Minor House Updates Make a Difference

Sorry for the poor quality - it's the AMCC stock photo & this is as clear as I could get it.

When we moved to Camp Lejeune, we decided to live on base for the first time. I was pregnant with Caroline and we were looking for something easy and safe, which made the decision easy! Little did we know, we were blessed to be given a house in the cutest little neighborhood.

The houses are two story and, for the most part, all look the same. At first, I was all, "Eh, it's fine. No changes necessary!" Now, about a year and a half later, I was feeling like our house was closing in on me. We'd put every item we own into the house and "made it work." It was time for a change.

First, I added some peel and stick wallpaper to our back splash. A lot of the neighbors have varying version of this, but I scored mine at a rummage sale (Thanks, Sirena!) last spring.

While talking upgrades with the neighbors, a lot of us complained about the gap behind the stove. I knew there had to be solution!

I went to good ole Pinterest and saw this stove shelf. Mark and I have a lot of scrap wood and I was able to build us one easily and quickly... and it makes such a difference!

One of my talented neighbors painted the stove shelf and, when she came over to see how it looked, she suggested I add some shelves above my sink.

I hadn't thought of this, but they turned out so awesome! I love that the window sill is mostly empty now and all of the plants now have a home. I also added a framed picture of my grandma because she was always cooking and teaching me how to cook.

Pro tip: Use 3M strips on the bottom of your stuff so the artillery booms don't knock them off the shelf and break them.

In our half bath downstairs, we were struggling with space. It's very, very tiny. There was a cabinet on the wall, above the toilet and it just made it feel even smaller! I decided to remove the cabinet and add a vinyl wallpaper. Then, using more wood that we already had, I made some "floating shelves."

I decided to give this room a theme: travel. It has photos from all throughout our travels, which Mark and I loved going through and picking awesome photos. Plus, there are some keepsakes: sand dollars from our honeymoon, shells from Okinawa, and rope from the Naha Tug of War.


You can't always make a lot of changes to a home when you're renting, but little changes that can easily be reversed make a huge difference! Weeks later, I'm still so happy with how everything looks and feels. It really seems like our home is just a little more unique, a little more.... homey.