It's been almost three months since we said goodbye to our adorable little white bungalow, and traded up to our early 1900s craftsman home. Our neighborhood is filled with beautiful historic homes of all sizes, and each and every one of them is dripping with charm. For years, my husband and I prayed that the right house would come along for us in our very same neighborhood. We absolutely loved where we lived, but realized that we were in desperate need of more living space. During our search, we also considered looking into Garner IA real estate as we heard they had some fantastic properties.

In February of 2020, the stars aligned, and our dream home popped up for sale. While we weren't expecting to pack up and move so quickly, everything worked out, and we moved into our new home on March 1st. Our dream was to stay in our neighborhood and make a larger craftsman house our family's home. Along with our new house came the gift of space, and lots of potential. We love projects, so replacing doors, re-landscaping the yard, and re-finishing floors sounded like a dream come true!

I promised you all that I would update and share some photos of our home. We've been hard at work on the yard, and just sort of getting settled in. It does take time, after all.

The Front Porch

Our front porch is my favorite 'room' of the house. I am a huge fan of outdoor living, so making our front porch my sanctuary space was very important to me. This is the first area of our home that our guests see, as well, so this is my opportunity to make a good impression on all who bless us with their visits. I's the perfect place to relax- I spend a lot of my mornings out there with a cup of coffee, watching the sun come up, waving to neighbors who are out for their morning walks, etc. I absolutely love it... it's my dream porch.

The Parlor

Upon entering our home, to the immediate right of our front entryway, is the parlor. Traditionally, this is a receiving room- a place to greet and entertain guests. While we could have done a lot of other things with this space, Sacha and I are sticklers for tradition, and we wanted to keep this space as a more formal sitting room. Eventually, the fireplace will be opened back up- it's one of our fall projects for 2020. We just found a rug that we love, which will tie this room together.

Dining Room - Kitchen

Our dining room is another favorite space in our home. We do spend a lot of time here, and this is where we did the bulk of our work during our 'learning at home' weeks for school. Our large farmhouse dining table (custom designed and built by my Uncle Chris) was once my grandmother's table. She gave the table to us before she moved back to NJ from NC after my son was born. She wanted the table to stay in the family, and it's an honor to have this special piece in our home. The table can seat up to ten people, and it actually looks small in the photo, which gives you an idea as to how large the dining area actually is.

On the opposite side of the dining room, we have a second table with drop sides. This seats four people and is used for overflow dining when we have a lot of friends and family over.

The kitchen is off of the dining room, with tons of cabinets, granite counter tops, a door to the back yard and porch, and a mudroom/laundry area on the other side. We will be adding a custom pantry to this space as well.

Living Room

Our living room is probably the space that is the most unfinished and bothers me the most at the moment. When we moved in, it was two weeks before the pandemic hit, and everything shut down. We had planned on purchasing new furniture for this room, and we still plan to do that, but prefer to look and purchase in person rather than online. Eventually, this room will house a new sectional sofa and new media cabinets, and the TV will be mounted to the wall. 

Entry/Hallway

Master Bedroom