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Reality Daydream

The Dream is Free, The Hustle Sold Separately

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A Tour of our Homestead!

May 28, 2015 by Bethany Sy

Holy cow you guys! I’m just now coming down off the high of having a video go viral. Sooooo CRAZY! Thanks to everyone that shared it!

Today’s post is a little different than my typical… I don’t normally do the ‘Home Tour’ posts, but my HOME tab above needs updating anyway, so why not share it in a post too?!

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If you’re stopping over from Charles and Hudson… welcome to Sawdust and Embryos! If our blog title confuses you, feel free to click our About tab for the full story. We’re obnoxiously open about our lives. Heh!

Welcome to our 115-year-old home on 5 grassy acres in the middle-of-nowhere Iowa! I love the character of old homes, while my husband gets a real kick out of the fact that THERE ARE NO RIGHT ANGLES. Click here to read the story about us finding our dream home.

The Homestead {Sawdust and Embryos}

It seems only natural to start our home tour at our doorstep. We put in this giant rounded patio and pergola last summer… and absolutely LOVE it. We’ve added a firepit and picnic table and spend many a’summers night out here soaking up the good life. (disregard that pile of rubble. It’s long gone)

DIY Patio Tutorial {Sawdust and Embryos}

As with many old farmhouses, the actual front door rarely gets used. Everyone enters right into the kitchen through this door. The Wooden Doormat, Geometric planters, and Kilim House Number Art were all DIY projects!

Bright and inviting front porch area! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Our kitchen was the first thing I fell in love with when we found this house. It just felt GRAND. We painted the walls dark teal with a glossy swirl accent wall, and painted the backsplash to look like tile. It transformed the whole room and made it feel unique and ME!

Sawdust and Embryos' Kitchen

This served us well for several years… BUT (I know you felt that but coming!), I started to be bored with it and needed change. It all started one day when I impulsively decided to take a reciprocating saw to the kitchen island to start modifying it to be a breakfast bar while Nick was at work. That was the beginning of a series of ambitions projects that I tackled all by my lonesome! After finishing the breakfast bar, I decided to tackle the ‘mudroom corner’ by adding a built-in bench, a rolling bench underneath, and cubbies for hats/mittens/etc. OH! And you guessed it, we painted over the dark teal. We’re extending the cabinets up to the ceiling and across the mudroom area… and will be painting them a fun color. Not to mention a new backsplash. Stay tuned for that!

Progress in the kitchen! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Next is our dining room! I love that our house has the original 115-year-old hardwood floors… but that’s about the only thing that stayed the same in this room. Would you believe it had turquoise sponge-painting with beige painted trim when we moved in? I like to think it’s at least improved since then.

Sawdust and Embryos' Dining Room

The walls got painted a pale gray (SW Site White) and we popped up some crown moulding. The following are tutorials for the lined curtains, vintage-esque starburst clock, and modifying bamboo shades to fit your windows.

The dining set was passed down to me from my Grandmother. It was in rough shape, so I did my wood stain art technique on the top, and the chairs got painted and reupholstered.

Stained Dining Table {Sawdust and Embryos}

One of my favorite pieces in our whole house is this credenza. You’ll just have to read the post.

Credenza-Overhaul-Transformation-Saw[1]

Just off the dining room is our downstairs bathroom / laundry room. This room has been a work in progress for over a year, and is JUST NOW feeling semi-finished.

We redid the flooring, built the vanity from scratch, installed the backsplash and added the dangly edison lights.

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On the other side of the room, Nick did all the wiring and plumbing to move the washer and dryer. He also built all those shaker cabinets. Doesn’t this just make you want to blast some Meghan Trainor and fold some laundry?

Laundry-Room-Transformation...-installing-glass-tile-backsplash-Sawdust-and-Embryos.jpg_thumb

I realized that the toilet isn’t in any of these shots, but it’s there… I can assure you. And if I’m going to leave anything out, the toilet seems like the perfect choice. You can read through this whole room transformation post by post here. We still plan to install under-cabinet lighting, but for now we’re checking this room off our list. Phew!

Moving along!

The-living-room-Sawdust-and-Embryos_thumb

Our  living room used to be closed off from the dining room by A WALL. Nick and his dad tore it out one weekend, and Nick framed in the arches. We had to have the giant column to house the duct work.

Removing a load-bearing wall! {Sawdust and Embryos}

The following are tutorials for the board and batten, stencil job above the board and batten, and crown moulding. I also stripped and stained the front door!

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This secretary desk is where I’m sitting right at this very moment, and is another one of my favorite of all our furniture transformations! I whitewashed/glazed the exterior and added a bunch of hardware so it looks like an apothecary cabinet, and I painted the inside white and did my own layered stencil treatment.

