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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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August 17, 2018

French Country Home Tour

10 years. This summer we celebrated 10 years of living in this house. Somewhere (on an old camera buried in a drawer) there is a photo I took when we walked through these rooms for the first time with our realtor. I snapped a shot of an upstairs bathroom and caught in the reflection in the mirror is the image of me holding my 10 month old daughter on my hip while my son runs from room to room behind me.

Now, here we are, with a 15 year old and an 11 year old and a house that slowly became a home. And I realized recently that I’ve never shown it all to you at once. You’ve seen bits and pieces, rooms here and there, but I thought it might be fun to take you on a tour and begin at the beginning.

The other night as my husband and I were shutting down the house in preparation for going to bed, I was going from room to room turning off lamps and I couldn’t help but think about how much this house has changed.

When we purchased this home, there were no TV shows where entire homes were overhauled in a matter of days or weeks with the results being dramatically revealed to the owners. There wasn’t even Instagram with the temptation to scroll past one beautiful room after another feeling more and more discouraged that while those spaces were so impeccably decorated and up-to-date, my own rooms were solidly stuck in 1992, the year the house was built and the money it took for us to buy the house and keep our mortgage low didn’t allow a lot of extra cash for updates.

And I’m SO very thankful for that! Because, I never once thought that our house would be entirely transformed to my liking in a short period of time.

(living room)

I knew it was going to take time. I knew that we had a young family with young family needs and that those needs took precedence. I knew that we had determined to not go into debt as we tackled updating each room.

And that as my style was evolving, my confidence was building.

My kids love to watch videos we took of them when they were younger. And every time I see their sweet little faces on the screen I feel this stab of pain over how quickly time has passed and how bittersweet this whole growing up business is.

But I also feel a stab of pain when I see the ugly green carpet that used to run through our house. And another stab of pain at how long I actually lived with it.

But, I decorated around that green carpet. And it didn’t take away from my ability to enjoy my home. To celebrate as my daughter began taking those first wobbly steps on it. To watch as my kiddos rode their little scooters around in the loop that took them from the kitchen through the dining room into the front entry and back again. Around and around and around for hours on end, laughing as they chased each other and laughing harder as I did acrobatic like jumps to get out of their way.

Having that green carpet and that beat up wood floor in the kitchen and the cabinets with 20+ years worth of dings and scratches and the splintered deck for those first few years didn’t take anything away from how grateful I was for  this house.

If anything, living with those things for the first few years as we saved up money to begin tackling one project at a time helped me to better appreciate it.

The other night we had some dear friends over for dinner and their precious 13 year old daughter was listening intently as we parents talked about our early years of marriage.

For all of us, those years were lean. Like really, really lean. We shared our stories and laughed our heads off and said we wouldn’t trade those times for anything in the world!

Those lean early years were foundational. None of us would’ve dreamed of being able to go on House Hunters as newlyweds and have ‘shoe closets’ and ‘man caves’ on our wish list. Frankly, I was just thrilled that my parents gave us their 30 year old refrigerator when we moved into our first apartment!

(kitchen makeover)

This tendency these days to want to have it all and to have it all so early in life makes me sad.

Because there is just so much beauty and so much to be learned in the waiting.

And we still have some waiting to do. There are more projects we’d like to tackle in this house.

But, some of these projects have to be delayed thanks to a couple of unexpected expenses this summer including the cost of my first ride in an ambulance.

But here’s the great thing about having to live all of those years with a house that needed updating….I don’t feel any sense of urgency over the projects still left to be completed.

Because I know how GREAT if feels to reap the rewards of patience and persistence and stewardship.

And I want my kids to know that they shouldn’t expect for everything to just come together in their homes or in their lives overnight.

Frankly, I kinda want them to struggle a little bit. I want them to have to wait, to dream without being able to immediately have that dream come true.

(master bedroom)

I want them to have to weigh their choices and experienced delayed gratification.

10 years used to not seem like a long time to transform a house into a home but in our speedy makeover culture, I think we’ve lost a little bit of the appreciation for a slower approach.

(girls bedroom)

So, I’ll just be over here continuing to take my time.

(deck makeover)

I’ll look around and see things I’d still like to change and things that have already been done peacefully coexisting in the same space.

A house is so much like a person in that way, don’t you think?

I’m so grateful to all of you who come along for the ride with me and I’m so excited about what is ahead, both for me and my home.

Much love to you dear friends,

21 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas, Home Tour Tagged With: decorating

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Larryn Griffith says

    August 17, 2018 at 1:46 PM

    Thank you, Vanessa, for bringing us along on this tour through your home. It’s truly lovely as was your story and your message of patience. We change as we grow older, as well. Taking time to redo things can be more satisfying, reflecting our later, more mature preferences. All the best in the projects still ahead.

    Reply
  2. Donna says

    August 17, 2018 at 2:27 PM

    Vanessa, Your thoughts about your family and home and passage of time really spoke to me today . It is wonderful to take some time to reflect on this topic .
    Thank you

    Reply
  3. Kim DeBastos says

    August 17, 2018 at 2:35 PM

    Your home is so lovely. It is evident that the style evolved in time.

    Reply
  4. Tillie Alvarez says

    August 17, 2018 at 2:39 PM

    What a beautiful home you have. You so beautifully express the thoughts & dreams of so many of us.
    It was all so worth waiting for!

    Reply
  5. Gail Bobel says

    August 17, 2018 at 2:44 PM

    Simply beautiful!

