Our Homes
Camp Pendleton, California | 2026-Present
After less than a year in our previous home, we were offered this house on the other side of our neighborhood on Camp Pendleton. The sprawling single-story ranch-style house afforded us much more space than our previous home and has so much big-but-bland potential. We are busy transforming this latest home for (what we hope will be) the next few years!
Camp Pendleton, California | 2025-2026
When we moved into this two-story home aboard Camp Pendleton in California, we assumed it would be for (at least) 2-3 years. As such, we worked hard to make our stuff fit into a smaller footprint than we were used to, and we tackled a bunch of smart DIY projects to infuse the bland military housing with more style. We only got through the first floor of projects when we found out we were moving again!
Carlisle, Pennsylvania | 2024-2025
We moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania for less than 1 year. Because we knew this was going to be a short assignment, we put most of our belongings into storage and did very little to our on-base duplex. Besides hanging wallpaper on a single wall (shown below), we didn’t change much else to this house, using the short assignment as a reprieve from DIY projects too!
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 2022-2024
We loved living in this historical white 2-story home in Paradise Point aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Original pine wood floors, high ceilings, solid wood moulding, and lots of charm provided an amazing foundation to experiment with a wide range of renter-friendly upgrades. This home features some of our most ambitious makeovers ever, and is our favorite home to date!
Lorton, Virginia | Fort Belvoir | 2019-2022
We lived in Lorton, Virginia while officially assigned to Fort Belvoir. We moved into this spacious, updated 2-story Colonial in 2019 and left in the summer of 2022. We considered this rental to be our very first “grown up” home with hardwood floors, an updated kitchen, and full basement. I was truly able to put all my years of rental decor and organization practice to work in this home to make it look and feel truly like ours!
San Diego, California | MCAS Miramar | 2016-2019
We lived in San Diego, CA (Poway to be exact!) while assigned to MCAS Miramar. This typical southern California, two-story home was spacious and grand, but its textured walls and pervasive brown color palette truly challenged my design skills. In the end, we were able to transform almost every inch to our liking, relying on tons of renter-friendly updates!
Leavenworth, