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North Country Nest

  • RENOVATIONS BY ROOM
    • The Exterior
    • The Entryway
    • The Living Room
    • The Kitchen
    • The Guest Bathroom
    • The Guest Bedroom #1
    • The Guest Bedroom #2
    • The Laundry Room
    • The Office
    • Master Bathroom
    • The Garage
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Before and After

Here it is. The whole enchilada.

When we bought this house, it was split into two spaces; a main living area and a mother-in-law apartment. Over the past four and half years, we’ve been slowly working out way through and turning it into our home.

The Exterior

Because this home was split into two, there were two entrances. The entrance below walked into the mother-in-law suite. The “main” entrance was at the back of the house and opened to a mudroom with two doorways – one going to the apartment and the other to the main house. We removed that entrance entirely and made this entrance the main one.

After a long process with the county, we finally got a permit to add a garage which was finished in 2019. We’ve also redone the front porch, which is prepping for the some-day wrap-around deck.

 

The Entry

This entry has received a double-makeover; the first featuring white built-ins, brick floor and a barn wood plank wall.

Spring Entryway Home Tour

After realizing white just doesn’t fit with our family, we ripped out the built-ins and went darker. I have to say, Brett took the reigns on this project and he knocked it outta the park.

 

The Living Room

As I mentioned above, the home was split into two spaces. The second project we completed in this home was tearing down the divider wall (the first was scraping all the popcorn ceiling).

From there, we’ve added a fireplace, installed a staircase and added a linen closet.

 

The Kitchen

Painting the kitchen cabinets was at the top of my list when we moved in.

We opted for a bright teal island color and a cream colored cabinet with a glaze.

After living with that for a year, I wanted to try white cabinets, so we repainted.

A year and a half later, we started the kitchen renovation which is nearly ready to wrap up. Included in that project is new cabinets, concrete counters, new floor, a sliding glass door, a new window, an extended kitchen footprint and a pantry.

 

The Guest Bathroom

The original guest bathroom was attached to a bedroom in the mother-in-law apartment. Also, it was huge; a waste of space in our opinion. So, we cut it in half and did a complete remodel of the space.

original bathroom

We changed the location of the doorway, reconfigured the plumbing, added a tub/shower combo and Brett built a custom vanity with a concrete counter.

 

The Laundry Room

Originally, the laundry room was downstairs. When we reconfigured the guest bathroom, we decided to make the other half a closet for the laundry room and cut into the existing bedroom to make the rest of the laundry. Also part of this reconfiguration was the fact that we had plans to add on a garage and wanted the entrance from said garage to walk into the laundry/mudroom.

 

The Guest Bedroom

There are two guest bedrooms on the main floor and this is the only one we’ve done anything with. When we tore out the mudroom/second entrance, we added a closet to this bedroom to make it ‘legal’ and then shortly after, gave it a full remodel.

rustic industrial guest bedroom decor

 

The Stairs

About a year into the renovations, we decided to add a staircase to the other side of the house; it’s easier access to the garage and made more sense for the flow of the home.

 

The Office

renovating a home office

After deciding in the stairs, it meant we had to figure out what to do with the space between the stairs and our bedroom. What was there was a bathroom and two closets. A portion went to the pantry and on the other side of that is space for a shower in our master bath. With the area that used to be the two closets, well we converted that into a home office.

Cozy Home Office Paint Colors and Decor | North Country Nest

 

The Master Bath

While we don’t have plans to tackle our bedroom/bathroom any time soon, I wanted to give it a budget-friendly update. I tried my hand at painting tile, refinishing an entire vanity and swapping in a DIY light fixture.

Update your bathroom without breaking the bank with these modern rustic master bathroom decor ideas from North Country Nest!

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oh, hi!

We’re Brett and Kelly! A husband and wife team tackling our first complete home renovation. We love all things DIY, our two furbabes and lazy summer days out on the lake. Our mission? To share the journey of turning a house into a home.

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the archives

Who doesn't love a good before and after?!? Who doesn't love a good before and after?!?
Last summer, Brett and I didn’t get out on the w Last summer, Brett and I didn’t get out on the water at all – not once did we take the boat out.

Given the fact that we live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, I felt like the worst Minnesotan. How could we not enjoy the water when there’s three within five miles of our house?

