we bought a new house (photos)!

Guess what?! We close on a new house today! I know what you're thinking...weren't they just remodeling a house? Ummmm yes. Yes we were (see pics of our current remodel here).

As you'll remember, we bought our current home shortly after moving to Denver. Back when we had four kids and didn't think we would be adopting again anytime soon (more on our adoptions here). Haha, as usual God had different plans and we always felt quite tight as a family of eight.

. . MAIN FLOOR . .

ENTRY

We looked at this home over Fourth of July weekend last summer. We loved it right away but it was way out of our price range, so though in the back of my heart I really felt eventually it'd be ours, we left after our little tour and didn't think about the house again for months.

KITCHEN & FAMILY ROOM

But right after Thanksgiving, we saw it was back on the market after a short stint of being taken off for a few slight updates to the home.

We put an offer in, much lower than they were asking...not expecting them to even chat with us. But they did, and after going back and forth once, they accepted our offer on the contingency of a quick close.

So through the chaos and busyness of Christmas, we've been packing up our home. And today is the big day.

It's closing day!

I was just texting with a friend last night, telling her this will be our 7th house in 8 years.

That's so ridiculous. Several have been cross-country moves due to promotions and transfers with Ben's job. But we're tired of moving and are planning on this being our long-term home, so we're going to update and turn it into our taste slowly and with more purpose than we've ever done before.

As a girl who loves her home, it kills me to not do every project now and get it all perfect. But financially that doesn't make sense for us, and I genuinely believe you have to live in a house awhile to get a feel of it and get the big, creative ideas.

But if I'm being honest, I really can't wait to turn the kitchen white and use a dark stain on the floor. I think I'll miss our current kitchen the most. Well, that and the chevron fireplace. Sigh.

I'm definitely not a huge fan of the pinkish granite covering the fireplace. Our realtor thinks the brick is still behind it and we could just pop it off. So at some point, we'll tackle that project. Or river rock. Ohhhh yes....river rock.

(and I think they're leaving the piano...something I've always wanted!!!!)

Can you believe that gorgeous built-in back there?! Maybe I'll turn it grey? White? So many ideas!

I have never been a  big fan of granite in general, I really love Silestone-which we have now, or carrera marble), but we're hoping once the walls are painted grey, it'll pull out the grey tones rather than the pink that is all I see now.

A double oven!!!!! Crazy excited about that.

The house is in such great condition, the family here before definitely loved their home.  You can tell they really cared for their house.

LAUNDRY ROOM

This room doesn't seem to have been touched in years. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

There's a small powder room off this room, which will be really convenient for the kids.

FORMAL LIVING ROOM

Since we're not really in need of a formal living room, we're thinking of turning this room into a space for study and play.

I'm not sure how it's going to come together yet, but I brought over a sweet friend who is a very talented interior designer to get some ideas and brainstorm together.

And yes, with six kids...definitely needing a railing on those stairs!!

DINING ROOM

Other than the bar-top in the kitchen, there's no place to eat in that room. No breakfast nook makes me a little sad, so this dining room will get a lot of use!

LOVE the boxed paneling in here!

Can't wait to get it white and maybe the upper walls navy? Or maybe I'll play it safe with the grey I have everywhere in our home now?

Decisions, decisions.

. . BASEMENT . .

GUEST ROOM

Though I don't love the look of this paneling now, I think once it's painted, the texture of it will be fantastic in this room!

POSSIBLE OFFICE

The first time we toured the home, I felt like a little kid when I saw this room.

I practically jumped up and down claiming this amazing space with such potential as my own!!! Ohhhh I can't wait to turn that fireplace white!

I'm wanting it for my office, but since it's in the basement and doesn't have much natural light...and is a bit out of the way from where the kids will often be, not sure if it'll end up being my room or not.

Either way though, I have about a million ideas for in here.

There are five more rooms +  bathroom down here that I don't (yet) have photos of.

There are three rooms off this space, one will likely become a work-room for the little boys who love building and have never had a space to do it.

Another will possibly be an art-room for Abreham and anyone else who wants to use it.

Another is basically a huge crawl-space that is large enough for the little kids to stand in and they want to make it into a fort.

A huge walk in closet that is really more of an actual room which has shelves on every side, is also off this room. It will be perfect for housing all my entertaining and party decor.

And lastly, a room that looks similar to the guest room will likely become Abreham and Ezekiel's bedroom.

. . UPSTAIRS . .

ANTON & LAITH'S ROOM

Yes, this house has a lot more space than we've ever had before...and yet all our kids will still share rooms.

We've found it's fostering such close relationships and have no desire to change that. Down the road when their older, we may switch things up. But currently no one even wants their own room!

I love that. Makes a mama's heart happy.

Those window seats!!! Almost all the rooms upstairs have them. I love the storage beneath but especially love the idea of it being a spot the boys can read as the sun streams into their room!

IMANI & ELSABET'S ROOM

This room is itty-bitty. Elsabet is almost ready for a toddler bed and once she we transition to it, the configuration of this room will be easier.

And those double windows!

KIDS BATH

Though this picture isn't great, this will likely be the last room in the house we touch. The cabinet would be great painted, and that window seat give us some great options, but all-in-all it's an easily updated room. And um, that handrail needs to go.

MASTER BEDROOM

The master is such a blank slate! CANNOT wait to show you my ideas for in here!!

MASTER BATH

As you can see, this room needs a little updating. Down the road, friends...down the road.

Trying to remember we'll be here a loooong time and not everything needs to be done now. It's clean, that's all I care about at the moment.

PASS-THROUGH ROOM

Ok let's talk about this room for a minute. First of all, it's huge. Second of all, I'm not yet sure what it'll be used for.

There are doors on each side: the photo above shows the one which leads out to the main hallway and stairs.

The photo below shows the door on the other end which acts as an entrance to the play/media room.

If Ezekiel and Abreham hate being so far from us in the basement, we'll have to put them in here. But it won't be super convenient because their room will always have to be clean and looking nice since people will constantly be walking through to the room on the other side.

Plus, (on non-school mornings) the Littles wake hours before the Bigs. So that could potentially be annoying for them, too.

Perhaps I'll end up using it as my office because it has great natural light (which I love) and it'd be more in the midst of living.

Or maybe we'll turn it into a library or second guest room. We'll have to wait and see!

PLAY/MEDIA ROOM

This incredible space is over the three car garage, and is basically as big. A remodeled portion of the attic, this is THE MOST AMAZING area ever!

It's massive, I mean maaaaasive. The kids got a ping-pong table for Christmas from my brother and sister and can't wait to get it set up in here, along with couches and other paraphernalia that will hopefully turn us into the "hang out house" since we're a five minute walk from the elementary, middle, and high schools our kids will be at.

(Yes, the little kids are switching schools next year. That part makes me sad.)

It leads off the room above, and am so excited to transform it into an incredible space!

BACKYARD

A backyard! A functional, flat backyard! YAAAY! Something we don't really have right now (it's tiered and not great for the littlest ones).

We currently live right across the street from a huge (amazing) park so we didn't think not having a great backyard would be that big a deal. But it'll be really nice to send the kids outside while I'm cooking dinner and such...rather than them pulling at me, asking if I can take them to the park, as I'm trying to get things into the oven.

And parties! I'm definitely thinking a Garden Party is a must this spring.

What do you think?

Let me know if you can think of some (inexpensive) ways to get started on our next big project!

Can't wait for you to follow along on the progress

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