My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Home Tour

Updating our house tour has been long overdue, not necessarily with new pictures but with old pictures.  I cleaned up the dusty portable hard drive and pulled some pictures for all of you.

Hope you enjoy

 

 Before you start the tour let me tell you a little secret.  Our whole house never looks like this for more then 24 hours.  3 boys, 3 dogs and a hubby that works from home it’s more like piles of laundry, dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, dusty railings, beds not made dirty floors, screaming kids AND a whole lot of LOVE and FUN!

When we purchased our home 17+ years ago it was builder grade with lots of carpet, tile and beige.  We have loved making the house more functional as our family grew.

 

One of our first projects was turning three small rooms (living, dining, family) into one large great room.  This created a space that was 100% usable and functional which was so important for us, now the kids can run and be wild, not that I love that but lets face it, that’s what kids do.

 

before 1
We surrounded the fireplace with Stacked Stone in Mountain Blend, you can see more pictures here.

Sadly I have had to take many of the before pictures down for personal reasons.  If you would like DIY help or more “BEFORE PICTURES” please send me a private e-mail at [email protected] we are happy to help!  Thanks for understanding!
 
Christmas House Tour

Our old living room became our dinning room and we opened up the bottom of the staircase and turned it into a small wine cellar.

The Kitchen renovation was one of our biggest accomplishments. . It took us about 5 years to complete but we are so proud of all our hard work. Sadly, we hod to tear almost everything down due to mold. We had a slow leak that we were not aware of, everything is a loss and insurance won’t cover it, it truly is heartbreaking. So here is our DIY kitchen.

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What we started with

I still remember this day like it was yesterday, teaching my little ones to bake.

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You can find all the details below

How to add height to your cabinets

How to add glass to a wood cabinet

Here is our newly remolded kitchen, we were able to keep the backsplash, island and flooring, everything else is new.

 

Our stairs were given an update with wood and all the nasty carpet came out.  We sanded the oak railing and stained it with a rich dark stain, you read all about it here.
before 8
 

 

With three boys we were quickly running out of space. We converted a small storage room into a Craft/mud/play room which has come in very handy.

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We recently completed adding wood floors to our Master Bedroom and updated the paint with a lighter shade and added sheer curtains.

update a bathroom on a budget

Before

We worked hard at updating our bathroom by painting the cabinets, updating the backsplash, trimming out the mirrors and painting the walls.

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The before

Back in July of 2011 a candle burned our Guest Bathroom down, we were very fortunate that was the only loss, everyone was safe and we were able to rebuild.

We have had a lot of unexpected things happen to our home like this huge AC leak we walked home to on a hot summer day.  Instead of dwelling on the negative we pick up the pieces and move on, besides it usually turns into a new type of project for us.

before 7before 6

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The beginning of 2012 I tackled the Loft by repainting the desk and bookshelves so I had a space to work. On the other side of the loft we added a sofa and TV which makes for a cozy hangout for the boys.

 

Before, I know right?

We have lots of family that stays with us on a regular basis so it was important to have our Guest room as comfortable as possible for them.  Recently we replaced the floors with wood, prior to that we had carpet.

Two of our boys share a room and we are in the process of updating our oldest room.

We had lots of fun transforming the boys bathroom into a beachy escape for them.

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The before

Living in San Diego we are blessed to have wonderful weather so we have created a space where we can relax and entertain in our back yard.

 

 

Hope you will stop by and visit us again soon, chances are a furry friend will great you!

 

 

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I think that completes the tour, thank you so much for stopping in.

Ray and Kristin

 

Comments

  1. I absolutely love your home. It has a casual elegance and looks like its been collected over time as opposed to bought on the showroom floor which is exactly the look I’ve attempted to bring to my own home. Thanks so much for sharing your home and inspiring me to be bolder and think outside the box 🙂

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  3. Hi…Where did you purchse the oversized lantern on your bakc patio? Looking for something large for my porch entrance.

    Thank You,
    Torri

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  6. Your home is lovely. Your kitchen is similar to mine I have white cabinets also that we painted too. Our counters are similar in color as well.
    I love the chair in your loft.

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  8. I am thinking of painting my bedroom the color of your mud room, i love it! If I don’t find that color anywhere in you’re blog, I’ll be sending you an e-mail, if you don’t mind.

    I get the keys to my very first home tomorrow and I can’t wait to blog about a “home tour.” I blogged about my experience of getting my first home and will continue to blog about DIY projects and before and after pictures.. so much fun!

