**Updated Home Tour is HERE!**
There have been a lot of changes around here lately.
Like a lot.
A guest bedroom and office makeover, a mini-master bedroom makeover, and lots of little projects in between all that.
Needless to say, this gal is exhausted and a vacation can’t come soon enough.
I was asked to be a part of the Spring Parade of Homes and thought that this would be the perfect time to update my full home tour, seeing as how so many things have changed. The last full home tour I did was last summer. You can see it here.
If you are popping over from May Richer Fuller Be, or another blog in the parade, welcome! And if its your first time here, prepare yourself for snarky comments, witty jokes that may not seem so witty to you, and many references to cheap beer and possibly 80’s hair bands.
Just wanted to give you the full disclosure before you begin the tour.
Our home is a 1969 Ranch Style House and we love it.
Ranch Style House Tour
Grunt Labor and I bought our home in 2011. It was a foreclosure that had sat vacant for a year, until we made a bid on it. It was in our ideal neighborhood and close to our jobs. Of course, as soon as we would make a bid on it, someone else decided to as well.
Story of our lives.
But, this beloved foreclosure was meant to be ours. We left a brand new construction house for this house, and my mother-in-law cried – you can read about that in the first home tour here. We got the beloved foreclosure around the first of June and worked our a**es off on it for two hot summer months while we were on summer vacation. We were both teachers at the time. I can say with full confidence that the only thing that kept us going that summer was Diet Mountain Dew and cheap beer.
In that two month time frame, we knocked down walls between the kitchen, living room, and dining room, painted cabinets, washed dishes in the bathroom sink, painted walls, installed hardwood floors, put in new carpet, updated electrical outlets, and renovated my bathroom. Oh, and we cut down a lot of big trees in the yard in the southern July heat.
As I read that last paragraph, I realize its a miracle Grunt Labor and I made it through that summer without filing for divorce.
The kitchen is probably our most prized room – the one we are most proud of. Like I said, we painted the existing cabinets and took down some walls, but we also built the island.
We are pretty in love with it. The barstools are just icing on the cake. The full kitchen reveal is here.
The dining room has been a slow progress. I find it one of the hardest spaces to decorate. The buffet was originally a dresser that I bought at a yard sale and made over.
The space did get a new and much needed larger rug in December. The chairs are next on the list for a re-upholstery job. Then, maybe, we’ll call it done?
Nah, probably not.
The bathroom hasn’t changed too much since we first renovated it. I made the deer head towel holder, but that’s about it.
My bathroom was actually featured in This Old House back in October. I am still giddy over that one. Much cheap beer was had in celebration.
Our master bedroom just underwent a mini-makeover.
I kept all the furniture – ain’t nobody got the money to be switching all that out every year – I just switched up things like the bedding, lamps, and painted the walls.
There’s more about the mini-makeover here.
I also just finished the guest bedroom and office makeover, because apparently, I like to exhaust myself.
This is a 100% completely selfish space. Yes, guests stay here, but I work there, so hot damn, I was gonna love it.
There’s more on the guest bedroom and office makeover here.
The vintage style nursery hasn’t changed too much since the kid has been here.
I’ve added a couple of little vintage banners and she has colored on every piece of furniture in there, but that’s about it.
You can see more of the vintage style nursery here.
That’s all of my Ranch Style House Tour, y’all.
If you want to see more of each space, visit my home tour page here that has links to all the rooms.
You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.
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It’s fun to see all the changes in one spot now! Great job, Jenna!
Love that quote “Don’t be like the rest of them, Darlin”
Jenna,
I’ve seen so many of your fun projects in blog land. Now it was fun to see your home tour today with everything in one place and hear some of the stories behind it all. I loved reading about your This Old House experience and freaking out in Walmart. 🙂 Great tour…what a transformation you guys have done!
~Sarah
You are such a fearless decorator and I LOVE IT! I hadn’t ever read the story of how you bought/started renovating your home and I love that as well.
I feel you joy and pain. We are a lot older than you and grunt power and we bought a 1968 ranch that was in horrible shape. That was in June 2011!!! We are still not done but did a tremendous amount of time, tears, money and no cheap beer!!!! We had most of the work done by professionals, but we also did a lot ourselves. We are just having the master bath finished up. Waiting on the cabinet doors!!!!!!!!!! Next big indoor project – refurbishing the existing rooms in the basement. That was supposed to be this winter’s project but of course life got in the way!!! Well from a town house to a ranch house especially to out door work was a big move for us about 700 miles!!! But grandkids of which one more was added after we moved here was the motivation. Enjoy reading your blog. God bless.
It sounds like you guys are on your way to an amazing place, Helen! If it hadn’t been that Grunt Labor and I were both teachers and had the summer off, I don’t think we would have been able to get things completed nearly as fast as we did. And we still work on the house all the time – its a never-ending cycle! But, its what I love! I’m sure that grandkids were definitely great motivation – my dad and inlaws are the same way!
I am so in love with your house! How have your kitchen cabinets held up since painting them with the Rust-Oleum kit? Would you recommend that to others, since your experience??
Hi Desaree! Thanks so much for your sweet comment! If I were to paint my cabinets again, I wouldn’t use the kit, I would buy regular paint for trim and cabinets and spray them with my paint sprayer. At the time I did my cabinets, I didn’t have a paint sprayer, so I brushed all the cabinets (the kit says not to roll it). Spraying them would have been so much easier. They have held up pretty well. There are some places where the paint has chipped off on the corners of doors and such. Honestly, we are rough on things around here, so that could be more due to us than the kit. Hope that helps!
