Hi everyone, I’m so excited to share some updates. First, I’m thrilled to announce the winner of our 2025 Holiday Love Contest. Huge congratulations to Dawn from round two for their gorgeous and magical holiday picture. The entries were all so beautiful, and it was such a joy to host this contest and see so much creativity and love reflected in your submissions.
Please contact us to provide your address so we can get your prize on the way! Thanks to everyone for sending in your beautiful pictures and to everyone else for voting.
_____________________________________________
I am so devastated seeing the out of control fires in California! It is apocalyptic and otherworldly. I cannot believe this is real. The pictures and videos are almost difficult to watch to see that kind of sweeping devastation. Keeping all those affected in my prayers and praying for a miracle. Surely not a smooth start to 2025.
Lots of sickness going around too, many in my office/warehouse, friends, etc… have been sick and I think I am coming down with something to boot. We are due to leave tomorrow for a wedding in Florida, so really keeping my fingers crossed its nothing.
On another more positive note, I’m gearing up to start a Renovation Diaries series, probably next week or the week after. There hasn’t been much to report yet because we’ve been in the less glamorous, foundational stages of the process. However, things are about to get really interesting because not only are we renovating our home, but we also purchased an investment property (formerly owned by a family member!).
We’re doing some minor work there to make it feel like home and functional since we’ll be living there for the next year + while working on our main house. So, it’s a two-for-one renovation adventure!
I wanted to take a moment to answer a few questions that I’ve been getting frequently about our big renovation adventure and share some updates about our plans. Here are a few just to set the stage-
What are we doing to our house in terms of renovation?
We’ve already made some major progress! We removed part of the house that was primarily a service wing and have built a new foundation and garage—those are now complete. Our lumber was delivered just two days ago, and framing is set to start soon, as soon as the frigid weather and strong winds calm down. It’s just too cold to begin right now.
In this new space, we’ll have a family room, mudroom, laundry room, and, in the basement, a movie room and a small gym. Once framing is done, the focus will shift to the main portion of the house, which isn’t being torn down but will be fully reconfigured. We’ll open up the interior by taking down walls to create a large new kitchen, breakfast room, family room, and a covered porch.
The dining room, foyer, living room, and sunroof will remain in their current spots, but we’ll update the flooring and make some cosmetic improvements. The house will also be getting brand-new windows and a new roof. As for the bedrooms, they’ll stay where they are but are all being fully renovated, along with every bathroom in the house.
Will I share the plans?
Yes! I’ll definitely share some excerpts of the plans as we move further along in the process. Stay tuned for that—it’s so exciting to see it all come to life.
How long do we think this will take?
Since this is my first renovation, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. We’ve been told it will take between a year and a year and a half. I’m really hoping to keep it closer to a year, and I’ve learned that the best way to do that is to order all of our materials, supplies, and kitchen items well in advance to avoid delays.
What’s the deal with the new house we purchased?
This house was owned by a family member, and we’ve always admired it. After months of searching in an overpriced rental market, we decided to purchase this home so we could live there during the renovation. It’s a stunning, spacious house—much larger than what we really need—but we feel fortunate to have this opportunity. Once our renovation is complete, we’ll sell this house and move back into our dream home. For now, we’re making a few cosmetic updates to ensure it’s comfortable and filled with love while we live there. We are working on painting 2 of the bedrooms/hall and redoing two small powder rooms.
I love the foyer and we aren’t changing a thing except adding lots of blue and white to lighten and brighten things up!
There’s so much more to come, and I’m excited to take you along on this journey to create our dream forever home. We can’t wait to turn it into a space where we’ll make countless family memories.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Wishing you all a wonderful day, and until next time…
TODAY FOR THREE DAYS IT’S A LAST CALL (BEFORE WE PUT EVERYTHING AWAY) FOR ALL ORNAMENTS, HOLIDAY PAPER AND HOLIDAY TREES!
You are too busy!! But all of that takes time,, they say Rome wasn’t built in a day.
I’m writing from the Midwest, it’s been bitter cold but no snow. That is unusual. Spotty unnamed sickness going around . Prays for California!
So exciting for you to begin this new chapter. Just a suggestion to inspect all the appliances and key materials when they arrive even if not being installed for months or a year. Leslie from My 100 Year Old Home had deliveries of her kitchen appliances months and months before they were needed when she renovated her beach home and by the time it came to installation the fridge wasn’t right and it couldn’t be returned because the window for inspection had closed. The dishwasher was damaged and they didnt see it until too late. So please have yr contractor inspect all your materials and appliances when they arrive so you don’t end up in the same position.
Wow you sure are busy,Tina! These renos and moves are all very exciting. I can’t wait to see them unfold! Thank you for sharing and including all your personal stories with your readers.
Want your daily dose of Enchanted Home? Then join our email subscriber list and don't miss a single post of The Enchanted Home delivered right to your mailbox!
Hi everyone, I’m so excited to share some updates. First, I’m thrilled to announce the winner of our 2025 Holiday Love Contest. Huge congratulations to Dawn from round two for their gorgeous and magical holiday picture. The entries were all so beautiful, and it was such a joy to host this contest and see so much creativity and love reflected in your submissions.
