One Year Housiversary Tour (Past, Present, and Future Plans) – Master Bedroom, Matt’s Game Room and My Office
I’m continuing our one year house tour today with the master bedroom, Matt’s game room, and my office. These rooms have had almost zero attention over the past year, but of course, I have grand plans for all three rooms.
Let me just say that if you’re one of those people who reads decorating blogs filled with pictures of beautiful rooms and then feels bad about your own home, well, I’m here to help today. I can guarantee you that after reading this post and seeing our bedroom, you’ll feel much better about your own house. 🙂
Master Bedroom (1% complete)
Here’s how our master bedroom started out when we bought the house a year ago…
And now, the only things that have changed are the the floor and the wood bed frame that I made. I removed the green carpet and refinished the original hardwood floor (which I didn’t even bother to clean/mop before taking this picture…sorry!) Oh, and we added a lovely window unit air conditioner. 😀
And looking back the other way looks pretty much the same except that I used my door to test out paint colors.
In fact, this is a pretty funny view. Five navy blues tested on the wall, four colors tested on the door, and three more colors on the other door in the hallway. 😀
Now I know that some of you are wondering, “Kristi, how have you lived with this room (or this house) for a year?” One person even commented that she “couldn’t live in total mess everyplace” like I am.
You know, it’s interesting. While I do love beautiful rooms filled with nice things, and I’m very much a perfectionist with some OCD tendencies, I’m just not one of those high maintenance people who demands only the best. I can live perfectly happy in a less than desirable room (or house) with the knowledge that each of these rooms will be finished eventually. And each of these rooms will be gorgeous (to me) eventually. I’m only one person and I can only do so much, and I’ll get to them when I get to them. Until then, I just try to live each day with a thankful heart for what I have. I have a non-leaking roof over my head, clean running water, and a few very ugly window air conditioners that keep us from dying of heat stroke in the hot Texas summer. We have a lot more than so much of the world’s population has, and I’m just not going to turn my nose up at God’s gracious provisions in my life, no matter how rough those provisions currently look on the outside. My house is pretty much a blank slate…my playground…that I get to do whatever I want to with. I’m blessed, indeed. And perfectly content.
But…I do have plans for this room. 🙂
My first priority is to build a headboard. Every morning and every night, I prop my pillows up against the window and blinds and sit in bed with my laptop. Not only is that probably not good for the window, but I’ve ruined the blinds. Not that I was planning on keeping them, but they were at least giving us privacy until I can work on this room. Now…not so much. So I really need a headboard as soon as possible. I’d like something upholstered with a wood frame to match the wood on the bed frame. Something like this, but not painted.
I already have so much of what I need for the bedroom…except for time. And of course, just like every other room, the polystyrene tiles and 1 x 4’s that they’re attached to need to come down. I’m sure the ceiling will also need new drywall. *Sigh*
Now just a word about the master bathroom (if you can really call it that). This is what it looked like when we bought the house…
It looks pretty much exactly the same today.
That is the room I hate the most in the whole house. In fact, I pretend like it’s not even there, and I go in there only if I absolutely have to. It’s not original to the house, and I wish it weren’t even there.
That room has zero redeeming value, and I have absolutely no plans to try to make it into anything pretty or functional. It would be a waste of time — the very definition of “lipstick on a pig.” I won’t even bother.
The eventual plan is to remove that bathroom completely and start over, creating a large master bathroom and closet. I haven’t really finalized anything yet (and won’t until we’re ready to start), but I’m thinking something like this…
On that floor plan above, the area in the master bedroom where it bumps out and shares an adjoining wall with the hall bathroom is the current closet. I’d like to remove that wall and turn that area into a sitting area with a fireplace.
So that’s the plan. I didn’t want to not mention that bathroom, but I have zero plans to try to do anything with that current bathroom.
Matt’s Game Room (1% complete)
Until now, I’ve taken new pictures of every room that I’ve shown you for the one year tour. But I’ll admit, I kind of phoned it in with these next two rooms. Matt’s room is piled with stuff — an extra matress, a random dining table piled with his junk, a dresser, a makeshift table/desk thing that holds the only t.v. in the house that he uses to play his video games. I mean, it’s a mess, and I just didn’t have the energy yesterday to try to straighten things up for a picture.
But here’s what his room looked like when we moved in…
And today it looks exactly the same…except for way messier and piled with junk.
