Welcome to my suburban home in northwestern New Jersey. Come tour my home where we live about an hour from NYC, an hour from the Jersey Shore and an hour from the Poconos, PA.
Our home was originally built as a tiny 3 bedroom/1 bath ranch in 1960 in a small neighborhood on a dead end street.
When we first moved here in the late 90’s, we loved the rustic, country curb appeal of our cute town, with a bustling main street and great school system.
The house sits on half an acre of land and had very little gardens when we first purchased the home.
Our home before the renovation.
Shortly after moving here, we started our family. While the kids were young, we updated the house, finished the basement and added a multi-tier deck (all of which, was done by Chris).
Our family quickly grew to three girls who are very close in age, so outgrew our 3 bedroom ranch pretty quickly.
When my youngest was a few months old, we added a second story to make our home a center hall colonial with a walk-up unfinished attic. And we painted the interior cranberry, sage and gold.
In the last two years, I updated the entire house, including my kitchen. Which was a HUGE project that I did by myself and am the most proud of.
You HAVE to see what this kitchen looked like before I painted the cabinets! Click here to see the BEFORE.
And if you have more questions about this project, I answered a bunch of FAQ’s about painting kitchen cabinets with chalk paint.
It’s AMAZING what a can of paint can do! Click HERE to see the BEFORE of the dining room.
And I’m really happy with my living room too. I love to decorate it with lots of pretty neutrals and florals. Click HERE to see the BEFORE.
My laundry room is also a must-see! Isn’t this a great space?
After construction was completed, our yard was a blank slate because it was completely torn apart from updating the septic bed in the backyard and moving the well to the front yard.
My passion for gardening really took off after moving to our home. So having a blank slate was the perfect opportunity to change the foundation gardens and surrounding beds.
I designed an everblooming cottage garden surrounding the front walkway so it would be the first thing you see when you visit my home. This garden is my happy place!
With the back yard torn up, we leveled it to have a flat area for a kids’ play area. After leveling it, there was quite a drop off around the septic bed, so I planted it with large flowering trees, shrubs and perennials to conceal the drop off. It has become one of my favorite gardens today.
This is one section of the backyard garden.
I painted the shed this year. Click here to see what it looked like before!
When we moved the well, the front yard was also pretty torn up. Since we had well pipes sticking out of the ground, my husband suggested turning the area into a garden. So that’s what we did.
And I now refer to it as my cutting garden because lots of beautiful blooms that can be cut for arrangements are grown there.
In addition to my gardens, I enjoy creating beautiful outdoor living spaces. Through the years, we fixed up several areas of our yard to make relaxing summer spaces to enjoy.
One of our favorite spots to hang out is the outdoor dining space.
To us, it is an outdoor oasis and feels like we are visiting a resort when we sit out here!
In addition to the outdoor dining area, we have a lower deck that houses a small living room area.
And all of my houseplants.
In addition to the deck gardens, we also created this fire pit area in the corner of our backyard.
We enjoy the fire pit all summer long and love to see it all lit up with twinkle lights.
Thanks for touring my home today. Subscribe to the blog and gain access to information not available to the general public. Enjoy your day! xoxo
Please leave a comment below and let me know you were here. And be sure to follow me @bricksnblooms on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram where I share lots of the behind-the-scenes of my home, garden and personal life.
