Our first house, as we bought it (2007):
And the house, as we left it (2013):
Goodbye, house.
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Our first house, as we bought it (2007):
And the house, as we left it (2013):
Goodbye, house.
56 comments
Julie @ Birdie & Chick
Oh my gosh. I’m honestly in tears here looking at your empty house. Thank you so much Nicole for sharing your journey with us over the past few years – you’ve been so such an inspiration to me both at home and even in my career.
Three cheers for new adventures in design and life!
Kelly
I’m not usually a wallpaper person but I love what you put in the dining room!
Tena
Great post! This house is so charming and it has been such a pleasure to see the transformation. A true inspiration.
Just wondering if you left behind the egg lounger in your backyard? Also, I had never noticed the blue tub in the bathroom. Did you ever replace it?
Making it Lovely
We took the egg chair with us. And when we first moved in to that house, we thought the blue tub would be the first thing to go, but then we redid the kitchen instead. The bathroom did get an update to work with the blue tub and toilet, but not a full-scale renovation.
patricia
Oh Nicole, this is indeed lovely! You guys made it lovely. It’s more than just paint. It’s the lighting, the customized storage, the small finishing details, and much more than meets the eye, that made this house LOVELIER. The owners got a sweet deal. Unto new adventures. Can’t wait to see what you do next. No pressure!
Kim @ Yellow Brick Home
Three cheers for new adventures! Not only is it such an exciting time for your family, but also for us as readers :)
Making it Lovely
Same for us, with you! I’m waiting to see some ceilings at your place. ;)
Neal
Someone is so lucky to walk into the space that you made that is full of love. I hope you have great pleasure in your new home.
Cottage Katie
Beautiful style! The colors you chose promotes a lively and energetic home! The new owners must be thrilled to inherit a home with such character!
sara
i think your house had a lot of character. i love what you did to it.
Jen
Amazing and so motivating! I do wonder, however, what’s with the odd toilets in the basements of old homes?! We had something similar in our house, although our “bathroom” didn’t have a door. Just three partial walls.
Sona Jacob
That was awesome! So much in so little time and with two babies, too. I remember I first started reading your blog when you were painting your porch for the competition, while you were pregnant!!
Time flies…
Congratulations on your new house. Can’t wait to see what you do with it.
RebeccaNYC
I got a little misty there. What a beautiful home you created, and the new one will be even better! Congratulations on a job well done!!
Nicole L
Wow, what an accomplishment! Totally curious about what (if anything!) the new owners will change… and lucky them with all that fabulous free-standing storage left behind!
Christina W.
Just curious, but some of the Ikea stuff you were planning on leaving behind…did you decide to do that because you have outgrown it and want to move on to other pieces or because Ikea stuff doesn’t particularly survive moves intact? I ask because I have a move coming up and I have no idea what I’m going to do with my behemoth of an Expedit.
Monica
Christina W – I had movers move my giant white Expedit from an elevator building to a 2nd floor walk-up and we didn’t have time to disassemble it. It shows some wear now but it’s mostly a cosmetic thing. No way I could have moved it without professionals, though!
Making it Lovely
I know — we didn’t do it on purpose, but everything we left behind was IKEA. It just happened that way though! The three dressers in Brandon’s office are mounted to the wall, and we cut out the baseboard in back of them, so those are semi-built-in. The freestanding closet is a behemoth, so that was staying too. The library bookshelves and cabinets were negotiated for, and then the Expedits in the basement stayed because we didn’t have a great spot for them in the new house and they fit the basement so well. I did have a third Expedit (in my office) that we moved, but we had to disassemble it first. Indeed, they don’t survive moves well intact. The Värde butcher-block units that were in the basement should hold up, as those are pretty solid, but some of the cheaper particle board stuff can be a little iffy from location to location.
judy
any chance the new owners would give you a couple of pictures of their décor? It would really interest me to see theirs since obviously they identified so well with yours. Just a thought
Lucy
It is so sad leaving a home, much less a first home that you owned. I’ve always been so sentimental about that part. Even as a little girl I would go to each room and picture the memories that were made in the house and say goodbye. I always would be the last one out.
The house is lovely and will be well loved by a new family now.:) Congrats on your new home.
Jill Browning
I became a reader when you were pregnant with Eleanor. Your blog was still new enough then that I went back and read it from the beginning. I’m going to miss this house, but I’m SO excited to see the new one!
PS. Is it weird when strangers tell you they’re going to miss your old house?! Also, I feel like we just sent the old house off to college… ;)
Making it Lovely
Off to college… I like thinking of it that way!
