Guys, thank you SO much for your kindness yesterday! We’re unbelievably excited about our new home. (Though obviously far more excited about our new addition. 😉❤️) And your support over these crazy last couple of weeks has truly meant the world.
Today, I’m sharing a little house tour I shot with my phone the morning of moving day, before our stuff arrived. I originally took the photos so I could do before/after posts as we furnished and decorated, but I figured it would be fun to show the house in its entirety before any of that happens! The untouched space, if you will, along with initial thoughts on what we’d like to do with each room.
So let’s get to it!
New Home Tour
Entryway
I love the door, the bay windows, the plantation shutters, and the LIGHT. :) Right now, the plan is to put a grandfather clock between the two windows to the right of the door, and two upholstered chairs in the bay windows to the left. The striped curtains will eventually come down, but not sure what we’d like to replace them with yet.
Living + dining rooms
Kira’a suggestion is to have a couch parallel to the chairs in the bay window of the living room, and then a round table in the dining room to break up the linear design of the space. (So jazzed about this idea!) We’d also like to install built-in bookshelves in both “rooms,” kind of similar to what we built in our previous home.
Kitchen
It was very important to us to find a house with a kitchen that didn’t require a complete gut job, and I’m so happy that all we really want to do here is eventually replace the countertops and backsplash. (Though we’re in no rush!) We originally thought we might paint the kitchen island, but we’ve since fallen in love with the dark wood and just want to embrace it. :)
That little railing, btw, opens up to the basement playroom area. We thought it was weird at first, but it’s actually pretty great. The full wall of windows provide for SO much light on both levels, and people can talk to each other through the opening, which we think will be very useful when the girls are old enough to be down in the basement by themselves. We also love that there will be no secrecy when they’re teenagers. ;)
(Come on. Don’t try to tell me that bad things didn’t happen in your basement when you were in high school, haha!)
Powder room
I’ve had a few people tell me that we need to renovate this bathroom, but I don’t know: I’m kind of obsessed with the dark molding and vanity, and think I’d just like to wallpaper (maybe green?!) and replace the countertop when we do the same in the kitchen!
Staircase
Aesthetically, this is my favorite part of the house! I always thought I’d want a super traditional staircase–you know, one that greets you right when you step inside the home–but I think this one has so much character! I can’t wait to decorate the landing, and string a whole lot of garland up the railings during Christmas. Also toying with the idea of one day wallpapering everything. Maybe stripes?!
Lucy’s room
Both girls’ rooms are exactly the same size, though Emma has more closet space since her room was originally the master before the attic was renovated. I love the natural light, the windows and the bathrooms; can’t get over how great this will be for guests and also for when the girls are teenagers!
But yeah: No design ideas for Lucy’s room yet. At the moment, I’m more focused on getting her to sleep longer than two-hour stretches. ;)
Laundry room
A whole lot of potential here! I’m pretty much married to this wallpaper by Sara Fitz. (And then installing some nicer-looking shelving/countertops, perhaps, and covering up the mechanical stuff? DOWN THE ROAD.) The best part about this room, though, is that it’s right between the girls’ rooms, making laundry enjoyable and SO much easier! I’m constantly throwing loads in whenever I think about it, and I never fall behind like I used to.
Emma’s room
Big plans here, as Emma and I have been discussing for a while now. ;) Pink flowered wallpaper, wainscoting, and a canopy bed. Oh, and a little palm tree from Home Depot that Emma fell in love with recently when we were picking up some essentials there. There’s a lighting fixture hookup, too, which I’m pretty pumped about.
Master bedroom
Again, this was the attic! The previous owners dormered it out, and we love the ceilings. :)
A cute story: Allswell (where all our mattresses are from!) graciously sent us a King-sized bed so we could sleep at the house after we closed. Thank you, Allswell! That made things extra special, an WOW: who knew sleeping in a king was so awesome?! (Everyone but us, I presume.)
One little issue with the master is the dresser situation. Mine fits, but Mitch’s is too tall with the ceiling height. Kira’s suggestion is to one day do a wall of built-ins with drawers opposite from our bed and we LOVE that idea. For now, though, we’re just sharing a dresser!
Oh, and I’d love to wallpaper. (Shocking.)
As for the bathroom, no plans to do anything to it! Adore. :)
Office attached to master
This was a major selling point for us. I struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and I’m very affected by light. This room is super bright throughout the entirety of the day, though, and I can’t believe that I get to work here! I think I’m going to be partnering with Brooke and Lou to decorate it, and I’m thrilled about that! Such a dream. The bookshelves are staying dark, btw! Curtains will likely be replaced. ;)
Basement playroom
Holy goodness, guys. This has already had such a huge impact on our happiness, haha. All the toys go down here, and Emma is in HEAVEN. It’s removed so much stress from our lives!
In a few years, once the girls stop falling, we’d like to put down tile that looks like wood… but for now, the carpeting–which admittedly doesn’t look great in pics but is in great shape in real life–is a godsend with little kids.
And that nook is the cutest! Right now, we’re using it for Emma’s kitchen toys, but down the line, wouldn’t it be a great arts and crafts/puzzle area?! Just need the right table.