Please contact us to provide your address so we can get your prize on the way! Thanks to everyone for sending in your beautiful pictures and to everyone else for voting.
_____________________________________________
I am so devastated seeing the out of control fires in California! It is apocalyptic and otherworldly. I cannot believe this is real. The pictures and videos are almost difficult to watch to see that kind of sweeping devastation. Keeping all those affected in my prayers and praying for a miracle. Surely not a smooth start to 2025.
Lots of sickness going around too, many in my office/warehouse, friends, etc… have been sick and I think I am coming down with something to boot. We are due to leave tomorrow for a wedding in Florida, so really keeping my fingers crossed its nothing.
On another more positive note, I’m gearing up to start a Renovation Diaries series, probably next week or the week after. There hasn’t been much to report yet because we’ve been in the less glamorous, foundational stages of the process. However, things are about to get really interesting because not only are we renovating our home, but we also purchased an investment property (formerly owned by a family member!).
We’re doing some minor work there to make it feel like home and functional since we’ll be living there for the next year + while working on our main house. So, it’s a two-for-one renovation adventure!
I wanted to take a moment to answer a few questions that I’ve been getting frequently about our big renovation adventure and share some updates about our plans. Here are a few just to set the stage-
What are we doing to our house in terms of renovation?
We’ve already made some major progress! We removed part of the house that was primarily a service wing and have built a new foundation and garage—those are now complete. Our lumber was delivered just two days ago, and framing is set to start soon, as soon as the frigid weather and strong winds calm down. It’s just too cold to begin right now.
In this new space, we’ll have a family room, mudroom, laundry room, and, in the basement, a movie room and a small gym. Once framing is done, the focus will shift to the main portion of the house, which isn’t being torn down but will be fully reconfigured. We’ll open up the interior by taking down walls to create a large new kitchen, breakfast room, family room, and a covered porch.
The dining room, foyer, living room, and sunroof will remain in their current spots, but we’ll update the flooring and make some cosmetic improvements. The house will also be getting brand-new windows and a new roof. As for the bedrooms, they’ll stay where they are but are all being fully renovated, along with every bathroom in the house.
Will I share the plans?
Yes! I’ll definitely share some excerpts of the plans as we move further along in the process. Stay tuned for that—it’s so exciting to see it all come to life.
How long do we think this will take?
Since this is my first renovation, I’m not entirely sure what to expect. We’ve been told it will take between a year and a year and a half. I’m really hoping to keep it closer to a year, and I’ve learned that the best way to do that is to order all of our materials, supplies, and kitchen items well in advance to avoid delays.
What’s the deal with the new house we purchased?
This house was owned by a family member, and we’ve always admired it. After months of searching in an overpriced rental market, we decided to purchase this home so we could live there during the renovation. It’s a stunning, spacious house—much larger than what we really need—but we feel fortunate to have this opportunity. Once our renovation is complete, we’ll sell this house and move back into our dream home. For now, we’re making a few cosmetic updates to ensure it’s comfortable and filled with love while we live there. We are working on painting 2 of the bedrooms/hall and redoing two small powder rooms.
I love the foyer and we aren’t changing a thing except adding lots of blue and white to lighten and brighten things up!
There’s so much more to come, and I’m excited to take you along on this journey to create our dream forever home. We can’t wait to turn it into a space where we’ll make countless family memories.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Wishing you all a wonderful day, and until next time…
TODAY FOR THREE DAYS IT’S A LAST CALL (BEFORE WE PUT EVERYTHING AWAY) FOR ALL ORNAMENTS, HOLIDAY PAPER AND HOLIDAY TREES!
GREAT TIME TO PLAN AHEAD OF NEXT HOLIDAY SEASON!
55% OFF!! *CODE HOLIDAY
ALL CATEGORIES ARE UNDER SEASONAL
CLICK HERE
BRING IT ON!!!! franki
You are too busy!! But all of that takes time,, they say Rome wasn’t built in a day.
I’m writing from the Midwest, it’s been bitter cold but no snow. That is unusual. Spotty unnamed sickness going around . Prays for California!
PS. From the little I saw of your new house, that wrought iron coming down the stairs is.gorgeous.. keep healthy
So exciting for you to begin this new chapter. Just a suggestion to inspect all the appliances and key materials when they arrive even if not being installed for months or a year. Leslie from My 100 Year Old Home had deliveries of her kitchen appliances months and months before they were needed when she renovated her beach home and by the time it came to installation the fridge wasn’t right and it couldn’t be returned because the window for inspection had closed. The dishwasher was damaged and they didnt see it until too late. So please have yr contractor inspect all your materials and appliances when they arrive so you don’t end up in the same position.
Wow you sure are busy,Tina! These renos and moves are all very exciting. I can’t wait to see them unfold! Thank you for sharing and including all your personal stories with your readers.
Looks very exciting and a lot of work ahead for you! Pace yourself…
I don’t know WHERE you find your energy…….amazing….