Matt is a collector of video game systems — everything from the oldest retro systems to the newest ones, and he’d love to continue to grow his collection. And he would like for me to design this room around those gaming systems. Yeah…that’ll be an interesting project. 🙂
He’s had this game room saved for quite some time.
I’d love to make him something like that to hold all of his current and retro gaming systems, and then maybe build some storage with closed doors to hold all of the games that go along with those systems. He says his dream is to have a room that’s basically a “video game museum”. 😀
As far as the paneling on the walls, I have no idea what I’ll do there. I’d love to take it all down and drywall in there because the individual boards of the paneling are bowed out. If they were all flat, I’d have no problem keeping them and just painting the room a solid color, but the warped boards really bother me.
That’s really as far as we’ve gotten with the planning of his game room. I’m sure he’ll have way more input on that room once I get started on it, so it’ll be interesting to see where it ends up.
My Office (1% complete)
My office is at the front of the house and has a window that looks right out the big red oak tree in the front yard. It also has a door that goes out to the front porch. Here’s how it looked originally…
And of course, I removed the carpet and refinished the hardwood floor.
That room has had absolutely nothing else done to it. I have a desk in there now that I got at an estate auction (that I probably won’t keep), and then I have lots of tools, paint cans, and other junk piled in there. I even still have those original curtains on the windows. And they’ll stay there until I decide what I want to do, because at least they offer privacy.
This room is really the only room that I don’t have a plan for. What I do know is that I want pretty, feminine colors in here (since it’s my office and Matt won’t have to look at it very often), and I want a really big work table in the center of the room. Or maybe it can sit over to the side and be on wheels so that I can move it to the center of the room when I want to make draperies or something like that. I really love this big craft table that Beckie at Infarrantly Creative made for her craft studio.
Something like that would be great. I just need a place to spread out fabric so that when I’m making draperies and other large fabric items, I don’t have to crawl around on the floor anymore!
As far as the colors go, I’ve had a swatch of this P. Kaufmann Brissac Jewel fabric for a year now, an I still love it. Y’all know how I love floral fabric, and this has those pretty feminine colors that I want in my office.
So I might use that as the window treatment fabric and then go from there. Or by the time I get to this room, I might have completely different ideas and colors in mind. Who knows?! 🙂
I’ll finish up this one year tour on Monday with the sunroom, breakfast room, and yes…the kitchen! That’ll give me one more weekend to get things accomplished in the kitchen, so we’ll see how far I get. It just might be my very first “100% complete” room in the whole house. But even if it’s not, it’s already the most complete room in the house. I’m oh so close to being finished!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Lots of great ideas there! I love the colors in that Jacobean fabric too, and can visualize your office/workroom with that craft table painted just that color which coordinates so well with the fabric. I can rest assured that there will be many more blog posts to drool over as you bring your ideas to life!
Looking forward to seeing the big kitchen reveal!
Onward and Upward!
Once again, you are amazing. For one person to do all that you have done is incredible. :0)
The kitchen was a huge project to get out of the way. I just know when that’s done you’re going to start feeling better about where you are with the house. A very nice job!! Pat yourself on the back Kristi!! Where are you going next?
I’m really considering working on the hallway next. The polystyrene tiles are already down, the new drywall is already on the ceiling. It seems a lot less overwhelming than the other rooms that need new drywall and more extensive work. It might be a good interim project to work on after the major kitchen remodel and before I start on the next major project.
Yes, it would feel good to have another room completed, and fairly simply too!
Kristi, I’ve just decided that you are my most favorite blog. I follow A LOT of blogs and even though my style differs from you, I like you the most. The fact that you share your PROCESS with us: the good, the bad, the successes, the failures, no one else is as honest and you. It is SO refreshing to see. I work full time, have limited money and time, but I’m slowly making progress. I’ve learned so much from you.
Thank you so much, Rachel! 🙂 I definitely try to share all of the process — the good and the bad — because if people are going to be inspired by me to tackle DIY projects, I don’t want them to go into it thinking it’s all going to be smooth sailing.
Thanks for sharing your dreams with us Kristi. All of these other rooms are going to see like a ‘cake-walk’ compared to what you have had to do to get your kitchen up and running!!! Just think about how you were crawling up in the attic when you did the duct work, and having the old cupboards falling on you, and redoing your floors 3 times…etc
!
