Bright Future, Always Dream big and never limit yourself...
Photo taken by Melissa Septien in Murphy. NC 10/2017
I wanted to get back to my roots and do a post about something I'm totally passionate about, what I started my career path in and had dreamed about from early childhood. Interiors and architectural design have always been a huge love of mine, my father was a drafter and designed nuclear submarines but in his spare time he loved to sketch. He would sketch cartoons and scenic nature stuff but he would always draw houses and homes. He eventually retired from the naval base and followed his dreams of moving our family to south Florida to pursue his love for landscape design. He purchased an already established lawn service and landscaping company which is where my love for the outdoors and gardening began.
I always loved interior design and would always enjoy helping my mom or grandma pick out decor for their homes and holidays. As I got older I enjoyed decorating my own room, and eventually my mom and dad saw the talent I had allowing me to voice my opinion when they would redecorating or shopping for new furniture. I have always had a love for the arts, if it isn't sketching, design, painting, photography then it is landscape design, crafting, ceramics and pottery, you name it. I originally had set out to attend Florida State university and major in nursing. It seemed like a great career path with a steady good income and lots of jobs all over the world. I soon learned that hospitals weren't for me and not long after getting married my father fell ill, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and was in the hospital for a little over a year before passing away. During that time the scars and pain of watching my father become more frail and sick really took a toll on me, I'm glad now I didn't pursue the nursing career path because I can't step foot into a hospital without painful memories and emotions flooding my mind.
Not long after I moved out of my parents home and into my own apartment that wasn't shared with my room mates I realized how much I truly loved interior design. I not only enjoyed shopping for design and decor accents or furniture but I was always having these ideas come into my mind to improve the space, or what I would if I owned the space and was able to gut the space and start fresh. I was very lucky to land a job at Home Depot which many will laugh and be like really Home Depot but my time spent working at Home Depot really taught me so much beyond working customer service and sales. I was able to work in the lawn and garden department then cover for lighting and electrical, work in their home design center where they remodeled kitchens, bathrooms and did flooring installation. I learned so much about home design in that few years that it only proved even more how strong my passion for home design and decor was. I went on to start my own business many years later doing interior design, assisting in full Home remodels and design, party/event planning and decor , etc.
Our first home we purchased was new construction, a small townhouse 2/2.5 with a garage. Cute corner unit brand new house with all brand new appliances and accents. We went to the design center and I remember being able to pick out our flooring, cabinets, counters, tiles, etc., once the house was finished we started with paint colors, picking out lighting and fans, adding window coverings , etc. I had such a great time I was sold that our next home would have to be a fixer upper. Sure enough we sold our townhouse during the rise in real estate which fell perfectly in a personal time in our lives when we had to sell the house but luckily we made a good return on the sale. Because of the rise in the market we ended up renting for several years and kept looking for the perfect fixer upper in our price range.
We finally found the perfect house with the bones to be our dream home. It was a 4/2 with 2 car garage, circular driveway, pool, and on the lake. We put in our offer and haggled a little but got the house for the price we had set so we would be able to invest in fixing it up. We spent a month after closing doing the demo work ourselves, tearing out walls, opening up the space for a more open and light living space. We took down the old popcorn ceilings, tore out the many different flooring from marble, tile, laminate, and vinyl to install realistic hand scraped wood laminate, new molding, base boards, door trim, and of course all new kitchen, updated some of each bathroom because the tile wasn't old, we invested a lot of time, sweat and money to fixing up the house and making it our own. The funnest part was the new kitchen I fully designed myself not just picking cabinets, back splash and counters but I fully changed the layout and design. I also enjoyed picking out paint, to me paint is the first and most important part of decorating the home because even if you don't have money to get new flooring and update your kitchen or baths you can use paint to make anything look clean, new and fresh. To put your stamp and the place adding your own unique style.
We just recently sold that fixer upper after living their with our family for the last ten years to make a huge change in our lives. I have been wanting to get out of south Florida for about 8 years since we visited Tennessee not long after we bought our house. My husband has an amazing job that he loves and he has been with the company for many years now so he didn't want to leave his job to have to start over again so we had to compromise so he took a job in northern Florida with the same company but in an area we love. I ended up loving it more then I ever expected. When we originally set out to sell our home I was planning on renting for the next 9-10 months then when my oldest daughter graduated this coming May we planned to find a comfortable rental in the new area and purchase our dream home in the mountains. I planned to spend my most of my time in the mountains home schooling our youngest so I was able to travel. We want to be able to travel and have money to be able to enjoy life versus being strapped to bills and a mortgage. Funny thing happened though something I was totally not expecting at all because I had my heart set on NC or TN as my future purchase of a home, I fell in love with the area my hubby took the job and we began looking at land and builders.
