After getting married the hubby and I moved from our first little apartment (affectionately nicknamed the craphole) into our very first little rental house… all the way from Colorado to Alabama. One moving truck and a lot of sleepless nights later we were settled into our very first home. It was little, it wasn’t perfect, but it was ours. We lived in that first little house for about a year (scroll down to see the photo proof!) before moving to our current house. The second house and our second house tour!
We are currently finished with 3 of 7 rooms… 1 room is completely un-touched and 3 rooms are this close! I’ll update as we go along, I can’t wait!
Of course, I could drone on and on about each and every room but a photo’s worth a thousand words? Right? Let’s get started.
House Tour: Our Second Home!
Living Room
Lovely isn’t it? That photo is the very best that I have from our first week here. It’s from the messy home tour I did just after we moved in… when everything was messy and unpacked. As you can see we hadn’t even finalized the furniture arrangement yet!
Trust me… it gets better!
Our living room is one of those rooms that’s this close to finished! I am dying to purchase this media cabinet and finish the television wall but it’s always the very last item on my priority list. One day soon! In the meantime I’m adding a gray linen slipcover to the funky chair in the corner next week… so this room is pretty much finished!
Kitchen
The kitchen makeover is finally done! It was a real whirlwind of designing and painting and cutting… all the fun that goes along with a full re-design. We actually participated in the One Room Challenge which means we finished this little room re-do in a month and a half.
It was definitely a kick in the tush but I needed it. The before and after speaks for itself… I’m so glad it’s finally finished!
Isn’t it beautiful? Our red and green Christmas kitchen definitely is the biggest challenge in the house… but you know what they say?
No risk, no reward!
I can’t even recognize the old kitchen now that we’re finished! It’s just so. much. better!
Craft Room
We finished the craft room makeover last month… the hubs says it’s currently his favorite room in the house! Isn’t that something? He wasn’t sure about the pink desk but now that the rooms finished he can see what I saw. This was my first design challenge and now I’m addicted… the $100 Room Challenge is kind of amazing.
Making over one room in one month for under $100? Some people join bowling leagues or go rock climbing but these are my people. These are my kind of ladies!
I mean just look at what we started with!
Master Bedroom
The Master Bedroom was actually almost completely finished at our last house… which means we only needed to change a few things for the new house! Like adding new curtains now that we have two windows and taking the rug away since the pup can’t seem to control herself around it!
Don’t worry it’s not gone for good, just cleaned and moved to the guest room! *wink wink*
The best part? My brand new mercury glass lamps! Y’all they have usb ports in the base so I don’t have to cover my nightstands with ugly cords and charger boxes. Plus… you know… they’re gorgeous!
Guest Room
There are so many boxes in this picture you can hardly even see the room. Not good. Not good at all! The only good part is that we’re this close to being finished!
Y’all if we had one day and a bit of an attention span this room would be finished. The room actually looks pretty darn close to finished… except for the accent wall we’re halfway finished with. We’re putting up a faux planked wall and let’s just say the kitties became way too comfortable with the stack of planks we had stacked against the wall.
Is that becoming a theme throughout the tour? Animals doing things they shouldn’t? I can’t be the only one with rogue fur babies! Luckily they’ve been angels since we put in the doggy door.
Thank goodness!
Bathroom
This little bathroom is kind of the cutest. Well… the shower curtain is the cutest, and the rugs… and the pretty new litter box cover. Since this little guy isn’t in terrible shape we haven’t focused too much of our attention here!
Although I did recently hang the flower painting over the potty :). I always have mixed feelings about that painting… as I do with any of the work I did in college.
Office
The office is kind of a mismatch of furniture and accessories… so our project for May is to whip this baby into shape! It’s our last room in the house so I guess we’ll have to move soon… I’m not sure what we’ll do without a room to makeover!
We’re still working on this room but the progress is enough to make my heart pitter patter… every item I place in the room pulls it together a tad more. I can’t wait to get the rug in here (right now we’ve commandeered the rug from the kitchen!) Take a look at the progress we’ve made so far!
Before you catch a glimpse of our first home don’t forget to pin!
House Tour: Our First Home!
Back to the beginning!
The Hubby and I moved into our first home (a 3 bedroom, 2 bath rental that he picked out all by himself… eek!) in July of 2014. It was far from the perfect house but it was our perfect oasis and we worked very hard to fix it up!
We decorated our little hearts out! Everywhere but the guest bedroom… that became “the hubby’s closet” and frequently looked like a bomb had gone off! While we have since moved away… so I really miss this little space. Absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess.
Since I’ve linked most of the projects in their current rooms up above let’s just do a slide show here… enjoy!
