Throughout Harrison and I’s engagement, I dreamed of finding our first home. As a self-proclaimed HGTV freak, I couldn’t wait to start decorating. But, as I quickly realized, I needed to adjust my expectations and start looking at the “potential.” Harrison assured me we would be able to make some changes with some “DIY projects” and make the home our own.

Now, here’s one thing you should know: Harrison and I had very different definitions of “DIY projects”. My family is not exactly a DIY family. I mean, my mom and I made the cornice board for my bedroom with a staple-gun and framed some leftover fabric from my throw pillows to make our own wall decor, and I thought we had made it. Meanwhile, Harrison remembers what grade he was in based on the renovation project his family was surviving at any point in time. Kitchen, master bathroom, game room – you name it – they had touched it.

You should also know that as a 12-year old, when I imagined the HGTV dreams of my future, I wanted to be spending someone else’s money at a house I wasn’t living in – ordering the Pottery Barn furniture and directing the chaos. I had never anticipated or even considered that I would be the one actually doing the project. Enter: Homeowner Harry and and a whole new world for me.

The night we closed on our house, Harrison had very sweetly planned for us to have a picnic in our new living room and begin dreaming about our future together. Well, bless him, because we arrived and I immediately burst into tears.

It was the first time I had seen the house empty and without the staging furniture to hide the quirks, I couldn’t help but see all the flaws and feel completely overwhelmed by what we had just gotten ourselves into. How was THIS supposed to become the cozy and welcoming home I dreamed of!?

I would quickly find out it would take some hard work (and some heart work – that’s a whole other story) and a lot of late nights to give our home the cozy warmth I had in mind.

We got married in January 2022 and after a lovely honeymoon in the Bahamas, we came home ready to get settled in our new home and begin our life together. I figured we’d get started on the house shortly after we got home, but remember how I said Homeowner Harry came on the scene?

We started the next day. Which also happened to be a snow day. What a welcome home, ha!

The Bahamas one day… Starting a DIY project in the snow and the first of MANY trips to Lowe’s the next.

I joke that Homeowner Harry is Harrison’s alter ego that came to life the minute he got a quote from a contractor to take on some of the projects we had planned. He had seen his parents complete many a project during his childhood and figured, “Surely there is a YouTube video on how to do this.” And we can now confirm, there is in fact a YouTube video for ALMOST everything you might want to do.

Enter our DIY era. I had NO idea what I was in for and that THIS is how my HGTV dreams of transforming a home were going to come true. But, three major home renovation projects later, I am so glad this is what the Lord had in store.