fireplace makeover | home sweet bargeron.

The first time we walked through the house that would become ours only a couple months later, one of the first things I noticed was the brick fireplace. Our first home had one just like it, only it was painted white, and I loved it so much. I knew with that first glance that I wanted to give this pretty thing a makeover as soon as we moved in!

Then, as it always goes, we had to get some chimney work done before we could remove the plate and add some paint to it. TJ and I both agreed that there were other things that we needed to invest in at the house before tackling this project, so it got put on the backburner for several months. Then, one evening while the three of us were snuggling on the couch watching a movie while it rained, I noticed a big puddle on the floor. Given that Braxton had just been potty-trained and was still having accidents every so often, my first thought was that he was to blame for it. A few seconds later, after realizing that he was dry, I noticed that water was coming down the chimney, under the cast iron plate, and onto our hardwoods. Yikes!

We called the chimney sweepers (we love Jeremy with Clean Sweep Chimney Sweeps!) the next day, and they came out and got the ball rolling toward fixing our issue. We had to wait around a month before it was capped off, and I didn't waste any time once it was. I got to work the very next day after Jeremy hooked us up, and voila!

Before:

After:

My original plan was to paint the brick completely white, but I ultimately decided that I wanted some of the brick to peak through. I had never whitewashed anything before, but it was so easy! And I absolutely love the way it turned out. The rustic, clean look of our new fireplace makes my heart go pitter patter!

I am still on the hunt for a few more pieces to complete our mantle, but for now I am happy as can be. My favorite part of the whole thing is the gorgeous fireplace screen that was gifted to me by my Nana. They bought and used it in their very first house and have had it since, and I was so honored when she passed it down to me. What a treasure! Not only is it stunning and a perfect match with our décor, but it's also sentimental. And I loooove me some sentimental.

Here is the step-by-step process of what it looked like from beginning to end with two coats of whitewash applied:

And here is a look at what it looked like before and after:

I am so in love with how it turned out. Seriously! It changed the whole look of the room, and gave it a lighter, fresher look. I can't wait to show you what the whole room looks like soon! For now, let's all just gawk over how whitewash is so dang pretty.

a shaded haven | home sweet bargeron.

Our house was a fixer upper, and the people who were responsible for doing the fixing up did an immaculate job. From what I have been told, the master bedroom was once the dining room and the dining room was once another bedroom, just to name a couple major things they changed. On the back of the new dining area, they opened up the wall, added gorgeous French doors, and built a deck right outside of them.

As lovely as the deck is, there was no shade -- which made things particularly hot during this time of year. So, my husband being the handy man he is, formulated a solution and executed it perfectly. We are so in love with how it turned out, especially since now we have a place to relax and enjoy some fresh air no matter what time of day it is.

Our anniversary was last week, and we bought ourselves an outdoor loveseat to kick start our journey to making it more comfortable and homey. We seriously haven't left this spot since it was completed, and we foresee many, many, maaaaany nights underneath our new tin roof.

Before:

During:

After:

Y'all say it with me...Way to go, Teeeeeeesh!

dig 'em up | home sweet bargeron.

My first thought when we pulled into the driveway of this particular house after our realtor said we should was, "It's got potential." The yard didn't take my breath away like the inside did, but it did make my eyes light up and channel my creative juices. Potential is exciting, but it is also quite exhausting, to be honest. Our first yard day was about two weeks after we moved in, and it consisted of raking and blowing piles and piles of fallen leaves. The shade that all of our trees give us is so wonderful, but it makes for some endurance training when the millions (literally) of leaves hit the ground. Braxton loved jumping in all the leaf piles, and that made all the hard work worth it!

After the leaves were raked and gone, we walked around and tried to get a game plan for what our next step was. Our decision was easy: rip up everything and start fresh. And a couple months later, in the middle of February, we had our first big de-bush day, and about a dozen of those days have followed since. It doesn't sound like much, but boy, it has been! Teesh has worked and worked and dug and dug until his hands bleed, and his diligence hasn't been in vain. We are so close to being done with the "demolition" stage, and our hope is to replant in the spring. It feels so good to be making progress, no matter how long it has taken us.

