The Sutton Life

Moving to a small town and renovating an old house situated on acres that stretched in every direction was definitely a dream of mine.  It seemed as though this defined the concept of a ‘simple life’ and in many ways, it does. But now that this dream has become a reality, let me assure you, there is nothing ‘simple’ about it! 

It has taken us close to a year to renovate the house. When we bought it I couldn’t help but see the potential but I could feel the love. This house had been owned by the same family since it was built in 1940. I could see the pattern of where they walked year after year from the bedroom to the kitchen engraved in the hardwood floors. As we pulled paneling and scraped wallpaper, I could see how this house had changed over the years.  There was love here, life here – and I knew I wanted to be respectful of that as we put our own stamp on this house. 

Part 1: The Living Room 

It seems fitting to start this reveal in the heart of the house. This house is SMALL so making the living room a place where we felt comfortable spending our time was important. We had no idea how we would get enough seating for our family or not overwhelm the space. However, I could not be happier with how it turned out. There are still projects, of course, but more of that in a second. 

First, let’s look at where it began. When we first stepped into this room, it felt dark and somewhat sad. The woman who lived here had just lost her husband to cancer. She was here when we bought the house and she hugged me and told me that she was hoping we would get it.  I often think about how difficult that moment must have been for her. Her kindness in the midst of letting go is something that I will never forget. 

Here is what the house looked like before: 

And (drumroll, please…)  here it is now: 

I mean, where do I start. There is so much goodness here! . 

The first thing we did was hire a contractor to open the wall from the living room to the kitchen. We wanted it to feel like one space. Plus, this house had no option for a table. We had to get creative there (more of that in Part 2: The Kitchen) and we needed the space to do that. Once the wall was open, it was much easier to envision the end result. 

We also added a door to what was going to be the deck. We wanted the (soon-to-be) deck to be an extension of the house and the door just made sense. This project was where our (professional) help ended, though. After this, we were on our own… 

 Now, my favorite part -the floor!  These floors were not easy to come by. First, they had years of “life” all over them. Once we got them sanded down, they were glorious. You could still see the life in them but the lightness made the entire room look happier. Then, I began to stain them. In turns out, my red oaks floors wanted to be RED. My sweet husband sanded these floors not once, not twice, but THREE times to get them where I wanted them (and I better love them because I am pretty sure they are at their sanded limit!). You can actually read about the entire floor debacle at https://www.thesuttonlife.com/i-can-floor-no-more/. It is quite a story. 

But, every time I walk in and see these beauties, it was all worth it! 

Now, the shiplap. Ah….the shiplap. I will never forget when we first found out there was all this wonderful shiplap hidden behind the paneling….and wallpaper. There was so much wallpaper. Then, there was a thick cardboard backing stuck to the shiplap which needed endless scrubbing. I thought these walls were hopeless. There was a time period where we all dreaded coming to the house because it meant scraping wallpaper. And when we had family in town, they scraped wallpaper too (thanks guys!) but in the end, it was worth it…..I think….no, it totally was. Read about our shiplap story at https://www.thesuttonlife.com/shiplap-the-dirty-truth/. 

Once it was scrapped (and scrapped, and scrapped, and scrubbed, and scrubbed again), I struggled with whether I should paint the ceiling or not. My entire family said “no”.  They wanted to keep it natural. In the end, I decided it made the ceiling look too low and dark. So, I painted it. I compromised and left the ceiling natural in the hallway (which I was going to do anyway but don’t tell them that). I think the white brightens the entire place up. 

A motto was born when designing this room – If it doesn’t store, it is no more – so most of the furniture pieces work as storage as well. 

A few more pictures just for fun….

And that’s it…..almost.

Here is the list of projects still to come in this room: 

Refinish the chairs

Paint the console under the TV

Play “What is Going to End up Going Over the Couch” for the 100th time 

I am sure that list will continue to grow. Remember when you were learning to swim and your mom would reach out her hands, and then slowly step back as you got closer? Reno-ing is a lot like that – you see the finish line but never quite reach it. 

Oh, and if you are wondering about the “big thing” by the front door…that is our mini-split air conditioner/heater unit. That thing is AMAZING! I am going to write a post about it soon, I promise! 

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of the living room. I would love to hear them! 

Up next: The Kitchen!