Our First House: 130 Academy Way

Our house has been on the market for about 2 weeks now. So far not too much activity. We've had 3 showings and 3 realtors come by to preview it. Not the traffic we were hoping for but the good news is we aren't in a big hurry and haven't found another house we love yet so we have time to wait.

This may be our house for longer than we expected/hoped for but figured now is as good of time as any to document the pictures. (beware, it's long)

 Our First House: 130 Academy Way

Brett bought this house back when we were dating, a little over 3 years ago in 2010. We just love this house and have really made it our own. Of course when Brett first moved in the furniture consisted of a couch, broken recliner, tv, dresser and 2 beds. Luckily for him, I was around and forced suggested he buy some new furniture. :) Then in August of 2011, right after we got engaged, I rented my house out in Greenville, moved in with my parents until the wedding and moved all my furniture to Columbia. So for the last 2 years we have slowly been making progress and getting things just right. Of course there will always be things we want to do/change but for now we are pretty happy with how it looks!

Living Room: The couch and loveseat were Brett's first purchases for this house but are the only things that have really stayed since he first moved in. We have repainted the walls (due to a little candle/black smoke up the wall issue), gotten a new rug, updated the pillows and curtains. If we stay longer I'd like to get a larger mirror for above the couch and get a new painting for above the mantel - I've been wanting one of downtown Greenville for awhile now. 

The dining room is right off the living room and leads to the kitchen. We really haven't done hardly a thing in here except buy the small storage cabinet and mirror on that side wall to try and store some items. We did buy the table and chairs when Brett first moved in and the rug used to be in the living room before replacing that one - everything else is stuff I had in my old house. Not pictured: the very important wine fridge. 

 The kitchen is another room we haven't done much with besides the rug and a small side table that isn't pictured. The previous owner left the curtains which I love. It also worked out perfectly that the wall color matches our Le Creuset color (especially since we have open shelves). While the kitchen itself is pretty large, storage is an issue in here really just due to the open shelves and having to keep things uncluttered but it works. If we were to stay here longer we would update the appliances and replace the floors (while I love the look of the black slate floors, they are impossible to keep clean!) and counters. Not Pictured: The second picture is taken standing in a small laundry nook that has a door that leads outside.

 Florida Room: This is one of our favorite rooms in the house. When Brett first moved in this room was unpainted, bare wood with bulky curtains and 2 huge ceiling fans that really enclosed the whole space. We painted, replace the fans and just took out the curtain alltogether. I've tried to think of some kind of solution to give us some privacy out here but haven't found anything I love yet and we don't mind having the big, open windows. Also, about a year ago we put in a mini-split unit out here. We couldn't run the heating and air out here bc it was on a concrete slab so adding a separate unit was our only option. It wasn't exactly cheap but we get so much more use out of this space now than we ever could before!

This hallway connects all the rooms together. It is kind of dead space so I had a hard time deciding exactly what to do with it but love how it has evolved. Note that the paint color is not accurate at all in this picture (it was taken with my cell phone) and more resembles the beige color in the guest bedroom. The rug we got from Pottery Barn and above the console table (from World Market) is a shelving collage. The large picture on that left wall is a wedding gift some good friends of ours gave us. It's a map of Georgetown (which is where we got engaged). Excuse the vacuum cleaner... clearly it wanted to make an appearance too.



The Bathroom: Our one and only and one of the biggest changed spaces since we moved in. This room used to be dark brown with heavy, dark shower curtain and window treatment. With it being such a small space, I wanted to make it much lighter and airy. You can't believe how much it opened up the space just by painting the walls and putting up a new shower curtain. Ideally, we would add a second bathroom off the master bedroom but having the 1 bathroom has really worked fine for us.



 Spare Bedroom/Office: Before I moved my stuff in this was really just an empty room with a desk. We repainted and then brought in all the furniture from my old house which worked so well in here. A few fun facts: The bed was my bed as a little girl and then later passed to my cousin when she was a little girl - maybe one day it will be our little girl's! Also, the bookcase to the left is a piece of furtinure my Pappy (mom's dad) made. He was such a talented carpenter and made all kinds of furniture and I'm just so lucky to have a piece in my house... rest assured this piece of furniture will stay with Brett and I forever! Not Pictured: a desk to the right.

 Guest Bedroom: We also painted this bedroom as well. I laugh and say this is "my room" because all my clothes are in this room's closet (joys of old homes and small closets) and I do my hair/makeup in here every morning. This is also all the furniture and bedding from my old room in my house in Greenville. I still just love this duvet from Pottery Barn! Not Pictured: dresser and mirror to the right.

Master Bedroom: This is Brett's room our bedroom. :) This was the first room I painted when Brett moved in. It wasn't until I moved in that I had to make it a bit more feminine in here with new curtains (World Market), lamps and new pillows and throw for the bed. Not Pictured: Brinkley's bed and dresser/TV to the right.

Outside: This is really Brett's domain and where he spends a lot of his time. We have a HUGE backyard and when we first moved in we were a little overwhelmed. Of course right before we put it on the market we finally just paid somebody to come and do some landscaping and are now kicking ourselves for not doing that years ago! We spend a lot of time out on the little patio grilling and drinking a glass of wine. We just recently built the new fence but before we could sit there and watch people walk by and occationaly have a neighbor or two stop in for a drink. That just shows you what kind of neighborhood we live in - love it! Not pictured: our little garden that we've built up the last few years. We didn't plant anything this year knowing we were putting it on the market and I was so sad when Brett pulled up the beds. We also have a huge "shed" out besides the patio. This is Brett's little palace where he keeps all his "guy stuff" and the beer fridge which he insists the new house have! 

And just for comparison - here is our house then and now... amazing what a little TLC will do! Overall, we have been SO happy with this house and would honestly stay forever if we could. But, as we get older and extend our family (one day) and have both of our parents coming to stay as often as they can, we just know we need a bit more space. It will be a sad day when we finally do leave our first home together but we know we will find a place we love just as much!

And if we don't get more traffic in our house we may be staying for good - who knows! :) Only time will tell!