Our_Restoration_Journey on LTK

A year ago, I decided I could wallpaper our grand hallway myself. You know DIY wallpaper event. The ceilings are 12 feet high. My ladder is 8 feet high. This seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. 😂 Thankfully, this is my FAVORITE kind of wallpaper ….prepasted. Wet it, book it, let it rest, and up the ladder we go. And down. And back up. And down again because apparently that flower is 1/8” off. But that pattern match? Worth every trip up that ladder. A year later, this is still one of my favorite projects I’ve done in our 1860 home. The wallpaper completely changed this hallway without competing with all that beautiful original woodwork. And we’re not done with this space. As soon as my stupid foot decides to cooperate, this grand old hallway is getting dressed for Fall. Oh yes. I have plans. 🍂🍁🍃 OurRestorationJourney HistoricHome OldHouseRestoration HistoricHomeRestoration WallpaperInstallation

Shop this post

Paid links

MINYULUA 3Pcs Artificial Magnolia Flowers - 29.5" Long White Magnolia Stem Flower, Faux Wedding F... | Amazon (US)

Spoonflower Removable Wallpaper 9ft x 2ft - Large Sketch Peonies Latte White Flowers Brown Floral... | Amazon (US)

HomGarden Modern Circle Wall Mirror, 18'' Black Round Mirror Wall Mounted | Walmart (US)

Mainstays Solid White Finish Ceramic Vase, 8" | Walmart (US)

Crystorama Rylee 8 Light Antique Gold Chandelier | Amazon (US)

Madelyn Carter Stainless Steel Vent Cover | Wayfair North America

Chester 27" Resin Rabbit Lamp with Linen Shade, Gold | Wayfair North America

Wall Plate, Metal Duplex Outlet Covers, Light Switch Cover - Decorative Outlet Cover Plate Variet... | Amazon (US)

Crystorama Rylee 18" Wide Antique Gold Chandelier | Lamps Plus

BEHR PREMIUM 1 qt. #TIS-516 Early American Transparent Fast Drying Water-Based Interior Wood Stai... | The Home Depot

These Halloween lanterns look fantastic and a great price from Dollar Tree!

They are available online and in store. I love them! 🧡🎃

Mosquito Bite Relief!
We had a great summer here in Central Illinois but now the mosquitos are out in full force. I forgot to wear spray when watering the plants and I’m paying the price now.

I use this tool and it helps tremendously. I also use the little bandaids when one is especially painful or swollen. Good luck and hopefully, you’re not having this issue right now!

Fall Decor
In love with some of these Target and Walmart Fall and Halloween items! They are so cute, the price points are even better!

The metal pumpkin is actually quite heavy. I was expecting tin, but it’s metal!
#LTKFallFavorites #LTKDecor

Continuing with my Dolly obsession 💙💕

I had the three items on my wish list for a while and was worried it would sell out. So … it jumped into my cart and came home with me! LOL

I was worried they make look cheap or tacky and they are gorgeous. Particularly the round plate, it’s perfect for sharing treats with others.

Love these pieces. Now how do I incorporate all those other items on my list?
#LTKHome #LTKkitchen

Sometimes I get so focused on what still needs to be done that I forget to look at what’s already here.

The Sitting Room still has its beat-up blue floors. The old windows are far from perfect. There are projects waiting in basically every direction.

And then the sun comes through those 160-year-old windows like this.

Okay, old girl. I see you. ❤️

Maybe “finished” was never really the point.

#OldHouseRestoration #HistoricHome #OldHouseLove #OurRestorationJourney #HistoricHomes

I didn’t intend to start a Dolly Parton kitchen collection. And yet here we are.

#walmart has the cutest collection #LTKKitchenware

We found a TREE growing inside the wall.

Not a little root. Not something that looked like a branch. A tree had actually made itself at home inside the wall of our 1860 house.

And because one ridiculous discovery is apparently never enough around here, we also found expanding foam being used as insulation. Because sure. Why not.

