Hello friends! Happy 2018! Can you believe that it is already time to start a new year? I don't know about you...but it seems to me that time is speeding up faster and faster. I mean...didn't we just start 2017 a little while ago?

Well, I do love a fresh start and a new year is the perfect time to begin afresh. Personally, I'm excited about what the new year holds. I'm excited about new God-inspired vision and dreams that are on my heart for the year ahead.

Last year, one of my dreams was to start a blog. My son helped his technically challenged momma set it up and I focused mainly on my home decor and ideas to help inspire you as you decorate your home. This year, I plan to do the same but I would also like to include inspirational blogging posts to encourage you in whatever season of life you're in as I've realized that encouragement in life is what gives us hope to go on so be on the look-out for some of these posts in 2018.

Many of you may know that in 2016, my husband and I purchased our first fixer-upper (Our Uptown Cottage) and turned it into an Airbnb. One of our goals in 2017 was to purchase another fixer-upper. So, in Sept. of 2017, we purchased (alongside of a family member) our second fixer-upper home and turned it into another Airbnb that we are calling, "Our Midtown Bungalow." (We call it this because it is located in the middle of Frederick, MD - the city in which we live.) It is a two bedroom - two bathroom - one floor home. We did most of the work ourselves, but we did hire out some of the bigger jobs - like the electrical. We decided we didn't want to tackle this project in this older home and we're sure our guests will be happy about this, too! :-)

Here are some before pics of the bungalow:

You will notice that this home doesn't seem to be in too bad of shape. We thought it only would require a little bit of updating...just a little paint, flooring, etc. So we thought! Ha! You think we would know that there is always lots of "behind the scenes" work to be done since this is our second one, but we kind of forgot about all of the little things like electrical, plumbing, etc. :-) Then there's the fact that this is an older home so we found painted wallpaper attached to plaster. Yeah, it was a bit messy...

In order to truly appreciate the AFTER pics...you need to look at the PROCESS of transformation that went on in this home.

Here are some pics of the renovation:

Kitchen:

We took off the upper cabinets in the kitchen and purchased a remnant piece of quartz for the counter. I painted the bottom cabinets with Sherwin Williams Toque White.

We also put in a new vinyl plank floor in a warm birch color.

Bathrooms:

We put up shiplap in the bathrooms, painted the vinyl floors with a stencil (Click here to see this tutorial) and added new vanities.

Other Spaces:

New ceilings in the living room, one of the bedrooms and back porch.

Are you ready to see the AFTER pics? Here they are.....enjoy!

Thanks so much for joining me on our renovation journey. Your encouragement means so much. I'm praying the year ahead will be full of God inspired dreams and vision for each of you!

Happy New Year and Happy Decorating!

~ Lisa