Our new home is in Rochester, Minnesota: Sara’s hometown and where we now both work at Mayo Clinic.

The Basement

When we first moved in, we used this large room as a place to put furniture and store unopened boxes. Let’s be honest, moving is overwhelming, so it can often take weeks if not months to find a place to put everything. We knew we wanted to renovate this room and find a way to make it brighter. One of our first projects involved scraping the popcorn ceiling and upgrading the lights. We also updated the fireplace surround and brought in a the pool table!

The Garage

The garage is Mike’s happy place. When he realized the walls were insulated, he had a heater installed and hasn’t stopped making improvements to the space since. Upgrades so far include the entry steps and a rolling table for his anvil/vise.

The Upstairs Bathroom

You could tell this bathroom had been updated at some point in recent years. It no longer had builder’s grade flooring or walls, but we weren’t thrilled with the vanity. We thought it was too decorative and a little too small for our needs (things kept falling off the counter). In one of our first projects of the new house, we replaced the vanity with a white vanity bottom by Cambridge that we ordered from The Home Depot. The vanity top was a granite remnant that we had custom-made at a local countertop store called The Pinske Edge. The new mirror is basic and bigger and we painted the walls one of our favorite colors from our first house: Mineral by Behr in a satin finish.

The Kitchen

As pictured below, we replaced the refrigerator, microwave and stove. We also replaced the sink with an updated stainless steel model. Also pictured below are Winnie and Stella searching for scraps.

The Basement Bathroom

We knew this small, dark bathroom in the basement needed updating. Everything needed to go and since we took it all to studs, we decided it was a great chance to add heated floors and a zero-entry shower. The project is still under construction. Here is the latest post about our progress. Please check back for updates.

The Laundry Room

The Yard