RenovationsWhen Design Plans Change October 15, 2015I’ve learned a valuable lesson in trying to decorate this new house. You can’t be sure of your complete design plans until you actually get in the space. {see our old kitchen here} Even though this is our third house, there are two distinct differences from the last two houses. 1.) Moving in after reno – while we did a complete renovation, moved the kitchen into the old garage, and added a master suite on the last little cottage, we moved into it before any of that started. Yes, we lived through an insane reno and yes we might have been crazy. But hey, we learned our lesson and didn’t do that again. It’s better for my sanity to move in after the bulk of the reno is done. But, the downside of that is that it’s harder to design ahead of time. While I would of course come check on progress every day with this new bungalow, that’s different than living here day in and day out and imagining the spaces: how they flow, different viewpoints, how we use them, etc. At least, it was for me. 2.) Finishing everything upfront – with our last two renos, we really worked on projects along. Our goal with this house was to pretty much finish everything up front. I didn’t expect to have it all completely furnished immediately, but we wanted to have all renovations, painting etc. done. If you remember from my design process discussion, I can’t choose any finishes until I know the whole design picture. Maybe that’s a good thing, maybe it’s a curse, I don’t know. But it’s how I work. So that meant making all design plans prior to moving in. As y’all know, I planned so much of The Buffalo Bungalow’s design plans over the summer and shared them here. I was so excited about this new house and could not wait to get my hands on it! Move-in day approached and I was so giddy to finally be in this house and immediately put my plans into action. That day was four weeks ago now and I know some of you have been dying to see renovation updates. Yes, I’ve seen the comments 🙂 I’m there with ya! But as the dust from all of the moving boxes settled, I started visualizing the spaces and I’ve begun to realize many of them have to change. Some are fairly drastic changes, some are subtle tweaks. I’ve wrestled and wrestled with this because this has never happened to me before. While I’ve changed my mind, I’ve never overhauled so much of my designs like I’m doing now. Usually, my gut is right. What I’ve come up with is that being here in person day in and day out (as I said above) is the kicker. As you go through the renovation process, some new fabulous ideas are discovered and they don’t always go with your original ideas. You have to be flexible and tweak. I think one of the unique struggles with this place is that with such an open floor plan, much of the house really has to go together. While it’s not one big room, the living room, kitchen, dining room, and entry are all very open to each other. I knew this before, but standing in here now makes me see it in a new light. My goal in designing an open floor plan is not to have everything match. That would be boring! But, it does need to coordinate. For me, that means contrast that pairs well. As you know, I’m using a lot more color in this house, which makes this difficult too. I love pairing unexpected colors together, but you can have too much of a good thing. Another issue I’m running into is that in some ways, I had too many “statements” in one space. While individually they were awesome, standing in the space and really understanding what you’ll see in the same view makes me realize some of them will compete. I realize all of this is a little cryptic. I promise details and new design updates are coming asap! But all of this needed to be laid out first. I haven’t shared a ton of renovation updates because I’ve been sorting through all of this in my head while trying to find a spatula to cook dinner. Now that things are settling, I’ve had a little more time to reflect and inspired to move forward! I’m realizing that I usually design things very quickly, but the problem with that is while I always love it initially (or I wouldn’t do it!), those quick designs don’t always stand the test of time with me. I’ve decided to take a page from my friend, Gwen’s, playbook. She got a new house not too long ago and is really taking her time designing it and finishing it. She’s waiting for just the right pieces for each room and sharing all of the progress along the way instead of waiting for bigger than life, drastic room reveals. That’s what’s feeling right for this home and our family right now. I want to create spaces that I’ll still love three years from now. To be honest, I don’t even know if that’s possible! I’ve never lived somewhere more than 2.5 years in my adult life! But it’ll be a nice challenge. