We closed on Our Humble Hideaway 4 years ago today! I’ve written this post every year. It started out on my photo blog, and moved here once I realized I wanted something more in the documentation of our life. November 16, 2015 — a HUGE day in our lives. The day I convinced my 25 year old husband that we could do this. That we could take on a TRUE fixer upper, and live this dream of the simple life in the country. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy reading these posts from years past, and writing them for the current year. When you embark on something this big, something that really defines your life and how you spend your days, something that completely changes everything, you want to look back and reminisce. Look back with nostalgia, look back with pride, look back at everything you have accomplished. It’s so amazing to see, and honestly on the hard days when I want to throw in the towel because sometimes managing it all can be too much, it reminds me where we were, where we are, and where we will be if we keep working hard.
One of the biggest additions to Our Humble Hideaway this year is Baby Boy #2 on the way! Saying that can still feel surreal, especially considering the birth of this blog came from a very broken down me that was struggling with miscarriage and infertility and desperately needing an outlet. Not only has our home and our property changed for the better, our entire lives have. Our Humble Hideaway means so many things to me. It means hope, it means hard work, it means chasing your dreams, it means family, it means gathering and it means home. It is proof that hope and patience go such a long way. We are so grateful for this 2nd little miracle that will be joining us in January 2020.
Oh, and I finally got a vegetable garden! We built these raised beds and I was SO excited to finally grow some of our own dinner this year!
Every year I love to walk down memory lane and see alll of the changes around here.
Here’s a quick recap:
2015: Close on home & Move in
2016: Remodel Existing Bathrooms, Paint, Replace Fencing, Clean up the Property, Replace interior and exterior doors, tons of small projects
2017: Kitchen Renovation, New Flooring, & our Porter Gene joining the family
2018: Barn/Studio Renovation
2019: Driveway addition and clean up, Master Bedroom Reno, Master Bathroom Addition
2020: (Goals!) Reside Garage to match barn, Finish Basement, More property clean up, Baby Boy #2 joining the family
Last year was the year of the barn. If you scroll up a little in the background you will see the brown wooden barn (I didn’t get a ton of before shots!) but that is how it looked when we purchased the property. We viewed this house in mid October of 2015, we saw the changing trees, barn space for my studio, oversized 4 car garage… we literally didn’t even need to see the house, we were sold. We saw the potential and it checked all the boxes (minus the fact that it was a complete mess!) The Barn/Studio project has definitely been one of the most exciting things we’ve done here. I have been a wedding and portrait photographer for 10 years now and never had a “space” to work besides a small home office. As my client base and experience grew I really started to want something more. When I saw that barn, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, it just took us three years to get around to it!
Check out more before photos (scroll down).
We’ve now had this space just over a year and it has been an incredible addition to my business. Not only do I shoot in the space, I also hold client meetings, bridal consultations, offer photographer rental, and 2019 we have gotten our feet wet with hosting small events (including Porter’s first and second birthday parties, we’ve definitely had fun with it too!) I am absolutely loving decorating it for the different seasons. It has been a really fun creative outlet for me as well. Last December we hosted a wreath making event and had 50 ladies come and spread some Christmas cheer! I think this was one of the most exciting things I’ve done in the building because it showed me the options are endless. I am so excited at all of the people who will walk through these doors in the future to celebrate all seasons of life. It has truly been so much fun.
The trend has been that every year we tackle one big thing (and a million little small things too!) 2019 was the year of the Master Bathroom. When we bought the house our room was in pretty bad shape. Just super neglected, someone had seriously damaged the walls from a bad paint job, there was a weird sliding glass door the led to what is now our bathroom. You could just tell there was no thought at all put into the space. Very neglected. When we did the kitchen renovation in 2017 we thought ahead and pre-plumbed the walls so we wouldn’t have to tear out new drywall when we were ready to tackle the master bath. Shortly after we moved in we removed that glass door and added a cased opening and painted the whole space. It worked for us to get by! We used it for more clothing storage and its where I got ready. Once Porter started bathing in our hall bath I REALLY started wanted my own space and so we got on the horn and started the bathroom addition!