This year? We've been able to get out on some body of water at least once per week - how cool is that?!

What’s been really great about these last few months is that we’ve seemed to have found a nice “balance” between go-go-go and taking time to enjoy whatever it may be.

While this season of relaxed work is probably not the norm, it's been a pleasant surprise that we'll be enjoying for as long as we can!

Enjoy the week, friends!
If you need me, I'll be here gazing lovingly at ou If you need me, I'll be here gazing lovingly at our newly trimmed windows and painted walls 😍

We have to add trim to the slider, install the baseboards and frame up + install the pantry door.

And then...

This kitchen will be DONE! 🙌
Yesterday, #ontheblog we did a mid-year check in o Yesterday, #ontheblog we did a mid-year check in on our renovation list and shared two new projects we're adding (of course!)

The second addition? Giving a little refresh to this laundry room by pushing back the washer, dryer and cabinets.

We finished it wayyyy back in 2017 but there was a small frustration: the washer and dryer cover the window.

Every few months we'd circle back to the space and see how we could make it work. It was one of those little issues that might not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but here's the thing - you deserve to LOVE your home.

After four and a half years of constant projects, I often find myself wondering why in the hell we are doing this and I keep coming back to this idea that a home is meant to be loved, to share a story, to work for you, to be a space that you can relax in and enjoy.

So while the washer and dryer covering a window might be insignificant to a visitor, for us, it's something we see every day. And, after three years of brainstorming, we finally found a solution that felt good.

I guess that's the bonus of being four years into a reno - the idea of knocking down a wall seems like an easy project nowadays 😂😂
Just in case you missed it - new last Thursday #on Just in case you missed it - new last Thursday #ontheblog is a tour of our front porch and a few summer decorating ideas!

Hope you all had a safe and happy Fourth of July! 🧨
Sometimes, it's not all rainbows and butterflies.. Sometimes, it's not all rainbows and butterflies... especially when it comes to neighbors.

New post #ontheblog today all about the lawsuit we've been in with our neighbor for the last year. And it started all because of our garage.

In short: three years ago the county required us to get a survey done on our property in order to build the garage. The results showed that the easement our neighbor was using to access her property was not in the right place - it was inside our property lines instead of outside.

Fast forward to July 2, 2019 when we were served lawsuit paperwork from said neighbor, claiming the rights to the easement location - and it's been a long, stressful process since then.

But, we received the good news last week from our lawyer - everything is finalized and we can finally put this whole mess behind us!

Cheers to starting the week off on a high note!
One more coat of mud on the walls and then it'll b One more coat of mud on the walls and then it'll be time for paint in the kitchen!

In other news, Brett scored big time and found a giant rug for our living room - it was half off and arrived last week. Now we're patiently waiting until we get the new floors down until we roll it out. Check the stories if you want to get a sneak peak!😁😁 Enjoy the day, my friends!
Spent the evening at my parent's with two of my si Spent the evening at my parent's with two of my siblings and their kiddos.

Brett showed up around dinner time and proceeded to spend the next hour in a water + cake fight with six kids under 10.

Yup, I'm married to an adult child. 😂😂 Kidding aside - I had one of those 'I love summer' moments, watching them all run around outside, laughing their heads off.

Hope you're enjoying the start to your week, friends! 🙌
So, here's the deal. The kitchen tile project was So, here's the deal. The kitchen tile project was not all sunshine and roses.

Two words: dried grout.

On the plus side, you can in fact clean dried grout from tile. On the negative, it's a complete pain in the ass... And doesn't get you back too 100%. #ontheblog today, I'm diving into all the details on how we cleaned the tile... And the (now funny?) story on how it even happened in the first place (hint: renovating with your husband on an empty stomach never has a positive outcome) 😂
The last four years have been a constant experimen The last four years have been a constant experiment of finding the balance between function and design.

We started this entryway with white built-ins and light walls. Damn it looked good in pictures but real life? With two black dogs and a lake... Well let's just say the functionality of the design choices were at an all time low.

So, we overhauled the space and darkened the walls and built-ins. While I was a little nervous to go so dark, I have to admit Brett's instincts were right one this one.

So, here's to continuing to find that balance of function and design - and I'd love hear, have you compromised anything because it just didn't fit with how your family lives in your home?!?

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