i know some of you have been waiting for this one for awhile.

i posted some teasers on my instagram, months ago. well, it’s finally ready for its reveal. it’s not 100% done, but it’s almost there and i have been eager to show you all!

now some of you might be wondering why i titled this post: the big yellow, considering the house is clearly green. see, this home has been known for being “the big yellow house on the corner” for as long as i can remember and even longer for the older generations in the neighborhood.

but, the home had been neglected and rented out for quite a few years. it wasn’t until about a year ago, that the house changed ownership.

almost immediately, the new homeowners started to pour love into this house and bring it back to what it once was (probably even better!).

the whole house inside and out, has been carefully restored. there is so much detail that i captured nearly 250 pictures during the photo shoot!

a beautiful vintage chandelier was added to the front porch.

and a new bright white fence was added around the property.

the landscape was refreshed.

and vintage details were added to give it character and a bring it back to its roots.

the 100 year old tree was trimmed and flowers were added around its base.

and though some things have changed, there are a few things that still look the same…

the outdoor fireplace is one.

but, maybe with a few added vintage details.

the second area is the pool.

of course, it got a good scrubbing and might also have changed colors (back to blue instead of green, maybe? no, i don’t think it was that bad when the new homeowners bought it). 😉

so, you see, change can be good.

and though a color might change or it might be called a new name, it doesn’t mean the history is different.

it’s just going to take a little getting used to when we say, “the big green” instead of, “the big yellow.”

or maybe we’ll give it a new nickname and call it, “the one with the really big tree.” (no? too long?)

the house with the big tree, the yellow house, the green house, whatever you want to call it….i’m just happy to see this house get loved so much. it’s fun to live next door and admire its beauty and watch it sparkle once again.

and if you think the outside is good, come on back next week for a peak inside! i think i did the awkward stand-and-stare-and-take-it-all-in for a good solid ten minutes the first time i saw it all done.

it’s gonna blow your mind.

have a good week, friends!

xo

hi all!

this has been a busy summer. i feel like june started and we hit the ground running. so, to add a little fun to the busy, my family and i decided to take a little mini vacation to Palm Springs. we swam, ate, slept, and then did that all over again, not necessarily in that order. i took a little time off from crafting and making things to just focus on my family.

at the tail end of our vacation, the hubbs and i dropped off our boy with the grandparents and went on a little mini staycation for just us. we swam, ate, and slept (a lot). it was glorious!

so, due to our recent vacation, i don’t have a regular house tour tuesday post, but i do want to tell you about the hotel we stayed in. it’s called, The Island Hotel. it was clean, the staff was very hospitable, and the decor was pretty (this last one, of course made me happy) 😉

and after getting home and uploading all of my photos, i realized that this was the only one that turned out and was not a blurry-look-like-i’m-trying-to-have-a-3D-post, so here ya go. i might be slightly obsessed with the headboard and adding it to my list of diy projects. 😉

the hotel also has a pretty amazing pool with a fireplace that was fun to sit by at night and talk and cuddle. so, if you’re looking for an affordable, nice hotel in Orange County near the beach, but don’t want to pay the high price tag for some of those other luxury hotels, i highly recommend it. we shopped around, and i’m so glad we did. i love a good deal!

speaking of deals….as i was getting dressed to go to lunch, i had to chuckle at the outfits i had packed. most were thrifty finds. i don’t usually shop for clothes when i go thrifting (i enjoy hunting for furniture more), but occasionally something will catch my eye while i’m standing in the checkout line.

here’s outfit #1: thrifted $6 dress, that i paired with a belt I already owned.

and outfit #2: thrifted $4 swimsuit cover-up for when we went to the pool.

just ignore all of the wrinkles (oops)….who has time for ironing on vacation?! not this lady. 😉

i love a good vacation, mini or not (they don’t happen often), but it’s nice to get back to reality. i have some fun diy projects i’ll be sharing later this week.

have a good one friends!

last week i got to dream a little. it was actually perfect timing because we recently sold our first home (not the home we are living in now, but our first home that we purchased together a few years ago).

it was a little bittersweet.

we had dreamed of owning our own place, whether it be a fixer upper or not. when we finally got it, my husband and i put our heart and soul into that little home. we did almost all the work ourselves, minus the hardwood floors. it was a wreck when we first purchased it as a foreclosure property. we worked night and day for three weeks straight and had it like shiny new before we moved in. fast forward five years and a kid later, and we had outgrown the little one bedroom condo.

this is how we made it to Old Towne Orange. besides being my hometown, it was also a dream of mine to live in the historic section of the city. a friend of ours (who also happens to be our real estate agent) mentioned that there was a little house for rent next door to where she was living, so we high tailed it over to the property to check it out

it was adorable. small and quaint and old. all of my favorites. it even had cute little original door knobs and old hardwood floors. but you see, after living in this adorable, small, quaint, old house for the last couple of years, i have learned that living in an old house comes with some sacrifice. no air conditioning, no dishwasher, small rooms, and even smaller closets.

this brings me to my dilemma. i love old houses and all of their quaintness, but i also love new houses and all of their squeaky, clean surfaces.

sometimes (or almost every night actually) i love to look on the internet at all of the houses for sale and dream about having more space, or a newer home.

so, this last week, my friend, the real estate agent, took me on a tour of a very cute old, but new house in our neighborhood.

it has the best of both worlds. old and choke full of character, but a new squeaky clean that lets you dream of just moving right in and not needing to do a thing.

no projects. no demolition.

just a chance to move in and start enjoying the space and dreaming of all of the meals you’ll make.

or the naps you’ll take.

and the long soaking baths you’ll get to relax in.

and then my mind wanders to the backyard and how it would be so fun to have grammy and papa come stay in the guesthouse.

and be so close that we could send our son to their little house in the backyard to play

or make cookies.

or take a bath in their bathtub, while we are taking naps in the big house.

then i start dreaming about painting furniture in my own little studio.

and planning a party in our spacious backyard,

where all of the plants are still alive and thriving and haven’t been killed yet from my lack of watering.

i think about the swing set i would like to put in for my son and his friends.

and all of the vegetables and fruit we would eat from our very own garden.

and then just as i am headed back to my house to start packing my bags, i remember that though this spacious old, but new house would be perfect for our little family, and though it is completely out of our price range (probably the most important detail), i remember that i love me a good project. i love to be able to fix things up and love them back to their original. i love a good before and after. i love an old home that has some patina scratched into the floor. i love an old house that’s not squeaky new and clean. i just like an old house that has life in it. the place our family calls home.

i’m not sure where God is leading us. whether he wants us to be renters or homeowners, but one thing is for sure: he is in control and he has a great plan for us. and for now, he answered our prayers and provided us exactly what we asked for: a home that is quaint, small, and old. so, i think i’ll keep dreaming….after all, God is listening (but maybe this time i’ll dream of the closets being a bit bigger). 😉