Big House, Big Dreams: Jumping in-- and making it work.

So here we were, eyeballs deep in the renovation of the worlds biggest home. It was like the Winchester mystery house-- behind every door a new horrible surprise awaited. Only instead of charming doors-that-lead-to-nowhere our home's surprises included a scorpion infestation in the shower line, a septic line plugged up with concrete, and a gray-water line that had been blocked with a brick.

Photos from the Winchester "Door to Nowhere" and "Stairway to Nowhere"

On top of that, our AC compressors had been intentionally mis-wired, all the kitchen electrical had been cut and tampered with, and the house was missing all of it's interior doors and toilets. And lightswitch covers. And window coverings.

So with no plumbing, no electrical, and a few painted walls... we moved in. Y'all it was scary.

We were going from a cute, completely new apartment in Gruene (land of Pat Green and Lone Star) to a ramshackle 5 bedroom orange monstrosity in the land of armadillos and meth addicts.... you're welcome Canyon Lake tourists association for next year's tagline.

We moved in exactly a year ago, and things have taken a turn for the better since then-- but it was a long, hot, expensive summer.

I learned that re-using things you already have can go a long way in the interim to making your house feel like home. The front door has terrible dated 1980's brass sidelights. I hate them. So I grabbed some louvered shutters my dad had given me and screwed them directly into the door frame. It was a fast update that covered up the offending panels without costing me a dime. We got the exterior lights from Lowe's as a wedding gift :)

I don't have a before picture, but it was very similar to this:

We hung a flag, we planted ferns, and these small changes made it feel more like home.

At first I was so overwhelmed with the horrible orange paint inside the house, I was scared to have ANY color at all. But the longer we lived there, the braver I got. After I retiled the mantle and installed the new surround (made from salvaged and reclaimed lumber from old homes in SE Texas), I got bold.

Boring mantle before

Peacock mantle now!!!

My advice is that it's just paint. It's cheap and easy to paint over it if you make a mistake. And lest you think I am some sort of decorating goddess-- ask David how fun it was to completely repaint our bedroom ceiling when the "soft aqua" I picked out turned into "Crest Toothpaste" on the ceiling. It's just paint-- don't be scared in your own house. Aint nobody got time for that.

So it's been a year, and from here on out I will update on the current state of renovations instead of trying to catch you up on everything that has come before. Enjoy this tour in pictures from our last 12 months: