Welcome to our new home, our Cape Cottage!
It is still a little surreal that we now own our own home in Toledo, Ohio. It’s also a little crazy that we own a pool!
We bought this home from really lovely previous owners who had lived there for 45 years and raised their two children in this home. When we first walked through the front door, we could tell how much the owners loved it and took care of it. It is in good shape, but we can’t wait to add our personal style to the space and share all of our renovation projects with the Bluebird community!
In full transparency, I was a little intimidated by this home. It is very large and the idea of the pool with two little kids scared me. After talking through it quite a bit with Chris, I became fully onboard and realized that this is the perfect house for us. We love to host friends and family and this is truly an awesome party house, not to mention it has a killer layout! I know we will create many memories in this home with our loved ones.
We are starting phase 1 of our renovations (there will be many phases!) and hope to move in by August.
Full Video Tour on YouTube
If you have trouble viewing this video, click here to watch the full tour on my YouTube channel.
Home Tour:
Exterior
Isn’t the exterior of this home so charming? We love the curved driveway, the German schmear on the front brick of the home and the cedar shingled roof.
The exterior of our home has a cottage like feel with the cedar shingled roof an German Schmear on the bricks.
Foyer
This front entrance was really what hooked us on this property. Not to get all sappy, but we could imagine Evelyn walking down these stairs for prom and of course, in her wedding dress! We will be installing light hardwood throughout the first floor and stairs. We will be removing the wallpaper and I would like to eventually update the light fixture to a large modern lantern or pendant.
Formal Living Room
After speaking with the previous homeowners, the formal living room was rarely used. Chris and I are all about functionality and want every space in our home to serve a purpose, so this space will be the adult family room. I really want to purchase one of those Samsung framed TVs for above the fireplace and add a round table in front of the bay window for games and hanging out with friends! The Christmas tree will look beautiful in front of the large bay window and we are already planning all of the holiday parties that we want to host!
Dining Room
In the dining room we will be removing wallpaper and adding hardwood floors. Later on we plan on updating the light fixture and potentially widening the doorway into the kitchen.
Family Room
In the family room, we plan on removing the faux wood paneling and beams, replacing the red carpet with hardwood and opening up the entry way into the kitchen.
Kitchen
We will be completely reworking the kitchen and there will be much more to come on our plans for this space. We are 75% there on just biting the bullet and renovating the kitchen this summer but we still need to work through a few more pieces of the puzzle.
Office
This office is so grand! We plan to keep the wood paneling on the walls but swapping out the blue carpet for gray. Another initial thought is potential painting the built in bookcases a different color, like black, but we will see!
Half Bathroom
This half bathroom on the main floor is perfect and nothing will be changed. Seriously though, this wallpaper gives me the giggles and will probably be the last wallpaper that I remove. No on will go in for a tinkle and NOT have something to say about the wacky wallpaper!
Guest Bedroom
This is the first floor master that we will be using as a guest suite. There is a bedroom upstairs that is just as big with an attached bath that we will be using as our master. We will be updating the carpeting and painting in here. I also plan to add ceiling fans to all of the bedrooms in the home.
Master Bedroom
We will use this bedroom as our master. We will replace the carpeting in all of the bedrooms this summer and paint the walls.
Upstairs Bedroom
Evie’s bedroom!
Upstairs Bedroom
I really want to do something special for Thomas’s room. We are throwing around the idea of building bunk beds in his room. I am also considering creating a custom mural on the small bump out by the window.
Backyard
The backyard is so spacious and this beautiful pool is already the favorite spot for the kiddos. Eventual landscaping will come, but this year will be focused on updates made to the interior.
Thank you for following along as we turn this house into our home! Check out our first 6 projects we are planning to tackle in the first 6 months.
Visit my Pinterest page for the Cape Cottage to see all of the inspiration I am pulling for our home.
