Home Tour: The Texas House
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It’s no secret that Fort Hood was my least favorite duty station. And a HUGE part of that was due to the house we were living in. (You can find all the Pros and Cons of Fort Hood here.)
We moved to Texas during the pandemic. It was almost impossible to find a rental house. After living in a hotel for months, we took the first house we could get.
And that house was…questionable.
**Quick personal note** Writing this post is so wild to me. I thought home tours were for fancy people who (1) own their homes, (2) have really nice (i.e., expensive) homes, or (3) have put all their work, sweat, and tears into remodeling modest homes (i.e., my favorite kind of TikToks to watch). So, the fact that multiple readers have requested a ‘home tour’ is such a sweet compliment and really makes me proud.
The Flaws
The Texas house was built in 1993. It wasn’t terribly old, but it was in rough shape. So, this is what I mean by questionable:
- kitchen and living room were upstairs
- nearly every window leaked when it rained
- the upstairs shower was cracked and the floor was rotting beneath it
- gaps around exterior doors big enough to see daylight (and let in gigantic bugs)
- back deck had weak spots that we were always afraid we would fall through
- stairs were much too steep & narrow (definitely not up to code)
- kitchen and bathroom cabinets had water damage
- cabinet doors wouldn’t stay closed
- outdoor stairs had several rotten steps and the handrail was splitting into pieces
You get the picture, it needed some major repairs.
However, everyone who came over told us how pretty our house was!
Despite its many flaws, it looked beautiful after I decorated it. Which proves that you don’t need to have a fancy house to have a nice home.
Here are my favorite decor shots from the Texas house:
The Living Room
We chose to put our ‘main living room’ upstairs. There was a big room downstairs that we could have used as a living room, but we let the girls use it as a playroom instead.
The living room was my favorite room in the house because it let in tons of beautiful natural light.
This room was long and narrow, so we had to put the TV in front of the windows. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked out pretty well. As long as the blinds were closed, you could see the TV just fine.
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By far, my favorite thing in the whole house was the built-in bookshelf! We’ve never had built-ins in any of our rental houses, but I’m adding it to my dream house checklist.
Not only did we have plenty of room for all of our books, but I had so much fun decorating this space, especially for holidays!
I bought plants, a globe, picture frames, and all kinds of quirky things to display there. I don’t think the bookshelves ever looked the same for more than a month or so because I was constantly rearranging them and switching things out.
We loved them so much that we added DIY open bookshelves to our house in Hawaii!
It was weird having the ‘main living room’ upstairs, but we got used to it. Plus, it was easier to keep clean since the kids’ toys were downstairs.
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The Dining Room
The dining room and kitchen were kind of an open-concept arrangement with the living room. The bookshelf technically separated the kitchen from the living room, but it didn’t go all the way to the ceiling, so it was noisy.
After living here, I don’t think I’ll have an open-concept kitchen/dining/living room in my forever home.
If someone was using the sink or if the dishwasher was running, you couldn’t hear the TV without blasting the volume. And I was always afraid that my couch, throw pillows, and blankets would smell like food.
But in this house, we made it work. Plus, there were more windows in the dining room to let in more light!
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Our refurbished vintage hardware cabinet was between the living room and dining room area. And it was one of my favorite areas to decorate for the holidays.
We hung our DIY Smallwoods Knock-Off above it. I’m obsessed with changing out the picture with the seasons. It’s so cheap and easy to do!
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The Kitchen
Not only was the kitchen upstairs in the Texas house, but it was also tiny! (I hated carrying the groceries upstairs.)
With such limited counter and cabinet space, I had to put my organizing skills to the test. Somehow, I made it all work after binge-watching the first season of The DIY Edit on Netflix.
Master Bedroom
This is the first time I’ve ever put much time and effort into decorating our master bedroom. I had a few things at our house in North Carolina, but I did so much more in the Texas house.
Our antique upholstered bed is another one of my favorite projects. You would never guess I bought it from a guy at a storage unit for $50!
The cow print fabric just seemed like a natural choice…because Texas, but it’s honestly so easy to work with. I decorated it with a lot of neutral colors, and it made a warm, cozy vibe.
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The only furniture in our room that isn’t second-hand/DIY is the dressers. We bought those in 2011 after we moved to Tacoma, WA. Despite being fairly cheap furniture, they have held up throughout the years and numerous military moves!
Our nightstands were once an antique vanity that we split and refurbished. And the rocking chair got moved into the corner of our room after we replaced it in the living room with a big leather La-Z-Boy (that we also refurbished, because it’s who we are, lol).
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The Back Deck
One of the best things about the Texas house was the back deck (besides its weak spots, of course).
The deck was built on top of the garage. And since the house was situated on top of a hill, it had beautiful views of the neighborhood. Sunset was the best time to sit outside and enjoy the view!
We decorated the back deck with the vintage metal chairs that we bought at the Round Top Antique Show (after we refurbished them). We also used the big wooden chairs that Heff made us in North Carolina.
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The Girls’ Bedroom
Despite having 2 bedrooms downstairs, the girls shared the bedroom next to us on the second floor. They were young and scared to stay downstairs by themselves.
We didn’t mind and got them bunk beds to make the most of the small room upstairs. They loved them…for a while. A few months before our PCS to Hawaii, they moved to separate bedrooms downstairs.
As much as I want to take over decorating their rooms and make them aesthetically pleasing. I always let them pick out their own decor. They also choose pictures and create artwork to hang on their walls.
And that’s pretty much it! I didn’t take any pictures of the playroom or the bathrooms.
(It would have been helpful to write this post while we were actually still living there. I won’t make that mistake with the Hawaii house and will post that home tour before we leave the island.)
Our Texas house will never be my favorite, but I’m glad that I was able to make it feel like home for my family.
As a military spouse, or anyone living in a ‘temporary home’, I highly encourage you to make it feel as homey as possible. You’ll be glad that you did!
