade" that didn't have any charm to them and they didn't strike me as what I was looking for. We actually looked at the house we ended up buying the first couple days of our search, but I was still holding out for a house with some charm.

We finally found a home that met my criteria and it was in a gorgeous part of town and it actually had an adorable sun room attached to it, so we put a bid on it and started the paperwork and they accepted our offer. It was time for the house inspection and this is where our plan for this home all blew up. The inspection came back terrible!!! So many things were broken and not up to code, all of the windows in the house were broken in some way, the crawl space and the attic had mold, etc. Yikes! So we backed out of the house. This is when the discouragement started to sneak in, but we kept looking and we knew God had the perfect home for our family.

The search continued, and at this point I am really feeling bad for our realtor. A couple days later he took us to a home that I instantly had the feeling of this is "the one" so my hubby and I started getting so excited, our realtor is smiling and literally said, "I didn't think I would ever hear the words, I love this house, come out of your mouth." So we put an offer in and everything looked good our spirits were lifted and we were so excited. Until boom, we get a call that apparently there were a ton of back taxes on the home so we weren't going to get the loan. What!!! No way is this happening. Oh, and I forgot to mention that we were living with my In-laws this whole time. They were amazing and so kind to let us stay there, but we were ready to find our own home.

So we waited for a couple days to go by before we went to look at houses again. At this point I've cried, my hubby has cried, my mom cried for us, and we started thinking okay should we just buy an apartment for a little while. We hated this idea because we are not renters we love owning our home and we love having the freedom to change anything at anytime.

Thankfully our realtor said, "hey guys some new houses have come on the market lets go and look at them". So we agreed and we went to go and see some, but I really did not like any of them. During this whole process I was actually thinking about the layout of the home we ended up buying. The one we saw on the first couple days of house hunting. I had been thinking about how I loved how the house was set up and I think I could work with it and give it some character. I started to look at it as a blank space and not so much as a "builder grade" home.

So we put an offer on it and the third time was the charm because everything worked out perfectly. We fell in love with our home in Deer Path! It is a great neighborhood. We have a great park that has tennis courts, basketball courts, a gorgeous walking trail, and a pool. Our house has everything and more than I wanted. We have a huge living room, a bonus room, a big kitchen, a laundry room, a dining room, three bathrooms, three bedrooms, a fenced in yard, a two car garage, and a great entry way. We feel super blessed and we are so glad that we were patient and waited for the perfect home God blessed us with.

Now that we are finally settled in we have started working on some projects to give this home some character.

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7 Reasons Why We Don't Feel Like Chip and Joanna Gaines

It is safe to say I am not Joanna Gaines. Renovating a house is very challenging. It takes a lot of work, money, time, will power, vision, help, etc. Joanna and Chip already have their structure for renovating a house set. Shane and I however are still working on it. Through this process I have found that things do not always turn out how you think they will, but you have to learn to roll with it and figure the situation out. I feel like that is a strength of Shane and I's especially through this renovation. We are in the middle of renovating a 1940's brick house, and are excited to finally be seeing some progress, but it didn't always feel exciting. We love Chip and Joanna Gaines and love watching Fixer Uppers. Here are the 7 reasons we definitely do not feel like Chip and Joanna Gaines.

1. They are gorgeous people and we definitely do not feel gorgeous while renovating. Yikes! You do not want to see me when I am a paint hot mess! I literally wore the same clothes for several days in a row because I didn't want to get paint on anything else. Can you blame me? I did a pretty good closet clean out and now I don't have any extra paint clothes! And you don't want to see Shane while he is covered in dust from sanding the floors. He looks like an old man because his eye lashes are covered in dust and they look grey! It is an adorable reminder of how I can't wait to grow old with him!

2. It is not easy. House renovating is not easy. At. All. Right now I don't encourage it. Although transforming a house into its original glory is pretty thrilling. Joanna and Chip make it look so easy with their funny jokes and fun personalities. And on the show it shows them talking about getting rid of a wall and the next shot is a completely open room, voila! What it doesn't show is the sledge hammer someone had to use to wack that wall down. Wacking the sheet rock down, knocking down the concrete, the wood, then the support beams. Then you are covered in junk and have dry wall up in your nostrils. Then you have to clean everything up! Or should I say you get to clean everything up because you just knocked down a wall and now have an open floor plan? Basically what I am saying is that Shane and I are definitely out of flower land where walls are just knocked down. It is hard. But it still seems worth it to me.

3. A letter from my husband. "Dear Chip and Joanna Gaines, you have cost my wife and I a ton of money. You make it look so easy, but in reality it is a trainwreck."

4. It is different when you are not the one forking up the money to renovate the house they just get to renovate it and decorate it. We are forking up the money, and renovating it, and decorating it.

5. I am surprised I have never seen Chip Gaines pick his nose. Every time you pick up a hammer you just know you are going to have some dried nasty boogies. Sorry, but it is true. That stuff just gets breathed in and collected.

6. They must have some serious child care or a structure that really works for them. Thankfully Amelia has been amazing through this whole process and loves being at our "new house". However, there have been several times when I wasn't able to work because Amelia needed me. I am not complaining, I am just saying you don't account for that lost work time when you are on a deadline. She has been watching a lot of movies and has thoroughly enjoyed herself I think. But nap time is out the window. Some days I will put Amelia in her car seat and drive around until she falls asleep, and then Shane will get the car seat with her in it sleeping and bring it into the house where she can take a little nap in it while we work. That has worked a couple times. Aren't the Gaines kiddos adorable though? I love when they are on the show.

Mattress shopping.

7. Documenting the progress is challenging in itself. Having a camera crew would be really nice. It takes quite a bit of time to take pictures and video of everything before, during, and after everything. It will be well worth it in the end though when we can see what we have done. I am really looking forward to that!

To finish this blog off I have to say that I am very thankful that we have this house. Booker, TX is a hard place to find housing. It has been such a fun and challenging experience in the last 2-3 weeks. We wouldn't take back this experience for anything. We know that when it is all said and done we will be so appreciative we had this adventure. And to Chip and Joanna, keep on keepin' on! You guys are great!

DIY Convenient Cup Holder

I am always trying to think of ways to decorate my house where things look cute, but they are still convenient and functional. This diy is just that! I made this three palette board from a palette that I took apart this summer. I just painted the boards white and connected them in the back. You could make this project with one big board or even with just one long piece of wood. Just do the same following steps.

As well as the board you will need some nails (I used size 16x1) , a hammer, and your favorite coffee cups!

Decide where you want your nails to go. I did 5 and I staggered them with two on the top and three on the bottom. Just don't do so many that the cups won't fit. Once you have the nail placements where you want them go ahead and nail them in. Nail them at an angle. You want them to be able to hold your cup without them falling.

Once you have all of your nails hammered in go ahead and hang your board up.

Then put your cups on it! I love my new white cups. You guys! These cups were only $0.88 a piece. I can't believe it because I love how crisp and white they are. They make my kitchen feel so open and clean.

This diy Cup Holder is the perfect addition to our little coffee bar. I am thinking about writing coffee on the top board, but I haven't decided if I want to or not. What do you guys think?

Also, if you don't feel like making this yourself then you can order a custom cup holder from my Etsy shop, Adelerella!

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Wall Collage

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