Last updated: January 8, 2024

I love (and I do mean LOVE) being an Alabama resident. Living in the Somerville area for the past three years have been the happiest of my life. When we relocated here in 2019, I found what I believed to be the perfect location, and literally everything I’ve ever hoped and dreamed to have in a home. The size is perfect for me, Kris and our two dogs. Our neighbors bring me fresh eggs at no charge (which I feel bad about so I make cookies for their kids in exchange since they won’t take money). The house is so over the top adorable… every room makes me smile. I love being home and am always happy to return. The space is extremely functional. We are on a little more than a half acre and it’s far enough from town that you can have your own bon fires and practice shooting in the back yard, but only 10 minutes from all the shopping, restaurants, and entertainment you can imagine. The three bedrooms allow Kris and I to have our own offices / personal space for our hobbies. The area is growing rapidly due to all the new business, and the city is working to offer commodities and buildings to support the new growth. The community is strong and offers events each month downtown. I had no idea when we moved here in 2019 that I would fall so completely head over heels for the area.

Life is a funny thing. Right when you get comfortable and think everything is smooth sailing, something unexpected will come along and throw you for a loop. It is out of tremendous love for my husband that I got on board with selling our Alabama home so he could embark on a new job adventure in Indiana. This move allows him to be close to his mom and childhood friends, which is important. So as of June 2, 2022, we have officially sold our home (and ironically used the same Realtor who sold the home to us three years ago!). While I have shed many tears in the process of leaving my sweet Alabama home, my love for my husband is more than my love for where I live. While moving north to Indiana is not an easy task for this Southern girl, I’m working on coming to terms with it as it is my highest desire to support Kris and I’ll do everything within my power to help him achieve his dreams. Plus, let’s be honest; no matter how perfect the home, location and community, a home wouldn’t be a home without my husband. A life without him is no life at all. In my angst, I remembered a portion of my marriage vows that I recited back in 2007 and that’s all I needed to get refocused.

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God

Ruth 1:16

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s go into the fun part which is showing you the house flip!

A Little History

This 1000 square foot Alabama house was built in the 1990s and was extremely dated. We updated every square inch of this house. We replaced all the flooring, scraped all the popcorn ceilings, replaced all the windows, added farmhouse shutters to all the windows, painted every room, replaced all the cabinets and countertops, added all new lighting, replaced all the light switches and plugs (from beige to bright white) and even added a 336 square feet master suite. I had a blast flipping this house and used what I learned from flipping our previous Tennessee home to make better decisions and was more confident in design choices this time around.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home and I just wasn’t feeling it here. I had grand ideas to remove walls, create a pantry, replace the countertops, cabinets and appliances as well as install some kitchen worthy lights and flooring. I was able to do all that and more!

This involved removing the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room to creat an open concept and make the space look bigger. I relocated the fridge and oven (since I removed the wall they were on). I also relocated the dining table (that I sat on to take the below photo). I replaced all the cabinets, countertops and appliances. I had new flooring installed so the same floor could be used in both the living room and the kitchen to support my goal to make the space look bigger. I enclosed the back bedroom closet and opened it up in the kitchen to create a pantry. I kept the exterior door and just gave it a fresh coat of paint. Honestly, I think that’s the only original item from the house that’s left!

For more kitchen goodness, check out my kitchen accessories and tea station posts to see more of what I did with this space.

If you’re interested in some pieces I had purchased for the home, check out this post where I include some links to some cute items I had in the house!

Here is a photo taken from the living room of the kitchen back door with dining table to the left. We removed the wall on the right to make for an open kitchen/living room concept.

We opened up the left wall to add a pantry (which was the original main bedroom closet… all credit to my husband for having that idea!)

I had already replaced the windows and added shutters in this photo, but you can see the sink and countertop was way overdue for an update. I kept the sink in this exact location as part of the renovation.

Below are some great photo of that wall removed to open up the living room and the kitchen and also shows my husband hard at work.

Below is the cut for the new kitchen countertop… I still have major heart eyes over this pattern. 😍

Walk-in pantry on the right that goes behind the oven. This was my husbands idea and used to be the main bedroom closet! We just closed off the bedroom closet, opened it up in the kitchen, added shelves and viola! A kitchen pantry.