    Reply
  6. Sue says

    August 17, 2018 at 2:45 PM

    Just awesome.You should be proud of your accomplishments. It looks so fresh and welcoming. Could I ask if you have a source for you lamp on the sideboard with the glass vase and letter board? I have been looking for something exactly like it. Thanks:)

    Reply
  7. Darlene says

    August 17, 2018 at 4:49 PM

    You are so right to teach your children those values, especially in this day of instant everything. The joy comes in the journey, not having it all at once.

    Reply
  8. MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) says

    August 17, 2018 at 6:46 PM

    Thank you for giving us the lovely tour of your gorgeous home. I think that there will always be something left to do! It’s so nice to be able to do things as you have the time and the money. You always appreciate everything that much more! Enjoy your home! Blessings!

    Reply
  9. Leslie Watkins says

    August 17, 2018 at 7:56 PM

    It’s absolutely beautiful. And sooooo true. I remember someone asking after we moved if I was finished with my house yet and I thought…that’s never been in my vocabulary or thought pattern. My home is always a work in progress. Tuning and refining and changing and creating it as we go. It’s the life in the home that causes it to breathe and change and be truly home. I can feel that breath in each gorgeous photo and your careful thought as your home has evolved. It’s simply divine.

    Reply
  10. Patty says

    August 17, 2018 at 8:47 PM

    It’s just so pretty! Thanks so much for sharing – sometimes when we wait to do a project we actually come up with a better/prettier plan than we would have if we had been able to do it earlier!

    Reply
  11. Shelly says

    August 18, 2018 at 7:49 AM

    Thank you for this post! Your home is beautiful! I love what you wrote!
    I love to read blogs but we are in our late fifties and changes to the home we built in 1993 take time. I often look at blogs and even though my home is beautiful, there are so many updates that are needed! I have to remind myself that there are other things in life besides decorating! Comparison can be depressing, so thank you!
    Blessings

    Reply
  12. laura janning says

    August 18, 2018 at 12:17 PM

    happy 10 year anniversary in your beautiful home.ha, I would rather age gracefully , like my home. 🙂

    Reply
  13. ROSE says

    August 18, 2018 at 8:49 PM

    I really like what you did in your home!

    Reply
  14. Shirley @Housepitality Design s says

    August 20, 2018 at 2:28 PM

    Vanessa…I have so loved coming along with you on your journey to make your house a beautiful home for your family. I love that it evolved at your pace, making the right decisions, having much appreciation for the many “labor of loves” you endured…you should be so very proud of what you have accomplished…you have taken the road less traveled on your journey…appreciating every step along the way….wow, it is hard to think that it has been 10 years….congrats on all of your accomplishments! Here’s to another 10 years!

    Reply
  15. Carol Reddin says

    August 24, 2018 at 4:34 PM

    Love your beautiful home! And even more, I appreciate that it was decorated over time and as you found bargains in the process. Love you, Mom

    Reply
  16. DJ Baggerly says

    September 4, 2018 at 1:55 PM

    Thank you for sharing your home with us Vanessa. I can totally relate to what you are saying. We’ve been in our home since 1994, things take time. I believe a person needs to live in their home for a spell, see what the ” house says”. All in all when you walk into your home after a really hard day and you find peace, love and comfort, what a blessing. Your home is beautiful !

    Reply
  17. Shira E Abel says

    September 12, 2018 at 3:36 PM

    Such a lovely home. And you’re right, the expectations of kids today is ridiculous compared to how we got everything when we were young. You appreciate things more when you have to work for them.

    Reply
  18. Diane Lawrence says

    September 20, 2018 at 2:20 PM

    What a beautiful home, Vanessa! You are so creative!! And your message of learning wait, and work for what we truly want (without going in to debt) is very wise! Love you!

    Reply
  19. Rachael says

    November 1, 2018 at 6:27 PM

    This is my first time on your blog. I love the pictures of your beautiful home, even more so because of what you wrote. My hubby and I can definitely identify with what you wrote about the lean years and being on a shoestring budget. We have always lived in small, humble places. Five years ago, we bought an extremely cheap,deserted house built in 1930. He has done all the work by himself, little by little. Our family of 6 is bursting at the seams in our living space now and we are hoping to be in by next month! We never dreamed it would take this long. It’s been hard, but so worth it to not go into debt. I am so excited, and it means so much more because we put years of planning and hard work into it.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      November 8, 2018 at 12:45 PM

      Welcome Rachael! So glad you visited my blog and I appreciate your kind words! What an incredible achievement to be getting ready to move into your new home after all of the years of hard work, patience and determination. Blessings on you as you enter this new season of reaping the rewards of being so wise and I know that the upcoming holidays will be extra special for you this year! xoxo

      Reply
  20. Sharon Rexroad says

    June 29, 2019 at 9:06 AM

    Vanessa – I loved this post when it first went up, but love it even more now that I’ve been in my new-to-me home for a year. I want to do “all the things” now and this is a reminder that at times, slow is the way to go. Your home, but more important, your heart is beautiful.

    Reply

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Instagram post 17855252689670737 “The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity--hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory--because at the Father's will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.” (J.I. Packer).
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My prayer for you friends, is that you will look at that narrow path with the small gate as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to experience the kind of freedom that our souls are longing for. The wide and broad path of the world promises us a freedom that is fleeting and temporary. But at the end of the narrow path, there is hope and peace and life everlasting.

I’m choosing the narrow path. And in spite of the hardships, in spite of the challenges and the fears and the times that can feel as dark as the journey down into a cave, I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it.
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