KarenAnita
What a beautiful space. You’ve done amazing!
Does it feel sad seeing it all empty? I’m sure you will do more amazing things with your new place :)
The Art of Michelle
So excited to paint your new house! Bittersweet to say goodbye to an old one though. They really hold so many memories, don’t they?
Crystal
Wow! All hail the power of paint!
Making it Lovely
Ha! You know I was kidding with my earlier comment, right? ;)
Catherine
Wow, you guys really did make it lovely! The new owners are walking into a dream. :)
Sara
Are all those appliances, drawer units, curtains and lamps included in the sale of the house? If so was that something the new owners requested or did you just decide to leave them behind?
Making it Lovely
It’s a mix of both, but yes, everything you see in the photos was left with the house.
Gisele
IM-PRE-SSIVE! As many above, I have also read the blog for quite a while, but I think I never fully understood the magnitude of what you guys did to the house. Lucky new owners!
Making it Lovely
We did a WHOLE lot of work, but so much of it happened before anybody was reading here! ;)
Meredith
Wow! I have to say, I am jealous of the family moving in. Did they negotiate to keep all of the light fixtures, window coverings, bookshelves, washer/dryer and closet organization? Because that seems really generous. (Not to be nosy. I just thought they really got some great touches left behind.)
Making it Lovely
Some was negotiated for (like the bookshelves and storage cabinets in the library), and some we had planned on leaving (like the lights and the freestanding closet).
Sarah
So bittersweet! Where did you get the bin units in the play nook in August’s room?
Making it Lovely
Those are from IKEA.
Sarah
Thank you!
Sarah (702 Park Project)
Wow! What a transformation it was! I love reading your blog and can’t wait to see what you do in your new place. As a fellow new (old) homeowner, I’m looking to you for inspiration! :)
Beth {Design Your Dwelling}
Such a beautiful home – I bet it is bitter-sweet to leave. I will be excited to see what you do with your next home. I’m sure it will be beautiful as well. All my best to you!!
Stephanie
You did such an incredible job with that house! I’m sure the new owners will love it just as you did.
I can’t wait to see what the future brings!
Jamie @ A Chandelier Life
It’s always so bitter-sweet isn’t it? the good part is the memories go with you. :)
katie
I’ve been following your blog for a long time and have seen each improvement piece by piece… nice to see the whole house before and after. You did a great job – it’s hard leaving , isn’t it?
Making it Lovely
It is.
Catherine
You left that house so incredibly beautiful! Such lucky new owners! Cannot wait to see what’s in store for your new home. :) Best of luck!
Marcee ... ILLINOIS
Just what I was going to say!
Love the washer and dryer …. our family has the same in white. How we ever lived without those miracles is beyond us.
Making it Lovely
The washer and dryer aren’t included with the house we’re buying, so I’m really going to miss our set. Time to buy some new ones soon.
Stacy
Wow it’s so amazing what you did with that house in such a short time period while having two babies! The new owners are so lucky. I can’t wait to see what you do with your new home.
Making it Lovely
Babies slowed us down a bit!
Jillian@TheHumbleGourmet
It’s crazy looking at a house completely empty, especially one we’ve all come to know so well through your blog. Can’t wait to see what incredible designs the next house has in store!
Jaimie
You did so much to that house. All of it is very lovely. We recently moved out of our first house, but we decided to keep it as a rental. It’s weird going back and seeing it empty.
It also made me appreciate how when you walk in it smells like a new house, whereas our new home smelled like an old musty neglected house (which it is). If it wasn’t summer in Texas I would have aired it out for a week before moving in.
Meg
*wipes a tear* You did inspirational things with this space. Can’t wait to see what you achieve with the next!
Joanna
You know, even after reading your blog for all of these years, I never really understood the floor plan of your old house until seeing these pictures. I didn’t realize there was a bedroom off of the dining room. It’s a beautiful home – with so many nooks and crannies! – and I bet the new homeowners are grateful for receiving it in such good condition.
Making it Lovely
I think the layout confused a lot of readers. There were often questions about why August had such a small room, when both Brandon and I had separate offices, but Brandon’s was the small room with those black dressers and mine was the minty green bedroom, both on the first floor. The three bedrooms that we used for the kids and ourselves were all on the second floor.
Paola Thomas
So just a small improvement then ;)
Making it Lovely
Just some paint, really. ;)
Laura @ Rather Square
You accomplished so much in only six years!
Making it Lovely
We did, but we loved the work.
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