Home: my happy place. 💗

Eat-in Kitchen (Dining Area)

I wondered if Kris and I would need/miss a dedicated dining room and I can say confidently after three years, I will never have a dining room again. This served any and all purposes we ever needed. It was perfect for morning breakfasts, and even when we had guests for dinner. The table had a built-in butterfly leaf that extended the table and it was comfortable for everyone. Plus, we had the couch close by for extra seating if needed.

Even though this was perfect for me and Kris, I ended up buying two more for dinner guests.

Living Room

Removing the wall really sealed the deal with this space. The kitchen/living room open concept ended up being my favorite area in the whole house when the flip was said and done. I hung out in this area of my home every day. Plus, it’s perfect for movie nights because you don’t miss any of the show when you get up snack/drink refills.

The Entryway

The Hallway

The hallway lead to a coat closet, three bedrooms and guest bath

Guest Bath

Originally, we only had one bathroom in the house, however, due to adding a master suite onto the back bedroom, this became the guest bath and I gutted the entire thing and replaced it all. I really love how this turned out.

An extra bathroom is always a blessing and although I was very grateful to have a dedicated bathroom for guests, I just wasn’t ready for them to see it like this.

Ah, so much better! I was so proud to show this off to guests. My parents stayed frequently and it was right across the hall from the room we transformed to a guest room for when people would stay over.

Jessica Office (1st Bedroom)

Since March of 2020, I have been working 100% from home. Because of this, I decided to make the second bedroom a full office. This was an awesome decision and I spent many hours in this room conquering the world.

Kris Office/Guest Room (2nd Bedroom)

Kris did not work from home full time and used this space to occasionally kick back and read or play some video games. The couch folded out to be a bed so for guests (such as my parents) when they came to visit.

A Master Suite Addition

There were a few things lacking when we bought the house that kept it from being 100% perfect for us:

1. A master suite complete with full bath and his/her closets.
2. A washer and dryer IN the house (it was originally in the garage).

So what I decided to do was put that all together and build an add on to the back bedroom (where I had removed the closet) to give us an awesome master suite/laundry room combo. Here are the incredibly elementary blueprints I drew up for the contractor (bless his heart).

Now, this bedroom was already in existence. It’s the room where I sealed off the closet and opened it up in the kitchen to be used as a pantry. The barn door you see is where the addition starts… there used to be a window with a view of the backyard there before the addition.

Garage

The garage was honestly a mess. The concrete was stained and cracked. The walls were sheetrock white and there was no storage. I used epoxy on the floor, scraped the popcorn off and painted the ceilings, and added above head storage. The garage door was about 30 years old and was about to fall off the hinges, so I replaced that as well. Kris and I worked together to replace the storm door to enter the home since it was aluminum and we wanted white (although all the below photos are taken before the door was updated).

Home Exterior

I never got to around to spending much time on the exterior other than pressure washing it all, pouring concrete to create an extra parking space, and replacing the mailbox. I had big plans to do tons of landscaping and planting trees along the fence line, but I ran out of time. I enjoyed taking these glamour shots of my home before I left.

It’s Not Just a New Home…

I included the washer and dryer as well as all the kitchen appliances in the sale of the house. The new homeowners bought most of the furniture in the house including the bedroom furniture, side tables, entry table, book case, dining room table and chairs. I was grateful for this because the furniture was bought specifically for this home and selected with love. I couldn’t imagine it living anywhere else and it made me feel good to leave the pieces with the house.

A Goodbye

Dear Alabama Home, thank you for being a happy place for me and Kris over the past three years. I poured my heart and soul into you and in return, you gave us so much joy. I will miss you like crazy and will think about you often. While I will embrace my new home, know that you will never be forgotten. 🏠🤍

Thus closes the chapter of our Alabama lives. I hope to be back in Morgan County one day (and would love to purchase a home in the same neighborhood and flip it!) but until then, let’s get our Indiana adventure britches on, because this upcoming flip will be a doozy. Stay tuned!

A quick snap of my last Alabama sunset before moving to Indiana!