If you go a few posts back you will see I blogged all about our Master Bathroom renovation! I won’t be too redundant here. Basically, its amazing! The space has been done since this past Summer and I just love it. The design came together beautifully and its such a more functional use of the space. Its also huge, Porter loves playing while I get ready in the mornings so that a bonus haha. In addition to the bathroom we also completely re-drywalled our room, hung sliding barn doors to close off the bathroom, got new closet doors, all new furniture, and my absolute favorite part, a 6tf x 6ft picture window. IT IS INCREDIBLE. We almost didn’t add the window because we were nearing the end of the project and of course costs were adding up and we just wanted to be done, but I am SO glad we did it. It is literally my favorite part of the entire renovation. It provides such a beautiful view to the property, we watch deer and turkeys and birds and squirrels. Gorgeous in all seasons, it has been so fulfilling! We also added a new bathroom window as well. The natural light is just amazing, such a bright and inviting space to start your day in!
I haven’t properly photographed our new bedroom, mainly because its only about 90% finished. We have hung nothing on the walls, we need a rug, some plants. It needs a few things! So I will share that next year :) But now with baby #2 coming it will be full of diapers and wipes and a bassinet and all the necessities. But the room did a complete 180, it is so calming and clean and simple and modern now and we love it.
And because there’s nothing quite like some good old fashioned before and afters, here is the kitchen that we completed in 2017!
And here is 2016’s hall bath renovation!
This photo of Nick and I (below) is the first image I ever loaded onto this site. My amazing friend (Rouxby Photo) came out and did a fun little snow shoot just six months after we moved in. Just about nothing had been accomplished at this point. I was actually pregnant for the first time in this photo. We hadn’t had our ultrasound yet, and had no idea we were going to lose that baby. I used to look back on these photos and feel pain. And truthfully, sometimes it still stings. But time is an amazing healing power and I can appreciate these images and time in our life more now. We were so young. We had SO much life to live after that. We lost two babies and went through an incredibly hard 18 months of infertility. We learned how to care for this property. We learned how to renovate a kitchen. We learned that without my parents, we could have done none of it. I love the people in that photo. We were a little naïve, we were excited, we were totally in over our heads and didn’t even know it. We were just thrilled all our dreams were coming true. Even if the next 4 years meant A LOT of hard work and hard times, but we didn’t know that yet. It also involved a ton of AMAZING and beautiful times. It’s truly been such a crazy ride.
I’ve wanted to live in the country for as long as I can remember. College days downtown were fun, but this dream of living the simple life really burned inside of me. I’ve learned a ton about “the simple life” and I’m here to tell you that its hardly “simple” or “easy” at all. I now know what that phrase really means. It’s simple in the sense that it requires good and honest hard work. It’s simple because our days most of the time revolve around our home and property. It’s a simple way of living because we cut grass, we work outside, we work with our hands, and we do a lot of front porch sittin. Before I lived “the simple life” I had a much different perspective on what it would actually entail. No part of this life is “easy.” It’s actually really hard work. It is simple because it is quiet, it is private, it is away from the hustle and bustle, it is turn your electronics off and get the kids outside in the dirt simple. But it is not to be mistaken with easy. I have always respected my grandparents for the life they built, the farmhouse my grandfather built from the ground up with his hands. How their property always looked perfect. How every tool in the pole barn was perfectly in place and clean. How everything was always so beautiful and taken care of. But now, times that respect by ten. They lived such a good and honest life out on their property and it has been so motivating and inspiring for me over the years. We lost them both this Summer, and there is a hole in my heart that I know will never fully fill. But I can tell you living out their dream in this way definitely makes me think of them constantly. I want to do this for them. I feel them here with us and we hope to move on in life with their legacy at the heart of it all.
So here we are now (below) Porter Gene is two years old and we have another on the way. We’ve aged, we’ve matured, we’ve learned so much. I am so grateful for all we have accomplished here. It’s exciting to bring home another life to our home. More flat feet running down the halls on the floors we installed and the walls we painted. More hands to dig in the dirt in the Summertime. More company to watch the sunsets. And if we’re lucky one day these little hands and feet will help out around here haha. Happy 4th Year of country life to us. Happy 4th year of staying true to promises, following through on dream chasing, and to finally sitting back and enjoying it. Our Humble Hideaway, you have forever changed us for the better <3
