Where The Road Takes Us.

It's funny what interests you that you don't even think will interest you. I have always been a lover of old house renovations. About 2 years ago, David and I bought a lot in Downtown Murfreesboro because it was a great deal and we thought that maybe someday we could resell it for a profit or build a house on it. Honestly, I really always thought that our "product" to the world was to renovate OLD homes, not building new ones. It's just not really my thing. I like the character of old homes. The older and weirder, the better. I like to walk into the space and feel it and make the changes in my mind, which is why renovation has always been a passion.

David, however, really wanted to build on this lot. We found/modified/drew house plans for a new construction home that would fit in with the historic neighborhood- a craftsman bungalow with lots of charm and detail. As fun as it sounded on paper, I just wasn't super excited about it- even though this was going to be a house that we potentially lived in, for a while at least. Because this is the industry we are in and we move alot, it is easy to kind of go with something even if its not your 100%-most-exciting-thing-ever kind of idea. Plus, David was excited about it, so there's always that.

We started construction in August as we were finishing up a renovation across the street. Starting was kinda fun, but not that fun. Pouring a footing, putting up block, kinda cool I guess. Then we started framing and that was fun because you could kind of see the actual rooms, but still I was just kinda "whatev". Thennnnnnn the magic happens. We started really designing the inside, picking the finishes, tile, trim, beams and the real design and function of it. THAT is when I really made the shift. My "new construction is not really my thing" quickly shifted to "new construction is definitely my thing." However,  that should be clarified: The exciting part of new construction to me is picking the plans, flow and finishes that really make it stand and make it unique. I don't want to build a standard house in a standard  subdivision with no character. I wanna build this funky house with borderline odd decisions that when it all comes together you're like....O...M....G.

 This picture was taken at night, so its obviously weird. This is a rough look of the outside of the house.  We are still lacking columns, steps, paint, you know... all the fun stuff.

 This is a picture of the main living area looking in to the kitchen area.  It's going to have some funky white beams going in the living area and a shiplap fireplace that goes up to the ceiling. #joannagaines

 This is a look from the kitchen area into the living area. Having an open main living area was really important because I wanted it to create an area of community. Having everyone in one main area really does that.

Here are two pictures of the master shower because it's probably my favorite part of the house. The funky black and white tile on the floor was a stretch, but its something that I think will really pop and make the house funky. The shower itself we designed ourselves- it will have four showerheads (including two rain heads) with no lip walking into the actual shower.  You will just step right in. There will be glass above the file half walls to shield any water from coming out.

This is the laundry room tile- I am so exited about this hex pattern. I just thought it was a great timeless color and design but with a little spunk.

We are both really enjoying this process and it's alot of fun to see David's creative juices flowing and coming alive in ways that I never saw before. I'm definitely seeing a different side to each of us throughout this process. We have truly designed every aspect of this house ourselves with a lot of research and heart. Whether it looks amazing or looks like crap, it's all "us". We joke all the time about how once we are finished we may just be like ......"oh gosh, what have we done, this looks terrible"- simply because we haven't really "seen" some of these things before, but we are putting them together in this house. Hopefully it will come together and be everything we pictures.

Either way, this new passion is an exciting one. It just goes to show that you truly have to be open to things in life that you may not have ever thought you would care about. Will we ever renovate old houses again? Yes, of course we will. In fact, we are looking at one right now. Will be build again? Absolutely and we hope to do another weirdo fun new construction this year. At this point, we are just gonna see where the road takes us. It's a fun road, full of potholes , flowers and detours. But its the only road I wanna be on.

XOXO