Secretary Desk Transformation {Sawdust and Embryos

There’s a small room off the living room that’s technically a bedroom because it has a closet. But it doesn’t practically work for us as a bedroom… so we call it the studio to sound fancy. It’s slowly turning into my ‘creative space’ (because craft room is super kitchy), but it has a looooong way to go.

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The one little corner of this room that actually feels DONE is this mid-century hutch that houses all the girls’ creative/crafty things. I added removable wallpaper to the backboard of the hutch for a little added interest while maintaining the integrity of the genuine mid-century-ness. The paint dipped paintbrush clock was a super fun DIY. You should totally make your own!

Kids Craft Room {Sawdust and Embryos}

Let’s head upstairs now, shall we?

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The first room you come to upstairs is the bathroom. There’s still a lot we want to do in this bathroom, but we have enough other things on our radar right now that this room is on the back burner. It’s come a long way though! We extended the vanity and added the sink, built a butcherblock counter, and installed our own DIY Mason Jar Mosaic Backsplash. Best idea EVER.

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I’m not even going to show you the rest of the room. Because NO.

Next room? Our ‘master’ bedroom! I put ‘master’ in parentheses because in houses this old, there is no such thing as a master room. All the rooms are the same size: TINY. But we make the best of these situations. By painting them dark colors apparently. LOL!

The Master {Sawdust and Embryos}

These windows face the south and east, so we get lots of awesome light in here. Plus we just liked the moody dark color. The night stands came from a desk that we chopped in half to make two night stands. The cheater tufted headboard is one of those projects that put our little blog on the map. We’ve had TONS of readers email pics of their versions that were inspired by this project!

Easy Upholstered Headboard {Sawdust and Embryos}

And those vintage swag hanging lights used to have globes that broke, so I added wire and beads to make them totally custom and AWESOME. My fave element in this room!

Sawdust and Embryos Master Bedroom

The next room down the hall is the nursery. We completely DIYed everything in this room when I was pregnant with the twins. We still love it and have left most of it the same even after our new baby girl is now living here.

The Nursery {Sawdust and Embryos}

I painted the walls, made the curtains, the tissue paper pom pom mobile, painted the crib, made the crib skirt, and bumper pad… and Nick built the floating shelves and book ledge. Holy run-on-sentence! Gasping for air now.

Nursery {Sawdust and Embryos}

My favorite element of this room is the changing table. This is an old cabinet that we pulled out of my Grandfather’s barn. It was in ROUGH SHAPE. We fixed it up and gave it a new lease on life. You’ve got to see the whole story (including before pics) here! I love that the damask I painted is a perfect match to the pattern on the curtains.

Paint a design on furniture using an overhead projector {Sawdust and Embryos}

For a full reveal and cost breakdown for the nursery, click here! I’m pretty proud that we completely furnished and decorated that nursery for under $400.

And FINALLYYYY… last but certainly not least. The twins’ room:

Toddler room transformation {Sawdust and Embryos}

UGH where do I even start with this room. I just love it SO MUCH.

Toddler room {Sawdust and Embryos}

I can’t decide between the DIY Fainting Couch Toddler Beds or the Stenciled Herringbone Patchwork Wall for first place as my favorite thing in this room. Or the Papasan Chair turned Canopy Reading Nook? I can’t. I just can’t choose. Don’t make me choose.

Soooo many fun projects in this room. I’m just going to list them below in the form of images since I already have these made up. Click each image below to be taken to that particular tutorial!

Stenciled Herringbone Accent Wall {Sawdust and Embryos} DIY Roman Shades {Sawdust and Embryos}
DIY Tufted Fainting Couch Toddler Bed TUTORIAL (Sawdust and Embryos) DIY Vintage-esque Starburst Mirror Tutorial (Sawdust & Embryos)
End Table Tulle Chandeliers {Sawdust and Embryos} Heirloom Dollhouse Transformation {Sawdust and Embryos}
Papasan Chair turned into Dreamy Reading-Nook Canopy for kids room! (Sawdust & Embryos) DIY Pinwheels using scrapbooking paper and vintage buttons {Sawdust and Embryos}

This concludes our home tour! Do you feel like we’re fully BFF’s now? You’ll be relieved to know that my house usually looks like this. Thanks for hanging in there through this excessively long post! With all those projects and links I needed to go hunt down, I’m actually impressed with myself that it’s only taken me 4 hours to write this! Phew!

If you decide to try (or have already tried!) any of our projects, please send us pics! We love seeing what you guys come up with… and knowing that we inspired someone is THE BEST FEELING EVA.

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Thanks for pinning!

Gorgeous Farmhouse Transformation {Sawdust and Embryos}

Be sure to snoop around all the homes on the tour below! And huge thanks to Gina @ Shabby Creek Cottage for organizing this!