If you have been following me for some time or since the summer then you know we recently went into a contract for our new home. After discovering that not only did I love the area but finding out the school district is one of the top in the state, the crime is like non existent and the value of the homes only continues to increase every month. I started with land, then we went to some model homes for new communities being built. I really wanted to be able to have input on the design and layout of the house. I didn't want to just purchase a model and then customize it in the design center. I wanted to be able to pick the exterior design, interior floor plan, window placement, etc. We found a builder and still continued to look for a place to build the house, then when we were a couple weeks out from having to lock down the contract with the builder in order for our new home to be completed by June 2018 they called us and told us if we decided to build on one of their sites they would wave the fee for the lot. We go very excited about this because as part of our back up plan if we couldn't find land we loved was two lots in one of their communities. We saved ourselves thousands of dollars which is being put into the interior upgrades we have been dreaming about.
In the months ahead I will be posting many posts about interior design tips from selecting paint colors, flooring, window treatments, lighting, carpeting, adding your own unique touches from antique accents, decor accents and furniture. I'm going to start with the basics and move up as my own home is being built. We have just begun the process and have our final design center 5 hour appointment coming up Nov 8. I can't wait as this is when we make all the final exterior and interior choices for the colors, materials , etc., up to this point was designing the exterior and interior floor plans. I have chosen a craftsman style exterior with a front porch and extended lanai. We added windows, triple sliders, a theater room, changed the upstairs floor plan, honestly it has been so fun to design my own house.
I picked a floor plan I liked and then just improved it with my own ideas, which was fun because now the sales man told me that he has suggested the additions and changes I made to other families looking at the same model and many have really loved the ideas. You can scroll back a few pages and see photos of the exterior I have not selected my exterior stone and paint we do that in the next couple weeks but it will have a similar look, then we have a good idea of the colors we will be going with and a lot of the upgrades we want. I will be adding photos or final choices, then I will be posting up dates of my home from the concrete foundation, to the block going up, interior walls, exterior progress and more.
I will also start posting about selecting paint colors, picking a theme or decor style, bargain shopping for decor, accessories, furniture and lighting , etc. I can't wait to share this entire process with you all, and giving my own tips from years of experience with my own homes and working to design, decorate and improve clients homes. I hope you enjoy and would love to hear opinions, thoughts and suggestions from everyone. Please don't ever hesitate to comment below, I get all the comments, they do have to be approved but only because of issues I sadly have had with two women who have spent years wasting their time stalking me and copying me then harassing me. I read all comments, only ones not approved for publishing or rude comments or spam. I even sometimes post negative comments because I like to be able to answer the writer back and voice my opinion. I never back down from a challenge and I am strongly opinionated but open so I enjoy challenging others also. Just please no negativity or drama it isn't welcome here. I'm at a stage in my life where I'm all about positivity and empowering others, being supportive and encouraging to others. Life is too short for petty drama and I do not compete or try to keep up with others, I do what I love and post things I love or I am truly passionate about with the hopes of inspiring others the way many bloggers and social media influencers have inspired me.
This is such a truly exciting time for our family with my oldest getting ready to head off to college, with my hubby and I building our dream home and making a huge move for our family to hopefully get a fresh start and maybe shake up the path life had us on to start new adventures or open new doors. I can't wait and I'm excited to share here with those who have supported me and enjoyed my blog. Thank you for passing by, and I will still of course be posting my love for graphic tees, vintage fashion, bohemian style, bargain shopping, photography, reviewing products and much more just going to have a lot more home design and decor posts which I am so excited to be able to share again since it is a life long passion of mine.
Everyone have an amazing week, below some photos from our long weekend we just got back from another perk of selling our home and making this change is we can now take even more vacations as a family. We have always loved to travel and taken multiple family trips or long weekends but now we do it monthly versus a few times a year. I believe being together as a family and creating memories is far more important than having material things, fancy cars or whatever it is that many invest their money in. I would rather have a old car paid off and a no frills lifestyle to enjoy traveling or spending quality time with my family any day.
Cheers to the future and following your dreams. Peace love and light always,
Melissa xoxo
Photo taken by Melissa Septien
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