I love your style girl, the way you put color in here and there just really stands out and the way you use patterns. You can come do my house anytime anyway you want (serious). One thing that I really like is that it has a touch of glam, a touch of down home, and is so livable and warm, it looks like home especially the kitchen. I want to paint my cabinets so bad but my husband likes the ugly dark walnut stain, there is a half wall with ugly spindles going up to the ceiling that I would love to knock the whole thing down but again, the Hubs thinks it looks good. There is know way anyone in there right mind could think any of that is pretty, I have decided he just hates change, so little by little I’m doing my thing but that kitchen is more than I could do alone. I look at yours and I see the potential in mine. Your kitchen is perfect it is exactly what I want. Thank you for the inspiration, now if I can just get him to look at yours and get inspired. LOL
Patricia, thank you SO much for an awesome comment! Now, we have got to get your husband on board! I’m sure your kitchen would open up and be a lot brighter if he would let you paint those cabinets! A lot of guys are like that though – they hate change! I’m still tweaking things around here all the time and Grunt Labor constantly asks “Why?!” haaha!
Love it, Jenna! I’m so glad we got to share a home tour day together :). I’m so impressed with how much color you’ve injected everywhere – super fun!
Always love seeing your home, Jenna! It’s been so fun to see all the little peeks here and there but to see it all together, all the changes are amazing!!
Jenna, It is so nice to see all the updates you had made to your gorgeous home since I have been here for a visit..Your living room is stunning. That bright red dresser/tv stand is amazing! And your bathroom…oh and talk about your very stylish and bold guestroom.LOVE it!Thanks for sharing your tour with us!Xo~
love it! i think the guest room is my favorite!!
Love the tour, Jen! My favorite part is the cocktail sitting on the side table….You didn’t think I’d miss that, did you? Ha! 🙂
I have no idea what you are talking about, April. We never have booze around here…….
Gorgeous house tour, girl! You cracked me up, of course you’re not going to file for divorce, but I get that that is a LOT of stuff to do LOL
Jamie xo
Love your home and that it’s so “you,” Jenna! Seriously stunning! Not surprising that magazines are banging on your door! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
~Abby =)
oh my goodness, you are hilarious 🙂 I love how bold your house is! Love it! ….and my husband would be totally jealous that you have a deer head hanging in your entry. I won’t let him hang any in our house. I probably should, but I’m just afraid that it’ll look like a man cave. But you styled yours sooo well. It looks beautiful 🙂 And your guest room is Amaaazing! I’m about to redo my guest room, if it even matches up to 10% of what yours is; I’ll be happy 🙂
Amazing Jenna! I love your eclectic vintage modern rustic chic style- gorgeous!! I have seen lots of changes in the just-over-a-year since I have been following you and it was so fun to see it all put together in a tour like this. It flows and relates so perfectly together when you see it as a whole… what an fabulous home you have created for your family. I’d like that martini- TGIF!
Love the tour! Your home is so fun and interesting with the mix of colors and textures. I think the bathroom is my favorite though – so classy and serene.
You are hysterical. I just LOVE everything about your house, and I can’t believe what an amazing job you did on everything! I have a couple of bathroom questions for you…we have a similar sad bathroom situation going on in all of the bathrooms at our new house and I really needed this for inspiration! How has the Rustoleum tub and tile paint held up? I’m tempted to use it on our master tub which has a dingy yellow tone, but Mike will kill me if I do it and it peels off instead of just paying someone to refinish it 🙂 Also, where did you find your vanity? It’s gorgeous and I need a pretty one on the cheap!
I’m crazy, Angela. Plain crazy, haha! Thank you! Ok, so the tub and tile paint – its held up great in my bathroom where I only painted the tile surround – not the tub. However, I painted Grunt Labor’s bathroom tile surround with the same kind of paint, but different color and it is peeling off. I don’t know if its because his tile was a different texture or if it was the different color, but it hasn’t held up well. Mine is doing fine, though!
Hi Jenna, I just wanted to stop by to let you know that you’ve been FEATURED at The Makers, woo-hoo! Thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us and we hope you will stop by to grab a button and link up 🙂 I LOVE your distinct style! Have a great week!
~Katie @ Upcycled Treasures
Thanks so much for the feature, gal!
Jenna – I just love your style. It is so bold, fun, and confident. And that guest room/office is flat out amazing. Off to read about all the details right now.
Your house is beautiful! I love you kitchen island, too. You did a great job on it! #sundaybestshowcase
Thanks so much!
I am in love with your style. Just found you via Dream to Reality. I’d love for you to come on by and link up to the Be. You. Tiful link party Thursday @ 6PST. In the meantime, I am pinning on my home inspiration board.
Great tour! I totally agree about those bar stools being the icing on your cake of a kitchen. Ranch houses are the best. I totally relate with the strain home improvement can put on a marriage. I’m eight and a half months pregnant and my husband is coming back from deployment any day and I strongly advised him not to bring up any home improvement ideas in the coming few weeks 😛
Thanks, Jennifer! Oh my goodness, you are 8 1/2 months pregnant? And you are still blogging? I totally dropped the ball on blogging when I was pregnant. You are amazing to be doing it all!
I love your kitchen that was in Better Homes & Gardens. I want to know where you got the little clip style curtain holders. I hane never seen that kind before. Thank you
Hey Stephanie! Thank you so much! I just picked those up at Target – I think Wal Mart and Bed, Bath, and Beyond would have them too. They should be in the aisle with the curtain rods! Hope that helps!
I love your kitchen. I saw it in Better Homes, right? You sure can paint up a storm! Great job on the whole house!
Thanks so much, Tracey! Yep – it was in Better Homes & Gardens – I still pinch myself over that one!