“Mancave”
Can’t tell you how happy Mitch is to have his own space… and considering how many girls he’s going to be surrounded by for the rest of his life, I’m really happy he has that, too. 😂 We’ll see what he does with it! He says definites are a big desk, a T.V., a video game system, and a couch.
Garage/patio/deck
Like I said yesterday, we think that this is going to be a game-changer with little kids in the city! We pulled the trigger on furniture from Ballard Designs almost right away so we’d be able to enjoy the space this season. (It’s this line!) It’s slowly started arriving, and we’re already loving it. :)
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading!
Wow, what a great house! I’m so happy for you, and I look forward to seeing how you transform this into your own beautiful home!
The perfect house!! Congratulations! I LOVE all your choices of wallpaper!!
Your new home is absolutely gorgeous Kelly! Congrats to you and the whole family — can’t wait to see it decorated!
Gorgeous! Congratulations on your new home! I look forward to seeing the transformations along the road. Be blessed!
Love, love, love your new home!
SO MUCH LIGHT!!!!!!! I’m already excited to visit
Your new home is beautiful! That staircase!! Congrats on the new place and I look forward to seeing how you decorate. Enjoy!
Wow – I love your house. Everything is perfect!!
What an amazing space in the city! So much light and such classic style. Love all the windows and the kitchen has a great layout. Keep it white and bright – not too much wallpaper. Check out Mark Sikes classic vibe with all his blue and white and rattan. Can’t wait to see the space decorated for the holidays!
Such a beautiful home for a darling family! Wishing many wonderful love-filled years and memories!
The laundry room outside of the kid’s room is a game changer! When my son, who is now in college, was in middle school it made it SO easy to teach him to do his own laundry bc the laundry room was right outside his room and his bathroom. He could literally throw his gross lacrosse uniform directly into the washing machine from the bathroom when he got home from games sweaty/muddy.
It’s so beautiful!! Check out Sarah Richardson Design’s Instagram for inspo – she does a ton of remodels and tends to keep dark molding etc in historic homes. I’ve been obsessed with her forever – wish HGTV would bring her show back!
SPEECHLESS! Loving the layout and finishes! Congrats you guys!
Absolutely stunning!! Can’t wait to see what you do with your new space :)
Congrats, Mitch & Kelly- on the new house and Lucy!
Taylor | http://www.livingtaylored.com
Absolutely gorgeous and perfect home! I agree on keeping the dark wood in the bathroom, because you can go for a Ralph Lauren look in there, and I absolutely love the windows on the staircase (among so many other awesome things about this house).
What a fantastic house! I’d also move in in a second! I bet you are going to have lovely times over there!
Congratulations on your beautiful home! I’m obsessed with the arched windows! Thank you for sharing! I’m looking forward to following along as you decorate!
Love it so much! And the girls will be able to play in the basement while you and Mitch make dinner bc you will be able to hear them! I love that kitchen is open to basement. I also agree with you to keep wood dark in powder room. It is beautiful and goes with house age, I think the counters will definitely lighten it up down the road. It is just so perfect! So happy for you. I currently live in a condo and we love being walking distance to everything but our living room is starting to look like a toy store. (So I understand how a playroom can be life changing) Congratulations on this exciting new chapter with Lucy and Emma and your new home!!!
So gorgeous! I remember looking through this house on Redfin during our house hunt (obvi mums the word on where it is lol) and then when I saw your old place hit the market around the corner from our new place I was awkwardly bummed we wouldn’t be neighbors lol
So beautiful! The floors and that staircase!! I’m loving the lookout from the kitchen to the basement area– so fun! Enjoy settling in, decorating and making it a home! When i lived in Chicago (Gold Coast) I babysat a LOT in LP — love the area!
Amazing home!! Congrats! And I know you probably already selected the teak outdoor furniture but I would advise against it as you’ll have to power wash, sand & re-stain it almost every year (and you won’t want to). Or just leave it to go a natural silver color. I much prefer the stuff we have now that requires absolutely no upkeep whatsoever but still looks amazing.
You’re going to enjoy all that beautiful living space!!
I love that outdoor space!
oh my gosh, this home is STUNNING! I can’t even believe it. It’s absolutely beautiful and a total DREAM HOME! I’m so happy for your family! Cannot wait to see all of the special touches you’ll add to make it “home!”
It’s gorgeous. So happy for your new chapter. Family life is what makes the world go round.
Oh Kelly how beautiful and what a blessing!!! I cannot wait to watch along as you do all the fun things with the spaces. Congratulations! ❤️
Wow, the whole house looks amazing! I can’t wait to see the progress! So happy for you all!
It’s beautiful! Congratulations!
But the sticker shock to buy a home like this in the city! Oy. I live in the West Loop and dread the day I need to find something bigger that is not the suburbs lol
Gorgeous!!! I remember when you were doing the Marie Kondo organizing at your old house-now you have space for everything. Congrats!
You have a beautiful home! You mentioned stripes on your staircase. We painted stripes because we didn’t want to commit to wallpaper. It looks great! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/def9e104e25aa330b3b98c4229a4255e3562243a1ad6a1fbde42a1833847e632.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a925262c036f62f7494a54b722ddd9a67858bd0b1ed85fc58fed38052a3ca7a2.jpg