Welcome to Our Home
Welcome to my home! This house was a dream for 6 years. When we moved to our tiny town in north Texas, we lived in a cute farmhouse that already existed on the property. (My parents live there now.) We knew that we eventually wanted to build our forever home here. A place for our growing boys where we could host friends and family and make amazing memories. We spent years dreaming and clearing the land ourselves. I have so many memories of weekends spent clearing brush and hauling trees. In January of 2022 we broke ground on our dream home. I had 6 years' worth of Pinterest pictures organized in a binder by room. LOL. My goal with this house was to create a space where everyone and anyone felt comfortable. When you come here, I want you to be able to take off your shoes and stay awhile.
Come take a peek. Eventually, I will have more detailed posts about each room but for now here are the highlights.
I am not going to lie. I am not a professional landscaper and creating outdoor spaces is not my greatest strength, but like I mentioned before, I was armed with Pinterest pictures when we built this house. I had found an outside look I loved, and we tried to recreate much of it in our home. The inspo picture featured a Hardy plank style home but my husband is a brick guy, so we compromised on painted brick. I fell in love with the cedar shake. I think it reminded me of my grandparents’ house growing up. Anyway, turns out that we built our house in the absolute worst time to build. I am sure you will hear more about that later, but there was no cedar shake to be found. After endless searching we ended up using a plastic shake that looks just like cedar. I am so pleased with how it turned out.
The landscaping is a work in progress. My thumb is the opposite of green. Magenta?!?! Yes, that is it. I have a magenta thumb. I have recently been able to keep a growing number of inside plants alive, and I might be converted to a “plant mom” but outside is another story. My father is incredible with plants. He has plants taller than him that are many, many years old. He has his own greenhouse where he splices things together like a mad scientist and rescues anything that I am about to kill. I might have him post sometime. He knows all the things.
I digress. My plan, unlike all the master gardeners out there, is... see if it lives. If it lives great. If not, the next year I try something new until the flowerbed fills out with indestructible greenery. Also, I will note here that I am married to a self-admitted penny pincher. He has worn off on me (to a degree), but I also like to keep him happy so many things I post will be a less expensive find or solution. Case in point, our flowerbed rock is limestone. Yup, to the absolute horror of our landscaper we chose a “throw away” rock. Y’all, good for you if you want to spend a fortune on landscaping rock. To each his own and no judgement here, but I just could not fork over thousands of dollars on rocks!!! So, limestone it was. My landscape guy still hates it, but I like it. If you like it too this is a great way to save some cash.
Inside was all about the view, comfort, and marrying the old and new. I wanted the house to feel like it had been around a while. In true farmhouse style that meant shiplap, reclaimed brick, and wood accents. That view you see from the minute you walk through the door is what we worked countless hours clearing brush for. Y’all the sunsets! They are like a gift of art from the Lord, and we are blessed with a front row seat through those huge windows. That is my favorite part of this house.
I love how this room turned out with the comfy leather couch paired with the tufted chairs. A little denim and diamonds. This is the room everyone gathers for everything from a small group devo to opening Christmas presents. If you are really lucky someone might play a tune on the family piano I was fortunate enough to inherit. We literally had the wall specifically designed to hold this special piece.
Through the brick arch is the real heart of our home. This portion of the house includes the kitchen with a 14-foot island, casual dining, and what we call the hearth room. They say the fondest memories are made when gathered round the table and that is true here. When we built the house we wanted our families, which can number around 16 and the kids’ youth group from church which can get close to 30, to be able to eat together. Between the table which can seat 12, the bar that can seat 6 and my mom’s antique barley twist table with a leaf, serving over 20 or more people is doable. Many fun memories have already been made with our large groups, but this is also where we eat nightly meals together and cuddle to watch our favorite shows.
As you come into the house it is easy to miss the guest room/office. I was worried this room might not be private enough off the entry, but I honestly think people get pulled in by the view and miss it. The day bed serves as both a couch and sleeping for guests. The office console looks like a pretty bookshelf, but a tray slides out of the desk and works well for a laptop.
On the left side of the house you will find a secondary bedroom and bathroom along with the master and my silo. My oldest wanted to see the sunrise and be the first to know when a friend pulled up, so he chose this room. He has a rustic cabin vibe in his room. I can’t wait to share more about his room in a future post. His bathroom, that also serves as a guest bathroom, has a masculine style and he picked a lot of his finishes and decor.
One of my favorite areas is the master suite. It is so me. A mix of shiny crystal, rustic wood, and a pop of something unexpected. The feature wall is everything in here. It is moody in all the right ways. I also love how the micro cement fireplace turned out. You will also see this unique finish tied into the master bathroom. In the bathroom we used it in the shower and wrapped it around the front of the floating wall behind the tub. Guys, this is the best thing since sliced bread! No grout lines! I am in love.
Hidden in the back corner of the master bedroom is the doorway to the silo. I have always had a soft spot for a silo. It is like the country version of a turret. I had to have one. When we were planning the house, we decided it should be my retreat which for me means loads of books and a chance to use girly colors that my men would not normally approve of in their space. I am still working on making this haven everything I envisioned and hopefully there will be more posts on that progress.
On the other side of the home is another secondary bedroom and bathroom, the laundry room, and stairs that lead to a bunk/game room above the garage. My younger son wanted a surfing room, and he picked the wave wallpaper out himself. He loves it and that is what matters, right?!?! He is my sunset man, so he got the back room with amazing views. I think they might be the best in the whole house. His room was designed to have a farmhouse/beach house feel if that is a thing. Just wait until you see his shower curtain! Look for it in an upcoming post.
The game room upstairs is the ultimate hangout for the boys. It too has projects coming so stay tuned.
Thank you for taking the time to tour our house. Check out the blog for more details about each room and upcoming projects!