Every other room will be soooooooo easy:)
Those beautiful wood floors have to count for more than just 1% towards each room’s completion.
You’re probably right about that. I’m just seeing everything that still needs to be done, and there’s sooooo much!!! 😀
I like your attitude of gratitude. You have accomplished so much and you have such wonderful family and talent. God bless and keep it up!
Kristi, with regard to your happily accepting where God has you and being OK with that, YOU GO GIRL! Our God inhabits the praise of His people, and being contented is one of His best blessings. I haven’t met you yet, but I just love you to death. 🙂
I LOVE your approach to improving your home. We moved into our house 5 years ago and I felt like I needed to paint, window treatments, cosmetic type improvements, etc right away so that everything looked “acceptable”. Turns out 4 years later I didn’t like most of it. My next home will most likely be a small fixer upper and I will take a similar approach. I will take my time and really think about what I want to do with each room. And I will do it one room at a time, over a period of time. You’ve done such a great job. I look forward to reading your posts every day! 🙂
That’s exactly why I kind of had a change of heart when it comes to my method. When we first moved in, I was pretty much planning to do the same thing — just a quick updating of each room with paint, some store bought window treatments, etc. But I quickly realized I could easily blow right through $5000 with these easy and temporary fixes that I’d just end up redoing/replacing when I start really working on those rooms. So I decided to pass on that idea. I don’t particularly like looking at the old window treatments that were in the house when we moved in (especially in the sunroom and my office) but they serve their purpose for now, and I didn’t have to spend any money on temporary fixes. 🙂
Awww, I just love the room you have planned for Matt. So sweet that you will be able to do that for him. He’s gonna love it, and it’ll make you feel good seeing him so happy. Love your blog, Kristi. I’m a DIY’er myself, and reading about your many projects often gives me the kick in the rear that I need to get going again. 🙂
Kristi, I so agree with you. More folks do DIY and live exactly like you do. I’m a DIY’er myself and live like this in TWO homes. We’ve downsized last year. We had a 4/4.5 to a 3/2. And we purchased our “retirement” house as well. Both are 100% construction zones. We do the best we can. I’m working on the retirement house and my hubby is working on the interim house.
I Sam so grateful to God above for the privilege of being able to live in our beautiful mess. I feel blessed beyond words. I must have done something right for God to have blessed us so.
For now, all if us continue to work hard, make our homes what we desire and give thanks for all aspects if it!
Blessing to all, Hope
Well, you have a way to go, but just think where you started!!! You are doing a stellar job!!
Blessings,
J
PS: I am in LOVE with your fabrics…….oh my….
Amazing as usual. I just stare in disbelief at everything. A-MAZ-ING!! I absolutely LOVE that last swatch of fabric- it’s beautiful. Not that the other isn’t- but that touch of specifically feminine colors is just perfect.
I absolutely adore those fabrics as they are so like what I’d choose! I also can see why you felt the house has potential as it certainly does and I’m sure that whatever you do with it will look fabulous. I’ve been loving the kitchen so far! Remember its the journey that counts.
I love the choices you make, not necessarily at the beginning but they always turn out true to your vision and dream. Keep that great attitude and you will continue to live fulfilled and with joy. I really love your fabric choices and can’t wait to see the finished product.
I would strongly suggest keeping the bathroom, even if it’s unused. If in the future you’d like to sell this house, that bathroom is a very common part of a “Master Suite” which is what is created with the cutout of the closet. Maybe even make the closet much larger and just keep a commode and sink in there.
Also LOVE the idea of the island for your office!
I think you missed the part about us planning on tearing down that bathroom and completely rebuilding a proper master bathroom. 🙂 I’ll definitely have a master bathroom, but what I have now doesn’t qualify.
Woops definitely did miss that!!
i have really enjoyed your progress and home journey. Look forward to seeing he incredible transfomations of each of the rooms. best wishes in your new home.
Kristi,
I’ve subscribed to several blogs but yours is the only one that I look forward to receiving. I’m always excited to see what you’ve done or what ideas you have brewing.
