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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Worth the Wait


Picture a house nestled on twenty beautiful acres surrounded by tall trees and ponds. Add in a gorgeous pool and you have a dream home. Pressed for time due to a relocation and the start of the new school year, Dedra and Tommy Goodson needed to find a house quick. They fell in love the moment they drove by this property and they knew it would someday be theirs.  Unfortunately, the home was not for sale.

While not willing to entirely give up on their dream, they purchased another home. After more than two years of patience and persistence, Tommy had a chance encounter with the owner while shopping at a home improvement store.  During the conversation he informed Tommy that he was ready to sell. Although Dedra and Tommy were in love with the exterior, they had yet to see the interior of the home.  Without hesitation, they drove to the home to see the inside! After looking through the home, they immediately made an offer.


The 13 year old house was small with only three bedrooms and a closed off floor plan. They knew that they needed to make some changes to fit the needs of their family. A remodel was planned to add another bedroom, an extra bathroom, and an office for Dedra. An updated kitchen was also high on the list.
Before shot of kitchen

Faced with a tough decision of what to keep and what to change in the space, Dedra knew the dark kitchen had some serious potential. Her vision was to create a kitchen that would be open and bright. Dedra’s Interior Design degree was put to use when she planned out a space that her family would love and use for many years to come. She was able to keep much of the old and bring in some new in her plan to create the kitchen of her dreams!


When demo day arrived, they began by tearing out all of the upper cabinets and the vent hood. To give the appearance of higher ceilings, the new upper cabinets were brought all the way to the ceiling. In addition, she designed a new set of cabinet uppers with glass fronts and LED lighting.  This change brightened up a dark space and lifts your eyes upward toward the ceiling making the space appear taller than it really is. To make room for the new square counter height island, the existing island was torn out. The new island is packed with lots of storage.  Clever use of space was made for the microwave, which is stored on the back side of the island.


Definitely a favorite feature of mine in the remodeled kitchen is the paneled covered refrigerator. Cabinets were added above the refrigerator where only sheetrock was before. More kitchen storage is always a bonus! Carrying the same design on the new island up to the new vent hood mantel gives the new kitchen a polished, finished look. The addition of a new backsplash, flooring, and lighting also helped to transform the space.


Ten months after they began their remodel, they were able to move in and enjoy the space they created.

Dedra Goodson has been married to her college sweetheart for 21 years. They have 3 children, 2 dogs, 1 spoiled cat and 2 ponds full of fish. She has a degree in Interior Design and loves to repurpose anything she can get her hands on! She has a passion for recreating spaces by tearing down walls, adding architectural interest and texture using a variety of materials. In her spare time, she loves to do hand lettering, drawing, painting, and DIY projects. You can find Dedra on instagram at: @roomforwonders

I originally wrote this article for the December issue of Everything Home Magazine, but wanted to share it here too! Dedra's kitchen is stunning. It was a pleasure to get the chance to share her beautiful remodel with you!

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

2015 Blogger Holiday Home Tour

The Christmas season is here and I couldn't be happier! I absolutely LOVE this time of year and was thrilled to be asked to be a part of a Holiday Home Tour with nine other incredible and inspiring bloggers. Grab a cup of hot cocoa or coffee and follow along with me as I show you our home decorated for Christmas! I've included the links of the other blogs at the end of my post that are participating in the tour!


I'll start off with the entryway. The big and long entryway is the first thing that you see when you walk through the front door of our home. It's what sold me on the house when we purchased it five years ago!


Painted Fox Treasures is my favorite place to shop for home decor! My very first purchase from them was this tiered tray. I LOVE decorating it to go with every season and holiday... Makes decorating a breeze! Click on the Painted Fox link in the right sidebar to shop!


Here's our shiplap wall DIY project that my husband recently completed. It turned out better than I could have ever imagined! I love the pops of red and white in the garland with the white shiplap wall on the stairs!


Everyone needs a reindeer feed bag ready to go in their entryway to give the reindeer a quick snack on Christmas Eve... I just love the simplicity of this feed sack that hangs on our coat closet door in the entryway!