Still with me? If you made it this far we are definitely going to be friends! If this is your first time here try popping over to my start here page… there’s awesome things there! (If I do say so myself 😉 ) If you’ve been here before (hi mom!) then make sure to leave a comment… I want to know the names of such awesome people! I read each and every comment (usually on my phone because I just can’t wait to get home to my computer!) but if you’d like to talk to me even more try checking out my Facebook Page, comment on an Instagram Picture or head over to Pinterest… I love visuals so I’m ALWAYS there!
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Sue at the Little Shack says
Hi Betsy! Your home looks lovely. Very comfy and welcoming. I look forward to seeing what you do in the future!-Sue
Happily Ever After Etc. says
Thanks Sue! We love it here, Im always thinking up new projects! Haha! I have several in the works ao there should be more soon!
Sue at the Little Shack says
Can’t wait!!
Shannon Logan says
Super Cute, Betsy! My daughter just married and lives in her first little rental house. She has similar taste and she would enjoy your ideas too. I’ll have her take a look. My younger daughter is still at home. We decorated her room a little bit Junk Gypsy (our interpretation) and she wants to make your marquee. Keep up the good work!
Happily Ever After Etc. says
That is so sweet Shannon! Thanks so much for stopping by! Sounds like your daughter is one smart cookie 🙂 We would probably get along great… we may be living in our first little rental house but at this stage in our lives it feels like a castle! I hope you have as much fun helping your daughter fix up her place as I do when my mama helps me!
I’m glad your younger daughter likes my marquee light box… it was such a fun project! Plus you can really make it into anything you want! So much fun.
Charlene Asay says
Betsy, Love your home. I am sure you are in love with it. You have great taste !
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Thanks Charlene! You are always so sweet!! We love where we’re at right now, I wish we could pack it up and take it with us when we move this summer!!
Char@marshallhousematters.com says
Hi! Just stopping by and wanted to say how much I like your blog and style.
Char 🙂
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
You’re so sweet! Thanks Char! I love getting sweet comments from readers like you!
Chrissy says
How sweet! Your couch looks extremely cozy with all of those pillows: WANT! And I love the clay paw prints you created for that shadow box… I may need to borrow that idea!
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Right? I love all the pillows! My brother says that you can’t even sit on the couch… obviously he knows nothing. Pillows make couches comfier!
Meg @ Green With Decor says
Love your house! That blue hutch is adorable!
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Thanks Meg! That blue hutch is one of our favorite things… my hubby thought it should be white at first and I had to explain that everything couldn’t be white! We needed something with a little pizazz to stand out!
Lauren says
I absolutely love what you have done with your rental! My landlord is usually pretty willing to let us do some renovations to our house, but often it is a struggle! Your blog is such an inspiration 😀
Henry@HandymanMelbourne says
Great taste and notable vintage style of your home…. I like it.
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
You’re so sweet Henry! Your comment definitely put a smile on my face… thanks for stopping by!
Misty Rigdon says
I love your style. My rental homes never looked as cohesive and well-decorated as yours! The only homes I have been any good at decorating have been those I own. I tend to get things cluttered and I have a hard time staying focused if I can’t lean on tile and paint and architecture to show my style! I especially love the secretary in the corner…amazing piece!
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Hi Misty! I figure whether we rent or own we’ll be here for a few years of our lives and I want to enjoy our home while we’re here. I can’t wait until the day that I can paint the walls and change the big pieces! I love the secretary too… it’s actually the very first piece I ever bought! Thanks for stopping by hon!
Adam Barnett says
Really beautiful home!
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Aw you’re so sweet! Thanks for stopping by!
larissa says
Aww this is so sweet! You did so much with the small space! It looks wonderful. I love how you did the same color throughout. THanks for sharing!
Edward Winston says
Your house is so lovely, Betsy! I love how you decorate your house with blue stuffs. Blue is my favourite color so I also have a lot of blue furniture and things in my house. By the way, where did you get the old clock in your living room, I very like it.
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Thank you so much! You’re so sweet! If you mean the big blue clock in the middle of the wall I found mine at Marshalls!
Leah says
Hi Betsy,
This is my first time on your blog and I just want to say how fun and awesome it is. Looking at your pics of your pretty home inspires me to work harder at decorating my home and doing more DIY things. I’m a pretty new blogger and your website is very inspiring to me. Great job!
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Thanks Leah! You’re so sweet! I love decorating my home so I’m glad it shows, enjoy what you’re doing and it will come through. Good luck with your new blog!
LeeAnn Walker says
OMG, I love EVERYTHING!! Your house is absolutely precious!!!
Happily Ever After, Etc. says
Thank you so much LeeAnn, I’m fairly partial to it but I like it too ??