This room eventually became our laundry room, and one of my favorite transformations in the entire house. Because no more laundry mat and running water! 🙌🏻

Clark built the cabinets with help from his aunt and uncle, we added the Jasper green @sherwinwilliams paint, kept the old exposed brick, and then I decided this would be the perfect place to attempt wallpaper for the first time in a very long time.

Get peel and stick they said. It will be easy. The first 5 hours? Terrible. After that? I was doing ok.

I have since learned things. 😂

But I LOVE this wallpaper and how moody it made the room. And in excellent timing, @spoonflower has it on sale right now. I linked the exact wallpaper in my LTK.

And to the severalof you who are new around here…

Welcome! This kind of nonsense happens all the time.

Affiliate link…. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through my link.

#HistoricHome #OldHouseRenovation #LaundryRoomMakeover #OldHouseLove #wallpaper

I just read - know is the time to put out your feeder! Hummingbirds aren’t looking for mates or protecting their territory and they are really hungry! I love this one ❤️ super easy to clean, the bees aren’t in the syrup and the birds love it.

Make your own syrup - 4 cups water to boiling, slowly add 1 cup sugar and dissolve. Then look cool and fill it up! That fills 2 of these and enough for one refill. ❤️

#LTKOutdoor #LTKNature

It’s the little things. I recently had surgery and so thankful we had planned ahead when renovating this bathroom!

- Zero threshold shower
- Tile running the length of the bathroom
- A wand for your shower (not just the shower head)
- towels down low
- niche holds shampoo and such at a lower space

This has helped me so much!

#aftersurgery #LTKrenovation

Anyone else notice how low the handles seem? I guess when the door is 8’ tall 😉 and the house is built in 1860…

Quite a few doors had been painted over the years and our goal has been to bring them back to the original wood. We estimate about 4-5 layers of paint over the 100+ years

The @dumondinc Smart Strip has been our absolute favorite to use! Works quickly, doesn’t smell like the others and as you can see - makes a dramatic difference! And Dumond if you are listening - we’d love love love to work with you! 😉❤️

We use - Smart Strip, plastic wrap, small copper brushes, and a stiff putty knife for this job. Still have one more go round and lots of additional patience and then we’ll probably just do a clear coat. The wood is very old Douglas Fir and original to the house. So gorgeous!

This has been the best combination of paint remover so far! After this will be to finish the bathroom door. Coming soon!

Please share - we need to keep these beautiful old homes in the limelight! If you have any questions, let us know!

Amazing community that loves old homes like we do ❤️❤️

Pet hair

If you are like us and have pets, this new to us washer has been a game changer.

All that hair is from one blanket that I must admit, I hadn’t washed for a while. Yuck. So impressed with how much hair it pulled versus the inside of the drum or down the water line.

Love #LTKhome

#LTKdayinmylife

Restoring an old house can be fun.

Clark worked so hard with his aunt and uncle on the cabinets! They made them all by hand. Such a beautiful job. The color is Jasper Green by @sherwinwilliams 💚

It makes doing laundry a pleasure most days. Loving the gold hints of the hangers and the pulls throughout the room.

The washer is a new pet hair “catcher” and it does miracles with grabbing the hair.

#ltkdiy #ltkhome

We’ve been wanting to make the front doors, the front doors again ❤️

Driveway is done. Next is concrete steps to the front doors (a huge side patio too 😉). We wanted to create an entrance that is grand and fits the story of the house. We love how it turned out. The wallpaper is so elegant for the hallway.

A bit different than it was before!

I’m having some feet issues and my doctor said to get Hoka’s. Ummm, not at that price point! I saw these and thought for $18, why not?

Love them! They are on clearance and have a really good selection of sizes. Run and don’t walk (get it? 😂)

I usually go up a full size in athletic shoes so I can put an insert in. Now that I have them, a half size is probably better but the full size is okay!

Let me know what you think

#LTKselfcare #LTKActive

Windows updated with no drill blinds. We love them 🖤 they are sheer(ish) and take about 5 minutes to put in. We love them!

The trim and the inside trim are all painted Iron Ore by @sherwinwilliams - love it!

These sconces? They are rechargeable! They can be changed to multiple colors and easy to install. Perfect for the brick wall 🖤

Such a pretty look with a view!