Here's a wide view of the entryway, stairs and part of our living room. The Farmer's Market sign was just put up a few days ago and completely makes the space. Again, this came from my favorite, Painted Fox Treasures! The board and batten in the entryway and dining area was a big project we did two years ago. We love to add extra trim work in the house any chance we can get! Read my full board and batten tutorial here!







I spotted this Santa print online on the Ballard Designs website and had to have it! Santa is the first thing I see when I come down the stairs. Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas! 


There's even a little Christmas cheer in my office. Earl, the faux stag mount is also from Painted Fox and is a great focal piece in my office. Complete instructions on our DIY shiplap wall can be found here!


Love having pops of RED and GREEN in my office while I work each day!



Now we will take a few steps from my office to our dining room off of the entryway. This room is painted a gorgeous blue from Sherwin Williams. The color is called Silvermist and I love it just as much now as when we painted it over four years ago. Such a timeless, classic color with the off white trim work and chalk painted old furniture!


I decided to bring the outdoors in for the centerpiece on our dining room table... Literally brought our backyard in... I clipped fresh juniper branches from behind our back fence to put in the glass bottles and centerpieces from Kirkland's. It smells so good every time I walk by our dining room.


I used Annie Sloan Old White to transform this old china hutch from Craigslist... Best $60 I've ever spent! You can read all about that makeover here!


I also painted this old dresser we use as a buffet. We found it several years ago while antique shopping on an anniversary weekend getaway. I still love it. The natural wood pieces, fresh greenery and acorns all tie in with the the nature inspired theme of this room.






A few more steps past the dining room and stairs leads you into our open living room and kitchen. My husband built the fireplace built ins almost a year ago from some simple plans we jotted down on paper. He is so talented and they are PERFECT  for this room! They are so fun to decorate for the changing seasons.


 We took the plunge and purchased a brand new tree this year from Hobby Lobby. It was time, as our old one was almost 10 years old. This one is 9 foot tall and is lightly flocked and has crystals on the ends that look just like pieces of ice! It is so gorgeous!


A close up view to show the amazing detail of our new tree! I'm not sure I will want to take it down after Christmas! 


Packages have been pretty simple the last two years with them wrapped in brown craft paper and tied with string. Brown paper packages tied up with string... These are a few of my favorite things... I can't get that song out of my head now! I'm sure you won't be able to either! 



I'm so happy I decided to add pops of RED this year to our Christmas decor! Funny story... When you  decide to paint brown paper ornaments at 10p.m. at night and realize that you are out of red craft paint, you get REALLY creative and use red fingernail polish! Yes, I did that! Hahaha!




I never get tired of looking at the beautiful built ins my husband made for me. They make my heart so happy each time I see them. This is the view from my kitchen sink!





Next stop is our eat in kitchen with our brand new table that my talented husband built recently! He used plans from the Shanty Sisters at www.shanty2chic.com. This table will be treasured by our family for many years to come!


The gorgeous chargers came from www.decorsteals.com, and the festive red & blue placemats came from Dillard's!


The gather sign looks amazing on our shelves in our kitchen! It can be found at Charlie and Ella at their easy shop www.charlieandella.etsy.com.



Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a few minutes to take a tour of our home decorated for Christmas! Be sure to visit all of my other sweet friends who are a part of the Holiday Home Tour! 

Sandra at The Rustic Life
Collette at Spindle and Rye
Courtney at Hamby Home Decor
Allison at A House and a Dog
Trinity at Circa34

Merry Christmas, everyone!


Tuesday, December 1, 2015

December Everything Home Magazine!

Hi Friends! 
I'm so excited to let you know that the December issue of Everything Home Magazine is live! I just love this time of year. This issue is so fun and festive! You will find a little of "everything home" in the magazine!



I was honored to feature Dedra's amazing kitchen renovation in this issue. Here's a little sneak peek of her dreamy kitchen! 

The new mantel makes the kitchen and is the perfect spot for a fresh Christmas wreath!


Click here to read the full magazine! ❤️ I know that you will love it! Also, be sure to check out the Everything Home Magazine website. It's amazing with new inspiring posts coming in often!