How many times are you gonna paint your house?

I guess it depends on how long we live here.  I am not afraid of painting over something 24 hours after I paint it the first time.  Although, I do like to give it 24 hours to make sure it is the color I don’t like and not the shock of change.  Chris and I both love color and if the color choice sticks for the first month, it’s likely to stay around for at least a year.

Did you study Interior Design?

Nope.  I did study art for 3+ years in college, before switching my major to Exercise Science (see next question) and I am guessing my passion for design and my enthusiasm for color comes from my love of art.

Why did you switch your major to Exercise Science?

It’s where the money was at–mmeeaaanning, I had a full ride scholarship for Art, and when I took time off of school to serve a mission for my church, I was forced to forfeit the scholarship.  When I returned to school, they told me they could give me a full-ride if I studied Exercise Science—so I did.  And honestly, I wish I would have just stuck with art.  You live. You learn.

What is your design style?

This is a good question that I am still developing the answer to….and Pinterest isn’t helping.  The truth is–I can appreciate it all.  In our current home, I am leaning toward a contemporary/eclectic feel.  But our next house (or maybe in 7 years if we are still living in this home), I might throw my hands up in the air and pull out the paintbrushes and redecorate in a different style.  I believe the hardest part of fixing up our home is incorporating a common trend in every room.  It would be EASY (and fun) to design each room in a different style–that would also look ridiculous…..and might be called a themed suite hotel.

When did you buy your home?

We moved into our home April 2, 2011.  It took us over 9 months to find our home and when we did–we got that “feeling” and just knew that we had finally found our first home.

Are you house flippers?

No, no, no. We love the idea of putting our personality and love into a home that desperately needs it.  We love projects and experimenting and doing things ourselves.  We love taking a home and fixing it up and loving it and living in it.  So we’re house lovers, not flippers.

What does Chris do for work?

Chris works for an e-learning software company called Rapid Intake.  He does all of their marketing and he also directs two major conferences a year.  He is busy, but loves his job and finds joy in providing for his family while doing it….in shorts and flip flops.

Are any of the rooms in your house done?  How do you know when you are done with a room?

We don’t have any official “afters” as far as rooms go.  In fact, many of the rooms that we have worked on thus far are in beginning stages or transitional stages.  Besides Greta’s room, the whole house needs new flooring which will take time to save up for and get done.  So we really are just getting started.  I am a strong believer in continually adding yourself into a room.  As our lives change and as we as people change, I think the rooms in our home will reflect that.  I imagine we will know when we are done with a room once opportunities take us away from this house–that’s when we will be done.  But before that, I do hope there will be a good year that we can just sit back, relax, enjoy and love the space that we created.

How do you get so much done?  Don’t you have a toddler?!

We do have a toddler!  Greta is 18 months old and she is our priority and our joy.  We get projects done around our house because we decided that is something we want to do–it’s just a part of our life and we like to improve our living space.  I have set a goal for myself to do one thing a day in our home.  Sometimes it is something small that I can get done during her nap and sometimes I can even do a few small projects during nap time.  There are also times when Greta will be right next to me as I work on little tasks and I imagine one day she will be heading projects of her own.  After she goes to bed some nights, Chris and I work together to get walls painted or furniture built.  It’s always more fun to work together on something.  Note:  Chris cracks me up.

What is that Greta-A-Day button in your sidebar?  Why can’t I get to the site?

Since we can’t keep our mouths shut about Greta, we decided to dedicate an entire blog to her.  All-things-Greta are filed over there to keep family and close friends updated.  My hope is that one day, when she is older, she will take over documenting her life and will have a complete early history.  For now, the blog is private until she is old enough to make the choice herself to make it otherwise.

Sometimes Chris posts about food, does he cook dinner every night?

Pretty much.  I am one lucky girl.  Chris studied Culinary Arts as a minor in college, and now it is his hobby.  He actually cooks to wind down and relax, so he enjoys cooking dinner after he gets home from work.  There are a couple nights a week, where I will whip up something easy or we’ll eat out–but for the most part, he cooks amazing meals night after night.

How do you afford all of these projects?

We save our money.  We do it ourself.  We repurpose old objects.  We thrift shop.  We hang out in the mis-tinted section at the paint store until someone screws up.  We sell things that we no longer use to fund new projects and items on our wish-list.  Most of all, we get an idea in our head of how we want something to look and then figure out how to do it with X amount of money.

One last thing that I wanted to say, as a comment and not an answer to anyone’s question: these are all material possessions.  Our house is just a thing;  the projects we do–it’s all just stuff.  Although we are enjoying the process of transforming this house into our home (and hope you are, too!)—what is most important to us is family and the eternal home we’re building in Heaven.