    Thanks for sharing pictures of your home, truly one of a kind.

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  10. Question – did you paint the planes with banners in your sons’ room or are they decals? I just love them!!!

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  13. Are you happy with your Cognac Hickory hardwood? We are looking at those exact floors but i’m not sure if they will be too dark or not.

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  14. I am in the process of building a house and I have got to know the stone you used on your fireplace. I love it! It is beautiful!

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  16. Just wondered where you found the lovely green chest you hsve in between you boys’ beds, with all the small drawers in it? I love it!

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  17. Beautiful home!!! We’re making over our ugly oak fireplace and I happened upon your blog while searching for inspiration. Everything looks loved and I think that is why people are drawn to you. Anyone can put together stuff, few can delightfully create warmth. Kudos.

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  18. Hi Kristin, I am in the process of redoing my dining room, and I absolutely love your dining room table. Could you please tell me where you purchased it and the name of the table? I can’t thank you enough. I’m hoping my house turns out as beautiful as yours.

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  20. Your home is so beautiful and love the style, can you please tell me the color you used off of your bedroom it’s very calming.

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  22. Hi Kristen,

    Your house is amazingly beautiful and I catch myself going back to your blog often. Keep up the great work and you have a beautiful family.

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  23. This is the right web site for anybody who hopes to understand this topic.
    You understand a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not
    that I really would want to…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on
    a topic which has been written about for ages. Excellent stuff, just excellent!

    Reply

  27. GORGEOUS! I mean perfect, delightful and beautiful! I really love your taste and style and how you pull everything together! This is my first time taking your home tour, LOVE IT! I was grateful to link up to you party today with my Daybed Tutorial! Thanks . Have a blessed weekend!

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  31. Your home is beautiful! I laughed when I read that your kitchen design lady said your countertop idea wouldn’t work. I look at your blog for ideas! Every room in your house is spot on…follow your instincts and the results will be amazing!

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  36. Thanks for the tour of your beautiful home. I know it was hard work but you have truly made it your own. I love how you knocked down the wall and opened the space.

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  37. I have always loved your style, Kristin! Your home is so beautiful, relaxed yet elegant at the same time. You’ve done a great job of blending those elements.

    I’m super impressed with the fact that y’all have done so much of it yourself.

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  39. Gorgeous posting! Congrats on a well done project. We are about to embark on our own and it gives me confidence to see such successful photos.

    Do you happen to know the brand and color of your flooring in the living room/family room? We just love it with the grey walls.

    Thank you for sharing!

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  41. I love your home. I love to see homes that are improved over time, it so much more reflects the love and life of the family than a “once and done” decorating event!

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  42. Love your home and love having a new sight to ENJOY!!!!!!! I have one question, how did you turn your fireplace around? I have a fireplace in my home that I have lived in for 10 years plus and my fireplace is in the corner also. Because of the placement, I don’t use it, in fact I hate where it is located. It is also gas, not happy about that either. Any kind of help would be appreciated. The wall to the south of it is where the house wall is, so I can not knock it out.
    Thanks
    rosie

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  44. OMG, love what you’ve done! We have a very similar house in northern California and I am trying so hard to make it something special and not the standard tract home… on a budget! My husband loves your fireplace, and i want to do our kitchen cabinets white, we just got dark hardwood floors throughout the bottom floor. And we’ve got 4 kids! yikes! Glad I stumbled upon your blog 🙂

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  45. Loved the home tour and especially the framed bathroom mirror. I have the same type of bathroom mirror (dull builder’s grade) and I’ve been wanting to frame it in like you have done. I also have an extremely close medicine cabinet like yours and just assumed that I would not be able to frame in the large mirror because of it. But, after seeing your work I am inspired once again to give it a go! Thanks for the inspiriation.

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  46. Hi. I also live in San Diego…actually Carmel Valley….and I love your style!!!!!!!! I am also working on the interior….lots of love goes into it….I enjoy your blog.

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  47. Did I read correctly that your kitchen will have to be redone due to mold and not covered by insurance. How does that happen? I need to read my policy. So sorry but glad that you discovered the mold. I assume it has been in the last five years and hopefully not that long due to family health.

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  49. I love all of your updates especially the kitchen. What a transformation. I also love the little mud/craft room. What a great idea to carve out some of the garage for this room.

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  50. Absolutely beautiful. I do have a question. What kinds of paint did you use for the furniture and cabinets. What kind of finish and sealant, i.e. Polyacrylic…..wax?

    Reply

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