Our yard is nestled on a corner lot that is just shy of half an acre, which is a pretty good size to be so close to Main Street, and we have so many big dreams that we want to see come to life. Turning this house into our home the past seven months has been the source of a whole lot of joy and family bonding! Part of me was sad to be doing so much digging up, because we know the family whose parents and grandparents lived here for so long. I can remember how I felt when I passed our Ma's house and saw the new owner making so many changes, so I was sensitive to how they might feel. What I learned from my experience, however, is that the memories I had of her home could never be taken away from me, and my prayer is that the precious family who made so many memories here for so long would rest in that same truth.

Here are a few Before and After photos of the progress we have made. I snapped all of the "before" pictures prior to everything blooming, so what you can't see is how large the bushes were before we cleaned them out. We could barely see our windows because of how huge they were when they were in full bloom!

From the front of the house (angled):

From the side of the house:

From the other side of the house:

From the front of the house (head on):

In the next couple of years, we hope to have a new roof, a bigger front porch, and plants that add to the curb appeal. So much to be proud of and look forward to!

our sixth.

We've had a lot of fun in these six short years, but we haven't even begun to fathom all the fun that's still ahead. We've learned a lot of lessons, taken a lot of chances, confessed a lot of regret, helped each other grow, and tried our hardest to prioritize our marriage above all other relationships, above all things on earth.

We've gotten a lot right, even more wrong, and the best part is that we've done it all together, side by side.

When life gets tough, we grip each other tighter.

When there's something to laugh about, we laugh our own laughs at the same time.

When we are tempted to run away from each other, we run harder towards each other.

We serve together, get frustrated together, plan together, parent together, love together.

Last year, I reflected on how simply being together is my favorite way to be, and the only thing that has changed between then and now is how much more true it is now. We are so much better together than we are apart, and I think that's exactly the way marriage is meant to be.

Now more than ever, especially since our culture is straying from it more and more, I want to be a wife who loves her husband well even when he doesn't deserve it. I want to be his biggest fan, the person he counts on the most. I want to be a wife who spews wisdom from her tongue, lightens his load with even something as small as encouraging word, makes him feel warm, fuzzy, wanted, and safe, and holds him more accountable to his dreams than I do to his regrets.

He does the same for me.

We're still young, still in love, and still committed to living our dreams side by side after six years, and I can tell you without hesitation that we'll still be saying the same thing in fifty, sixty, seventy years. However long the Lord gives us together on this side of eternity could never be long enough, even on our worst days.

Happy anniversary to my Teesh!
Six years down, and a lifetime still to go.

home sweet bargeron.

It has been a little more than seven months since we moved into our new house, and we haven't wasted much time turning it into our home sweet home. This house was built in the 1950s, and it's thick baseboards, glass door knobs, and gorgeous hardwoods are a testament to its old character. (The plaster walls are, too, but we'll leave those out of the conversation so my husband doesn't read this and get a headache). Anyways, our realtor told us about a house that was being flipped right in the heart of the area where we wanted to move, and after being homeless for nearly a month with no prospective homes on our radar we thought to ourselves, "What do we have to lose?"

We are so thankful we said "yes" to our realtor's promptings, because we were amazed at what we saw when we walked through the front door. The outside needed some (read: LOTS) of work to fit our vision, but the inside was nearly flawless. It may or may not have taken our breath away!

We closed on the first of December so Christmas decorations were unpacked before our regular décor, and I wasn't mad about that.This house was such a perfect gift from God, one that we still haven't stopped thanking him for. Both the inside and the outside are a work in progress, but we have been working hard to make it our own. The inside is nearly completely settled and decorated, while the outside still has a ways to go. Our plan is to simply work until there is no more work to be done. Isn't it amazing, though, how you cross off one thing on your list only to add a few more right back to it? We've got big dreams, and we will keep chasing them until they are tangible.

Here is a glimpse of the inside of our house, raw and untouched, just seconds before we began to move our stuff in and unpack. This day was an all-time favorite in my book of favorite days, and I am grateful to share it with you now!

Isn't she just lovely?