There is no place like home
This was a post that I have so badly wanted to write, and didn’t know where to begin.
To display pictures publicly of our home feels foreign and in no way would I want it to come across as braggadocious. So to show you pictures of this home we had the opportunity to build would be an injustice if I did not also share with you a small glimpse of our life the past 12 years to get to this point.
When Josh and I got married at the sweet young age of 20 and 21 we spent a good 6 months looking for a home that we could afford. Josh was very set on buying a house, even if it was smaller than an apartment and not in the best area of town. We looked for a home for over 6 months and about 3 weeks before we got married, we closed on this cute little 900 sq foot home in Republic and got started on painting and making it our own. It was 2 bedrooms, 1 bath with a little round-about kitchen/living room area. No dishwasher, no garage, barely a closet, an add on laundry room and a spacious yard with the most amazing large maple tree in the front yard. It was perfect and everything we could want or need. We lived there 6 years and it truly holds some of my most dear memories.
While we lived in that home, we had to be extremely cautious on how we spent our money while we tried to figure out life. I worked for the first couple of years while Josh went to school and then Josh got his first full time job 4 days before Jude was born. I believe there is more to that story in an older post and you can read about it here.
All that to say, I will never forget grocery shopping with Josh one day and him saying, “I can not wait until we can actually buy any food we want to eat.” We bought the necessities and then ate at our parents house on the weekends. ;)
Starting a life together in a place of humility is invaluable.
So now when Josh comes home from work or just randomly says, “You guys! Can you believe we get to live here?!” It comes from a place of humble beginnings where God gets all the glory. Our story together is a complete leap of faith in trusting God to lead and guide us and knowing that He would always be faithful. Because He is, always faithful. From our decision to get married, have kids, move from our first tiny home and then to build a home that fits our lifestyle. To brag would only be to brag about how amazing God is and how he has moved in our lives.
Our first home holds such a sweet place in my heart, not only because we lived there first as a married couple and then brought home 2 kids, but because it showed me how to truly appreciate time and how to enjoy the little things in life. I am so, so grateful that God continues to know what we need in our life more than we know.
So when I sat down to write about our new home, it is only appropriate that God gets all the glory for allowing us the opportunity to design and live in a home that fits our family and our lifestyle best. What an honor. Our deepest desire is that this home will be a blessing to anyone who walks through the doors and that we may honor God with what we have been given and be obedient to that calling.
After all, our family motto is and has always been, “To whom much is given, much is required”. —Luke 12:48
Deciding on the design.
When we started discussing the design of our home, I wanted to be incredibly intentional about every room. We didn’t want to build another home to just build a bigger home. Our desire was to build a home that fit our lifestyle. When my brother came over to our house about a week after we moved in he asked, “So what is your favorite part of the house?” I struggled and threw out a couple things I really loved, but honestly I love it all because it is our home. One we got to create for all our specific dreams and quirks to perfectly match our lifestyle— that is what I love most.
The design process was exciting and intimidating. It can be so easy to get hung up on, “Oh well I saw this done better on this site/blog/insta page..” but I constantly pulled those thoughts in and tried to stay true to what works best for our family and I didn’t go wrong by doing so.
I wanted to make sure our home incorporated my husband’s modern style, but I was also big on making sure our home had a very timeless look; and I can not think of a color that says timeless better than white. When you combine our design styles with a timeless look, you have our combined style in the modern farmhouse… only we built our farmhouse in a neighborhood. We looked for land for over a year — however, a good internet connection is a rarity when it comes to owning land, and unfortunately it is a necessity for my husband’s profession. Again, I fully believe God hand picked our place in the neighborhood and we are slowly seeing the fruit of obedience unravel.
I love pretty rooms and designs, but practicality will always win me over. Our big thing was that we wanted our main floor to be as open as possible for better entertaining. We love hosting, gathering and bringing friends and family together for holidays, birthdays or just because. Our last house was definitely crammed in our kitchen/living room area so this was always an area we wanted to improve on first.
When trying to decide where we wanted the kid’s bedrooms, I knew I did not want to put them in the basement, so that was how we decided to add the upper level. The open floor plan and wrap around catwalk still allows us to feel close. Which can be both a blessing and a curse, I wanted to be able to always hear what is going on with my kids, and I most definitely can hear everything. ;) Their rooms are intentionally not huge, we would rather them have a place to sleep but not want to hide away in their room all the time. The heart of our home is in the living room and kitchen area, which is another reason why we wanted this to be the focus.
When we added the basement, we really only wanted to finish a very small portion because we knew we probably would not use it all the time, but ended up having to finish it all. Originally, it just gave us peace of mind to have a storm shelter. We do love that we have been able to utilize the extra space as a workout area and Jude enjoys the projection screen for his game time.
Those were our driving points in design and then all the smaller choices fell into play. I get asked about specifics on materials and sources, so I figured it would just be easier to list them below. You can also check out my Pinterest board here for inspiration on Modern Farmhouse design.
Scroll through to see a glimpse into what we spent working on for the past 2 years.
There are several things that have been added, or still will be added and even some spaces and details that were hard to capture in photography. To be completely transparent, a struggle with my own personality is that I wanted every space to be complete before I shared this post (I am a 1 on the enneagram after all). However, the reality is that I am a wife, a mom and we homeschool and own a business which keeps us extremely busy so I also know that things like a nice organized pantry and getting the right rugs, lamps and end tables will all take time. Needless to say, all my spaces are not complete, BUT that makes it more fun for you to follow along as we go. I want to do a super informal home tour over on my Instagram stories in the very near future..like when I can clean my house without my kids destroying it in seconds.
Be sure to follow me @happylittlemessblog on Instagram so you can see the full tour. Also, Christmas is coming and I can not even contain my excitement with the thought of decorating this home for Christmas! If you have any more specific questions on materials or about this post I would love to connect with you! Just email me— bre@happylittlemess.com.
Materials and Sources
Builder: Austin Miller with Wisebuilt Construction
Architect: Tim Schmidt
Outside: James Hardie siding in Arctic White
Windows: Windsor black double hung wood clad windows
Floors: Days Flooring— Hardwood: Missouri White Oak drum real wood floors. Carpet: High Harmony in City Scape
Paint: Bedrooms—Sherwin Williams drift of mist. Interior— Sherwin Williams pure white. Basement— Sherwin Williams repose gray.
Kitchen: Cabinets— Showcase Cabinets. Cabinet hardware—Amazon. Kitchen countertops—Solid Surface Design: Calacutta Vincenza Matte in Quartz.
Bathrooms: Tile— Carrara (Days Flooring). Vanity countertops— Fossil Gray in quartz.
Railing: Sabo Fabrication Shop— Caleb Sabo.
Lighting: All of our lighting and ceiling fans came from build.com.
Faucets: All matte black from Harry Cooper Supply.
Custom vanity and dining table: DGstewarthardgoods—Dustin Stewart
I hope you found this helpful and inspiring if you are in the middle of a custom home build, or just fun to browse if not! We sure do not take it for granted that we were able to build this home and hope to share the love and joy we find through Christ as we humbly share our journey with you.