I so agree with you on being grateful for what you have and not bothering living with things how they are as you know that eventually they will be as you want them. I watch a lot of the “home” shows and the one thing that irritates me the most is that people come in to look at a house and expect everything to be perfect – for them. I can’t get over the fact that sometimes its something as little as changing the paint or some other minor thing that puts them off a house instead of them seeing the potential a house has. We’ve lived in our house for 20 years. While we’ve made some improvements to it, most of them have been to the outside. We only changed a few things on the inside in that time. One of the reasons for that is because we were raising 3 little boys that were extremely rough on everything and I refused to put the money and time in on making it real nice when I knew it wouldn’t last. Secondly, and probably the main reason, we just didn’t have the money to do much since we were raising the kids. Now that they are grown, we can finally get to the work on the inside of our home.
You have been such an inspiration for me and have given me so many ideas. Thank you! I can’t wait to see more!
Renovations are difficult for some people to live in. They don’t bother me but most of my family and friends say they couldn’t stand it. It helps to have a room that is nice to escape to occasionally.
This post, my dear Kristi, says it all. This explains why yours is the most unique blog I’ve come across, and is my favorite. Yes, you share your frustrations, failures, and successes, but there is also an underlying sense of contentment with what is. You see your blessings and appreciate them as is, while sharing and explaining your vision for how things could be.
Ah, that we could all view our lives through your eyes. Thank you.
I LOVE the idea of just the large craft table in the office! Totally different and unpredictable! Like you, I too am just so grateful to have a house…ANY HOUSE…even if it is only 831 square feet! LOL. Sometimes when I look at it I think it needs so much done to it, but when I look at pictures of before I moved in and what it looks like now, it makes me so satisfied!
Ahhh…I’m quite familiar with living in a home that size. Our condo was 834 square feet. 🙂
Bless your heart – you have accomplished a tremendous amount in a year. It is coming along and what you have done is beautiful. What is the name of the first fabric sample, please – the one with more blue in it? I really like it. Also, have you decided on a favorite navy yet? If you get a chance to answer but if not, I totally understand. Just take care of yourself and hang in there.
Oh, yeah, I’m so glad y’all have a dog – what a great place for y’all and your furbabies as well.
You are amazing. We are living in a construction zone right now but I have to wait for the contractors to finish. I wish I had your knowledge of DYI. I love the fact that you put a large paint sample on the wall to decide. That is what I will do from now on because I am tired of making mistakes when I choose a paint color. If people don’t like it, don’t look. I LOVE your ideas, please keep giving us all the help we need.
Kristi, one of the reasons I adore your blog is that your enjoyment of the process of planning and executing your decorating plans comes through so clearly in your posts. And I totally get it that the speed of completion is not as important as the integrity of the process and having the flexibility to change the plan if it isn’t working out as you envisioned. It’s so real. The blogs of perfect homes are, IMO, just not real. They are nice to visit, but how did they get there? Not everyone can or has to invest mega dollars to get a lovely home. You inspire and you keep it real. Thanks for sharing your housiversary!
I love that you work on one thing at a time, for the most part. That has helped me stay sane when thinking what needs done and working in my own home. I can happily ignore my unstained railing (previous owners project) while we make book shelves to completely finish my daughter’s room. You rock.
I’m laughing right now because the fabric that I am SO IN LOVE WITH is also your favorite fabric above. Great minds think alike!
http://itjustneedspaint.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/the-fun-stuff/
WIP……work in progress. The fun for a lot of us is in the satisfaction of doing the work. It will be a lovely, and made for you, home when it is completed. No reason to ever leave it. Was wondering if you had any plan for an interior door into you office. It was interesting to see all the rooms, and I am sure you will achieve all your visions. Blessings
It’s looking good over there! This is the link to the game room – enjoy! http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/this-is-the-best-gaming-setup-ever
Thank you so much for that link, Mary! How in the world did you find that? I tried using Google image search, and dragged and dropped the photo into the search, and still couldn’t find the source. I’ll add it to the post.
You are welcome! I have had limited success with the Google image search and have not used it for several years. I found another link that I have saved under my favorites that works for me. This link takes me to a Google page with suggestions on it and I can work through the suggested options pretty fast to find the original owner of the image 99.5 % of the time! It works for me. I hope it will for you too! http://jarred.github.io/src-img/
“I just try to live each day with a thankful heart for what I have. I have a non-leaking roof over my head, clean running water, and a few very ugly window air conditioners that keep us from dying of heat stroke in the hot Texas summer. We have a lot more than so much of the world’s population has, and I’m just not going to turn my nose up at God’s gracious provisions in my life, no matter how rough those provisions currently look on the outside.”
Hello, you are so SO right! Thanks for the much-needed reminder. I love your blog- keep it up!
