Family-Friendly
Austin, TX
Our first home here in Austin, TX was a fun project for me. I was a new mom, we moved in when our son was 2 months old and we bought the house when he was 1 month old. Between those 4 weeks, I had to figure out how to best use my very small budget to update the house. The floors in the main living area were the first to go. They were a combination of tile and cream colored carpet. Neither worked well together and it wasn’t ideal for an infant. The next item was the wall color. The walls were brown everywhere. Eventually, we changed out the backsplash in the kitchen, painted the kitchen cabinets, changed out the hardware, the tile around the fireplace and many of the light fixtures. The furniture was a combination of items we already owned with a few new pieces.
The house had a pool and living here in Austin means spending a lot of time outdoors. I spent a lot of time and money landscaping and adding a deck to the outdoor pool area. I figured out which plants would give me a resort feel but also work with the Austin climate. Before, when we looked out to the backyard we could see into our neighbors house so we wanted to add privacy right away. We added a wall of bamboo and then added banana trees, and lots of fun colorful plants. We took out some sad grass that wasn’t growing and replaced it with a deck to add entertaining space. We also added a built-in L shaped bench so that we would always have enough seating outdoors and wouldn’t have to worry about putting away chairs everytime there was a storm. With a small child, time is a precious commodity. We also added an outdoor shower which was incredibly practical so that everyone could rinse and dry themselves before coming into the house.
When I was coming up with a color scheme and overall feel for the house, I wanted to incorporate the outdoors and bring it inside. We wanted the interior to have a relaxed beachy vibe. That sense of relaxation made raising an infant that much more enjoyable. For me, it’s very important that when I walk in the door of my house, that it makes me feel relaxed, happy, and comfortable.
