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North Country Nest

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Five Year Home-iversary Tour

The Home Tours

22 Feb

Five years. 60 months. 260 weeks. 1,825 days. 43,800 hours.

It’s been a little quiet around here, and full disclosure that after this post, it’ll continue to be crickets at North Country Nest. That being said, we couldn’t NOT share anything for the big five year anniversary. Friends. FIVE YEARS.

I say this every year, but I still remember driving out of the parking lot with Brett, blaring the radio, so excited to move into our first home. It seems like just yesterday we were pulling up to the house for the first time, walking through the front door and getting started with scraping off the popcorn ceilings.

Fast forward five years later and those ceilings? They’re FINALLY finished.

And there are many more updates I am so excited to share with you. While we’ve been radio silence here on the blog, I promise it has NOT been that way in the house. After all, we’re on a baby deadline – she’s coming in April (hopefully stays put that long!) whether the home is ready or not.

Okay, enough chit chat. Let’s dive into the tour, shall we?

 

The Entryway

So many changes but I must say, totally worth the work. When we first moved in, this entryway for the mother-in-law suite. The house was split into two separate dwellings. We knocked down the main wall, removed the original mudroom and moved the main entrance to this space.

2016

2021

We renovated the entry for the first time in October 2016 for the One Room Challenge. Then we did an unexpected remodel January 2019. It’s been the same ever since and we’re still loving the new(ish) look.

>> Read all about the entryway here

 

The Living Room

Once we opened up the two dwellings, we had so much room (for activities! :-P) for the main living area.

2016

2021

This gave us the opportunity to add in a linen closet and new set of stairs. In addition, we swapped in new windows and a slider along the south wall and added in a fireplace.

2016

2021

 

2016

2021

>> Read all about the living room here

 

The Kitchen

It’s (basically) DONE!! Okay, backing it up. We painted the cabinets within the first few months of moving in. And then repainted them a few years later. And then started the official renovation December 2019.

2016

2021

>> Read all about the kitchen here

 

Guest Bathroom

The original guest bathroom was HUGE. Unreasonably large with a ton of wasted space. So, we cut it half, moved the door to the other side of the hallway and reconfigured the entire layout. It hasn’t changed much since we finished the space in 2017 which is a-okay. We do enough changing of everything else that it’s nice to have something stay the same 😛

2016

2021

>> Read all about the guest bathroom here

 

The Laundry Room

Speaking of changes – we are nearly wrapped up with the laundry room refresh. Way back in 2017, we completed the first laundry room and about 0.2 seconds after we finished, we found things that we didn’t like. The main one being the fact that the washer and dryer came out past the windows. So, after a lot of brainstorming, we finally came up with a layout that would alleviate the overlap AND help take care of the guest bedroom that had a lot of wasted space.

industrial style laundry room

2017

We unhooked the washer and dryer mid-January and thanks to my hard workin’ husband, we had the space finished within two weeks. I KNOW. The quickest remodel we’ve done to date.

2021

I’m happy to report that Brett still walks into the laundry room and comments on how much he loves it so I think it’s safe to say we’ll be keeping this for awhile.

2021

>> Read all about the laundry room here

 

The Guest Bedroom

Originally, the guest bedroom was attached the bathroom because it was the mother-in-law suite. When we reconfigured the bathroom, removed the original mudroom and brought the laundry room upstairs, this allowed us to change the bedroom layout. We moved the closet to the other side of the room, added in two windows and installed a barn door.

2016

Part of the laundry room change meant taking space from the guest bedroom. Which, if I’m being honest, was totally fine because the space was too big anyways. This meant removing one of the windows to make room for the new laundry room wall.

2016

We just finished painting the space a few days ago and have the carpet installation happening in the next few weeks. The plan is to instal built-ins and a desk where the sewing machine is currently sitting and add another closet organization system for the crafts. Although, all we really need is the bed moved in because we have a few guests that are already booked for after baby is here!

2021

>> Read all about the guest bedroom here

 

Nursery/Guest Bedroom #2

Speaking of baby. The nursery currently looks like one hot mess, as you can see below. However, it wasn’t always this way. When we added in a closet to the other guest bedroom, we did the same to this one. We were able to completely finish the space for the One Room Challenge in October 2017 and haven’t really changed much since.

2017

rustic industrial guest bedroom decor

2017

And then we found out we were expecting and since it’s the bedroom that’s closest to ours, it became the best option for the nursery. You can get a sneak peek of the paint colors but otherwise it’s nowhere near being ready. Currently everything is piled up in the center and waiting for carpet to be installed. This will involve ripping out of the plywood flooring and of course, moving all the stuff into the hallway/living room. Once the carpet is installed, we can move all the guest bedroom furniture into the guest bedroom and then get the nursery furniture up and ready. It’s the domino effect at it’s finest 😛

>> Read all about the nursery/guest bedroom here

 

The Office

On the other side of the hallway from the nursery is the office. This was a little jut-out area with a guest bathroom and closet. When we started planning for the kitchen renovation (which included adding a pantry), linen closet add-on and stair installation, we realized we could demo the closet and bathroom and make room for an office, pantry and shower for our master bathroom.

2017

And because deciding on paint colors seems to be a struggle here at the Wittman household, the office received a paint refresh last October and boy does it make a big difference.

2021

>> Read all about the office here

 

The Master Bedroom + Bathroom

The only change in the bedroom is that we swapped in a new window. This will be the last room on the first floor to renovate and even after five years, we’re still struggling with layout options. Every few months, one of us will get some inspiration and we’ll talk about layout. And then we go back to the drawing board.

2016

The bathroom, however, got a mini makeover during the summer of 2019. We painted the floor tile, refinished the vanity and a gave the walls a new color. While it doesn’t fully make up for the awkward toilet in the middle of the room, it is definitely an improvement.

2021

And as a random side note: the painted floor has held up really, really well. So, if you’re looking for a budget friendly way to change your tile floor, painting is definitely a good option!

>> Read all about the master bathroom here


And there ya have it – a five year home tour. Seems like we just started but then again, I can’t believe it’s been this long. Here’s to the next five and hopefully having the first floor done by then 😛

All our best,

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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

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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!

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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 😂😂
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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.

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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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