This medallion was white and urethane so it was a better price and much cheaper. We got it from @homedepot and painted it in the Iron Ore with gold paint brushed.

The chandelier?! #capitallighting love love love 🖤

What a difference than her original purple wallpaper. A few more things to do and refinish the floors.

It’s been hot hot hot here in Central Illinois. We are in zone 6a, so we get snow in winter and heat and humidity in the summer.

We have rain barrels to collect water, and we also use the dehumidifier in the basement and front hallway for additional water! Gotta use all our options 😂

All the plants are from seeds that I started and I absolutely love the setup. Easy to pick and these keep the weeds at bay. Our other garden? Sooo many weeds. More on that soon.

Enjoy!

#LTKHome #LTKSeasonal

Not our “normal” update - but a look inside our life. With a Squeaks furball supervisor.

Clark inherited a 55 gallon fish tank years ago and this has very special memories for him. It’s moved place to place with us and we’ve had to replace the tank a few times.

A couple of weeks ago Clark noticed it had cracked! Aaack 😳 the floors and house aren’t level - who knew?! - so it had finally had its day and we urgently got a replacement.

Now it’s been a few weeks and this was today! We may not have been caring for them accurately, we thought clean meant new filters and scrubbing. That’s not the case.

But now? The tank looks great and the fish seem happy. Now he follows this protocol for the 55 gallon tank

- replaces 15 gallons every Friday with filtered water
- rinses one filter in the bucket
- sucks up the fish 💩 from the bottom
- doesn’t overfeed
- checks the chemical levels and adjusts the next day for improvement

Just a little share - do any of you have a fresh water tank? Love it? Hate it?

Or salt water tank?

Remind me to tell you about my childhood goldfish story sometime. 😂

#notournormal #fishfun

It’s been sooo hot this week. We live in the middle of farm land so we don’t really worry about neighbors seeing us.

But when you live in a home built in 1860 and it’s painfully hot and the electric bill is 💸 you have to do something. This is the east side of the house and the sun is intense until about 2pm.

With this woodwork? We needed no drill. Our windows are 37.5” x 90” (yes 90”) so we ended up with 37”x 64” so we could see outside too.

And the furballs. They need to see outside too. Obviously. 😉

Did we love these so much we bought two more for the parlor and blackout version for our bedroom? Yes. Yes we did. They will be here Friday 😉

Such a success!

We clean our house. Almost always it’s a losing battle of dirt and cat hair, but I know you all understand.

I saw this cleaner and knew we had to try it. Have I had it in the cabinet now for maybe 6 months? Yes. Yes I have 😑

Broke down and put it into those super heavy bags - wear gloves!! Don’t be a stinker like us! Sprayed it really well, closed it up and hid from the cats in a room with a closed door.

Yes. Of course now wanted to get in there because the door was closed.

In the morning 😳 the amount of gunk that was on the grill was disgusting. But, it just rinsed right off! Seriously, no scrubbing. ZERO. I used an old towel to dry off and then plopped it on the stove.

Pretty much zero effort. I should have rinsed outside for the first time, but this worked. If you have a nice sink - definitely outside so you don’t scratch it!

I’ll link it in stories and you can always go to our LTK for posts too. The link is in our description

Seriously. You’ll love this stuff.

It’s National Leon Day - Noel spelled backward!

I’m laughing because I looked back at my Christmas tree purchase from Home Depot was July 4th weekend! I didn’t want my tree and wreathe to be sold out again.

So here you go. You’re welcome 😂🤪

#LTKchristmas

They get bored quickly. We saw this was on a great sale on Amazon Prime so we tried it.

It bounces all over, makes a mouse sound and they are in love chasing it around. So cute!

#LTKcat

We live in an old house and have had a lot of rain lately. I go around the edges of the house every week and the inside every 2 weeks. Helps with those little beatles mosquitoes. Be sure to get around the windows too!

#ltkoutdoor

This room was a mess when we started. The smell was awful, the plaster was crumbling and the wallpaper was peeling.

Now it’s one of my favorites because of the lighting. Plus the mantle from the 1860s

I had a good friend ask me about the house. I don’t talk about it constantly like I used to. They asked why?