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you won’t see any room reveals for a year. But I can’t promise that you’ll get one in two weeks. I can promise that I’ll show you each step along the way. So I know what’s on all of your minds…what’s changing??? Let’s give that a little more clarity. The living room design that I just rolled out last week is not changing. I actually got the vision for this room (almost exactly as you see it here) in July and it hasn’t changed at all. This room has made the most progress so far too, and I looooove it. Yes, sadly, my beloved kitchen design plan is changing. Not a complete overhaul, but some major things have changed. I’m going to share the current state of our kitchen very soon and will go into more detail about those changes. But did y’all see this sneak peek on Instagram? See? Not a big departure from the original plan obviously…but the finishes are being tweaked some. The entry plan is probably the most drastic change yet. I’ll do a post on it soon. Looking at this plan again makes me so sad I switched directions. Just seeing it on the screen, I love it. But, I wasn’t loving the idea of it in our actual house anymore, considering what will be around it. And now let’s talk about my most popular and most talked about design plan: the master bathroom. We decided to wait and finish this room for many reasons: budget, time constraints as the move-in deadline approached, etc. I proposed two options for this room: Man there was some passionate debate about these! I still love both of these sooo much. But sadly, this design is likely changing some too. There will definitely be some major similarities to what you see above, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be translated exactly as you see here. There are MAJOR reasons for that that I’ll cover later as we get closer to finishing this space (and as I get a finalized vision for it). I hope this post hasn’t come off as a downer! I’m so grateful that y’all followed all of these design plans so closely and I know y’all loved some of them as much as I did. And seriously, I’m not doing any design-180’s here…just slight changes from the plans I shared, but with the same overall feel. It’s a big deal for me to be honest and transparent with this blog. I only share designs and spaces that I love every ounce of. So I can’t for a second stick to one of these plans, just because it was the plan, when I know it’s no longer right. I wanted to show y’all the entire renovation and design process with this house and that includes the mistakes, the “take-backs,” and all of the little obstacles and changes along the way. So my big take-away so far and advice to any of you renovating, live in the space before you make major decision decisions where you can help it! It changes things, people. Next up in this design saga is a kitchen update and that’s coming very soon. I just want to sort through some ideas floating around in my head so that I can share them along with the progress! Thanks for joining in our adventure, friends.
cassie @ primitive & proper says October 15, 2015 at 7:19 am i have been terrible about checking instagram lately- not enough time. so thanks for posting the sneak peek here, too, because HELLOILOVEIT! Reply
Baileywife @ IrishmanAcres says October 15, 2015 at 7:44 am Whatever you do will be perfect for your family and that sweet bungalow! I agree though, design does (and should) take time. The house kind of shows us what is best for it! Cannot wait to see your next post about your kitchen (so hurry up..haha)!!!! ~Kim Reply
Sasha says October 15, 2015 at 2:20 pm I encourage you to share the process and progress. I check your blog daily, but rarely see any action. Finished rooms can be found anywhere… I’m following you to see the cool reno stuff. Love your stuff, show us more! Reply
Kristina says October 15, 2015 at 3:52 pm That’s where I am right now. Kurt keeps asking me what color we’re going to paint this room or that room, etc., and I keep telling him I need to live in this new house for a bit before I can really design the spaces. I want to do this house right–unlike what happened with my last one! 🙂 Reply
Corinna - A Designer At Home says October 15, 2015 at 7:40 pm I’ve loved everything you’ve shown thus far and I know I’ll love everything to come, too. This is where things get fun “taking us along for the journey.” Reply
Sherri says October 15, 2015 at 8:42 pm You don’t have to apologize. It’d be impossible to visualize how things will play off each other and look in the planning stages. You had a lot of decision-making going on! It would have been disappointing to have to carry through something that didn’t feel right. Post when you want to post, and share when it’s time to share. I like how the Makerista is styling her home and being patient. I will still be here enjoying your inspiration and your blog! God bless!! Reply
Christine says October 19, 2015 at 8:21 am I love following along on your journey regardless if it changes, I love it all anyway 🙂 I’m about to move into my new build with my hubby and I can totally relate to how you’re feeling. Can’t wait to see what comes! Reply
Kristin says October 19, 2015 at 8:42 am It is so hard to have every detail down before living in the space. I think it’s much more realistic and more interesting for your readers to see the progress and the the decision process. Even if you are the most polished designer, when it comes to your own space you have a lot of doubts and last minute design whims. Plus, the point of sharing our own homes is to show how they change and why. Just love the direction you are going! xo Reply
Krystle says October 19, 2015 at 9:47 am Totally get what you are saying! I’m right there with you in my renovation, and therefore I haven’t shared a ton. Mainly because like you mentioned just trying to cook is a chore. My kitchen has had huge changes due to time constraints, failed cement countertops, budget, and color indecision. Kind of embarrassing to share, but it’s real and once I have some time I will share all the good and the ugly. Wish you the best sorting it all out:) Reply