Six Years: Before and After Home Tour
A heartfelt before-and-after home tour reflecting on six years in our house, budget-friendly updates, room makeovers, and the slow, meaningful process of creating a home our family loves.
First of all, I cannot believe we’ve been in this house for six years! I feel like we lived in our old house forever and that my kids grew up in that house, but truly this will be the house my kids remember when they are old. They’ve spent their formative years here and they’ve been really special in this house that we moved into back in 2019. We had know idea what was coming just 4 months after we moved in, but the decision to move when we did turned out to be the best decision ever!
It’s also been 4 years since I did a before and after home tour. I moved away from doing them, but I really want to get back to being more conversational and personal in my posts. I miss the days where I just wrote an update about whatever I was doing that week. So, this is my attempt this year to be more personal in my writing on the blog. (I’ve considered starting a Substack for personal updates, and I may move these there someday, but for now they will be on the blog.)
We did a lot of updating when we first moved in to eliminate the worst decor offenders (like lime green and deep gold paint colors). And we even did an exterior makeover that freshened up the home in a major way. But the past few years have slowed down a bit in our updates. Our kids are a bit older and require more funds for extra curricular activities. But I’m still committed to making this home ours even if it takes decades.
You can see our first two years of projects in the home here:
Since sharing the last full home update in 2021, I mostly focused on making over the laundry room, dining room and butler’s pantry. These three rooms required some major purchases and DIY projects. I’ve given them honorable mentions at the end of this post, so be sure to scroll down to the end if you’ve missed those!
Once I got the main spaces on the first floor the way I wanted them, it was time to focus on the bedrooms. I’ve still only tackled one bathroom in this home (the powder room) and there are 3 others just patiently waiting for their much-needed makeover session.
One thing to note is the budget and how much extra money it takes to update a home. While we live in an Instagram world of quick fixes and week-long makeovers, the fact of the matter is that money is tighter now than it was when we first moved in. And we move at the speed of cash in this home. So, the updates haven’t been as quick to turn over as they once were.
Last year, I finished up my daughter’s cosmetic updates in her room just to make it feel more cohesive and “her.”
And I started on the primary bedroom makeover (part 2). I paused in the middle of it to do the holidays, but I’m ready to get back to my DIY project that has just been hanging out in my garage. The sub-freezing temperatures this week haven’t exactly been inspiring, but I think I can make myself get out there next week.
So, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the rooms I worked on this year, but also remember where this house started and how far it has all come in 6 years.
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2025 House Projects | Before and Afters
I mainly focused on my younger daughter’s room and the primary bedroom this year. I was able to finish the first one, but I’m still working on the primary bedroom with some new items arriving next week! I look forward to finishing that room this year, then moving on to something else!
The Tween Daughter’s Room
My oldest daughter got her room finished (for the most part) in 2024, so it was time to polish off my younger daughter’s room this past year. It was originally a play room for our girls when we moved into the house, which is picture on the left below.
But about a year after we moved in, the girls decided they wanted separate rooms, so this because my younger daughter’s room. And I didn’t touch it for the next three years. It was finally time to update her room, and since she’s a tween now, that meant a more mature look than a messy playroom. She still has toys, but just more organized, and we’ve added things like a revamped dresser with jewelry station.
I really just painted the walls a color she loves, added art, refinished a dresser and updated some of the organizational needs. We came up with a beachy theme and did a major decluttering effort before organizing everything she wanted to keep and making it work for her needs.
It feels good knowing my girls both have their rooms in a good spot for them to enjoy for the next few years while I focus on other rooms in the house.
You can see the full bedroom makeover reveal in the Beachy Tween Girl Bedroom Ideas post.
The Primary Bedroom
Then I turned my attention to our primary bedroom. It is a huge room with a sitting area in it. I had already painted it and bought a bed frame and nightstands for the room, but it needed a theme and some cohesive decor. I did a part two makeover plan for the room and have slowly chipped away at the plans.
And this is how far we’ve come, to date:
The peacock art above the bed was a DIY thrifted find, and I still love it so much every time I walk into the room.
We’ve since hung the Frame TV across from the bed, and I’m in the middle of building a frame for it. I’ve recently ordered more items for the room, including a large mirror and new lamp shades to adorn new lamps I haven’t even had time to share yet, so I’ll be sharing those soon!
I can’t wait to get this room finished in 2026. To be continued…
More Primary Bedroom Posts:
Honorable Mentions from 2022, 2023 and 2024
In the past several years since I’ve done one of these recap project posts, I finished my dining room, laundry room and butler’s pantry. So, I’ll share those briefly here so I feel like I’m caught up. ☺️
The Dining Room
I painted and wallpapered the dining room back in 2022 and it was the first part of a 3-part project tied in with the laundry room and butler’s pantry next to it. I’ve loved how it turned out since the day we finished it!
You see this room right when you walk into my house, so I love that it’s a beautiful and interesting room right when people walk in!
More Dining Room Posts:
The Laundry Room
Since I can see both the laundry room and dining room from my kitchen, I wanted them to coordinate. I pulled the blue color from the dining room and painted it on the walls of my laundry room and it’s one of my favorite rooms in the house!
The Butler’s Pantry
And finally, the butler’s pantry, which connects the laundry room, dining room and kitchen, got to have its own glow up. I needed it to be cute since you can also see it as soon as you walk into the front door.
And there will still be more to come, like the guest bedroom, 3 full size bathrooms, loft area and a pantry upgrade. So, stay tuned for the next five to ten years as we tackle some of the biggest projects yet!
Final Thoughts
Looking back over six years in this home reminds me that houses aren’t made all at once. They’re shaped slowly, season by season, with real life happening in between. Some rooms come together quickly, others take years, and a few are still patiently waiting their turn. And honestly? That’s okay.
This home has grown alongside our family, our budget, and our rhythms, and every layer tells part of that story. As I head into another year of projects (and plenty of pauses), I’m grateful for the progress we’ve made and excited for what’s still to come. I’ll be sharing more about the art of slow decorating soon as I do one thoughtful, doable update at a time.
Nice update Laura! I’ve enjoyed reading your posts and seeing how you do realistic home projects. You inspired me years ago to set goals. They have helped me focus my time and energy and taught me to be patient with my house and myself. Thanks for your authentic perspective that our resources need to flex when we have children to raise.
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Gayleen! We’re just moving along at the speed of realism over here and it’s fun to write these updates to remember how far I’ve come, even though I feel like a sloth somedays! 🙂 Thanks for being here!!
xo, Laura