 

Monday, May 25th

  • The Shabby Creek Cottage
  • The Nester
  • The Inspired Room
  • City Farmhouse
  • In My Own Style

Tuesday, May 26th

  • Rooms for Rent
  • East Egg Style
  • Thistlewood
  • Decor Adventures
  • House no 124
  • Finding Home

Wednesday, May 27th

  • Craftberry Bush
  • Happy Happy Nester
  • Ella Claire
  • Funky Junk Interiors
  • Organizing Made Fun

Thursday, May 28th

  • My Fabuless Life
  • Addisons Wonderland
  • Liz Marie Blog
  • Charles & Hudson
  • Sawdust & Embryos (meeeee!)

Friday, May 29th

  • Jones Design Co.
  • The Shabby Nest
  • Haneen’s Haven
  • Jeanne Oliver
  • All Things Thrifty

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About Bethany Sy

Nick and Bethany Sy are the creative free-spirits behind DIY/Lifestyle blog, Reality Daydream. They recently purchased a historic mansion and have been documenting the ups and downs of renovation and making this home their own... all while sharing tips and tutorials along the way! When they found themselves in the trenches of infertility, they started a journey that would prove to be their most important DIY project ever, and have 3 beautiful girls to show for it. <3

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Comments

  1. 12

    Amyhb says

    May 29, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    AMAZING!

    Reply
  2. 13

    Kristin Eveland says

    May 29, 2015 at 7:42 am

    I can’t even, those toddler fainting couches into beds, LOVE!

    Reply
  3. 14

    Abbey says

    May 29, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    Hi Beth, did you make a tutorial on how you did the lace and paper banners in the nursery? Specifically the lace one. I’m having twin girls in September and love the idea for their nursery! I searched and couldn’t find an actual tutorial, sorry if I am missing something obvious! Thanks

    Reply
  4. 15

    Haneen Matt says

    May 28, 2015 at 3:02 pm

    BLOWN. AWAY! Love it all! My tour’s up tomorrow over on Shabby Creek’s blog! Hope you check it out:)

    Reply
  5. 16

    Megan {The Brick Bungalow} says

    May 28, 2015 at 7:58 am

    What a beautiful little girls’ room!!! I love it too, so I can only imagine the love you feel for it!

    Reply
  6. 17

    Our Pinteresting Family says

    May 28, 2015 at 7:57 am

    Absolutely gorgeous. I love the twins room.

    Reply
  7. 18

    Cassie Bustamante says

    May 28, 2015 at 6:41 am

    the twins room is adorable! love the fun colors! what a happy home!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Summer Tour Of Homes 2015 - In My Own Style says:
    September 3, 2015 at 6:40 am

    […] May 28th My Fabuless Life Addisons Wonderland Liz Marie Blog Charles & Hudson Sawdust & EmbryosFriday, May […]

    Reply
  2. Summer Home Tour + Guess What Colors I'm Decorating With These Days - Decor Adventures says:
    June 13, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    […] Thursday, May 28th My Fabuless Life // Addisons Wonderland // Liz Marie Blog // Charles & Hudson // Sawdust & Embryos […]

    Reply
  3. Summer Tour of Homes | My Fabuless Life says:
    May 29, 2015 at 10:23 am

    […] Fun Thursday, May 28th  My Fabuless Life Addisons Wonderland Liz Marie Blog Charles & Hudson Sawdust & Embryos Friday, May 29th  Jones Design Co. The Shabby Nest The Shabby Creek […]

    Reply
  4. 2015 Tour of Homes says:
    May 29, 2015 at 4:01 am

    […] Thursday, May 28th My Fabuless Life Addisons Wonderland Liz Marie Blog Charles & Hudson Sawdust & Embryos […]

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  5. Summer Tour of Homes: Haneen's Haven - The Shabby Creek Cottage says:
    May 29, 2015 at 3:20 am

    […] Fun Thursday, May 28th My Fabuless Life Addisons Wonderland Liz Marie Blog Charles & Hudson Sawdust & Embryos Friday, May 29th Jones Design Co. The Shabby Nest Haneen’s Haven – you can find it here on my […]

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  6. Funky Junk's 2015 Summer Home Junk Tour!Funky Junk Interiors says:
    May 29, 2015 at 12:24 am

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  7. Summer Tour of Homes 2015: Day Four - The Shabby Creek Cottage says:
    May 28, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    […] Fun Thursday, May 28th My Fabuless Life Addisons Wonderland Liz Marie Blog Charles & Hudson Sawdust & Embryos Friday, May 29th Jones Design Co. The Shabby Nest Haneen’s Haven – you can find it here on my […]

    Reply

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We are Nick and Bethany! Welcome to our blog, Reality Daydream where we share our DIY adventures!
Click here for lots of art projects using only wood stain on furniture!!
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