Kristi, have I told you lately how proud I am of you? You are doing an amazing job on the house. But, no matter what you come up with for your master bath, I don’t think you can top what you did with ours. 🙂
https://www.addicted2decorating.com/my-moms-bathroom-remodel-before-after.html
OK- I have lived on your blog for about 2 years now. I love coming here and living vicariously through your work. But, Am I losing my mind or didn’t you at one point have Matt’s game room where your office is and your office where Matt’s game room is?? I remember you talking about the paneling…. I might be crazy. 🙂
I’m glad someone else said this. I thought Matt’s room and Kristi’s office were the other way around, too. But, we all know Kristi can make plans and change them, so maybe some of us have just been around longer. I love everything she does even if she changes her mind a dozen times before it’s complete. 😀
Kristi
Incredible…you must have the patience of Job! I am one of those who just has to get it down yesterday so your patience and the progress is such an encouragement to me. I love your blog and the interesting things you share. You are such a great teacher!
Take a moment now and put your feet up for a day or two and just relish in this finished kitchen…yes yes home cooked food! Way to go! Matt must love you to bunches and bunches just like we all do…
Hugs
The floors definitely count for more than 1%! Also, I don’t think you want to get through these projects any faster- this is your job, after all. Why would you want to be out of “work?” Obviously, you could go back to decorating other people’s homes, but you didn’t like that. And you will always look back at these house projects as “the good old days.” Enjoy the process!
I think you should work on either the garage or your office next. That will make your other projects go more easily. If you wait too long, you won’t have any projects left by the time you get around to them.
Kristi, I am a long time DIYer, and usually not afraid to try most anything, but I have to say you are my hero! I come here every day and you never disappoint. I have been trying to renovate my small home by myself for 10 years. I have had a grandchild become mine to raise (no time), lost a career (no money), returned to college for a degree (no time or money), 4 parents go through hospice under my care (no time or energy), health issues -both my own and my daughter’s – and some days I feel like I will never get done. I try to do something “permanent” every day or so – put some paint on a wall or make a curtain or slipcover, but the list never gets smaller. Watching your amazing work on the kitchen, I am in awe of your skill and drive. I visit you and feel renewed for battle! Reading your words about being thankful for what you DO have brought me to tears, and made me look at my wonderful, dirty, messy, unfinished home with fresh eyes. I’m so lucky! I have a home of my own, a healthy family, money for our basic needs, and it is enough! Thank you, and please, please continue to post your blog, no matter what the subject, I’ll be here reading!
Great post! I’m loving seeing your before and still pictures. My own house is in a similar state after TWO years but I keep working and day by day I see a bit of progress. I started with my kitchen and it’s still not done but that’s due to lack of funds not desire (Still needs a counter top). Next I did my sewing room and it’s everything I dreamed it could be. When I get overwhelmed with the mess and get frustrated at how long certain projects take I at least have a room to retreat to so I can rejuvenate my mind…it even smells clean in there. Ha! I’ve also completed the exterior and most of the landscaping but I’ve had a lot of help with that and hired out the really hard stuff like roofing, guttering and cement work instead of doing it all myself. I’m also probably twice your age so hang in there and keep moving at your own pace, trust your instincts and enjoy the process. It’s so worth the tears and anguish in the end!!
PS…Your mom’s bathroom is stunning!
PSS…My master bath/only bath is almost identical to yours. I even have that same tub. It’s getting a makeover soon but it’s not going to get any bigger or move to a more logical place. Some things just are what they are 😉
Kristy…have you ever looked at another blog titled “withHeart” she has an excellent video tutorial for reusing old blinds or actually the blind slats and mechanism to make Roman Shades. I know how much you like drapes and clearly are an excellent seamstress but I thought this was something you might be interested in as a “bridge” project.
We moved a year ago and without even all the renovations you are making we’re still not done even just with cosmetic decorating. I thought I knew what I wanted in our master bedroom paint wise etc, but it’s not really until now that I actually have a real plan in place. And your attitude towards your surroundings is definitely amazing! What you’ve done just with your kitchen alone is incredible.
The real reason I wanted to comment though was because that idea of a video game console “museum” is totally awesome! If I could have liked the picture I would have lol. This makes me think of my (adult ha) brothers as they have just about evey system since 1982.
Matt and my oldest son should meet. He also collects video game systems. I will be very interested to see what happens in the game room.