I’m working too much. There is so much to do. #75hard . Nothing is finished. I’m sad. My stupid health.

They said go home. Spend some time with her. Talk about things. They were right. I took a couple of videos. They aren’t perfect. I have a messy desk. But you know what? It’s gorgeous. It just feels good.

This is your sign. Take a breath. Love your animals. Love your spouse. Remember to enjoy the moments like this. #love

We took the screen down since it wasn’t needed anymore and had to put something in place so everyone couldn’t see what was happening in the bathroom! 😱

We’ve been spending so much so we needed something easy and this reeded glass film was perfect! We love it and was pretty easy to install.

Quite similar to wallpaper! If you need privacy, this is a win!

Don’t Blink

This week? Temped our soul. Way too many tears. Worried about the future and what is next. Stress over bank account balances. Praying that someone is okay. Watching a friend do very hard sh*t.

Don’t Blink. You could miss something amazing.

Hope everyone had a great week in a small town. A big city. With family and friends. Or spending some time on your own. ❤️

Love y’all

This had the screen to nothing for the last 8 months or so. It used to be a creepy window held together with a chain 😳 if you remember the 1960 murder gas station look.

It was the side entrance to the house in 1860. Assuming when indoor plumbing came about, they made the hallway and moved the door.

Now, the screen is down! It did offer privacy so the reeded glass firm is on the way! Stay tuned for the cleaning and paint. Until then, don’t look when we are showering! 😂

Restoring an old home is sometimes about the little things.

A room with a view. The gorgeous moldings. The way the chandelier creates a room.

It’s also about the counterbalance windows where the rope is broken. The glazing is coming off. The paint is peeling.

And then you bring it all back together. A room with a view.

The paint is Sherwin Williams and is called Egret White ❤️

This etched glass matches the front door entrance.

That side entrance was where our bathroom is now. In 1860 there was not indoor plumbing so it was a hallway and on the other side was the fireplace.

Can you see the ghosting of the pillars and how they moved the door and rebuilt in? 🤯 I included the original sketch so you can see that too.

Now we need to adjust that screen or something so you can’t see in (while showering! 😳) but you can see out and that gorgeous glass.

What fun things have you found in your old home?

#LTKrestoration

Gosh. So many pics come up on the one year and two year anniversary. It’s shocking.

Then you see something like this and say wow. We LIVED in that? Anything y’all have done that you look back on and say wow.

We’d love to hear about it! We all share in the fun 😉

Global Running Day!

I’m not much of a runner anymore, but I do walk every morning! I need shoes that can hold up to about 3 miles a day or roughly 20 miles a month.

I loooved Brooks Ghost running shoes, but I’m not in love with the price point or the new Ghost 17.

So here is a roundup of what I own or have owned… or they are cute and I save them for special occasions.

Enjoy! The Ryka’s are my current favorite. ❤️

#LTKdayinmylife #LTKActive

What keeps you going?

Is it daydreaming? Hoping? Praying? A combination of all the things?

We know we need to do this patio and the front entrance. We are going through the finances and how will we afford it? But we believe.

We know we need a great place to celebrate. We know a small town like Windsor is meant to have a following. We love our friends and family here.

We got this. Just dreaming a little harder. Keep sharing our story, every comment and inspiration keeps us going. All the love ❤️

We’ve been staring at this window for 2 years. I worked on the old caulk and prepping and Clark got to work on the rotted wood.

We had to utilize the old wood from a different project in the house. A 2x4 now is really a 1.75x3.5 and the old wood is a very hard true 2x4.

Sooo… to get a good patch we need the old 2x4 size. I hope that makes sense.

The wood hardener? Dream product. It helped so many “spongy” pieces around the house. That and Bondo was a huge help.

Stay tuned for the next step - but it went well today! Restoration of an old house is always a challenge.

We are getting there!

I had such plans in February and March. All the seeds. I was ready! The grow lights. The seeds. Everything.

I woke up today and it’s almost June. Jeez. I’m sore and didn’t finish but closer!!

Small wins! Anyone else do this? Off to shower and make some dinner. Please tell me about your day!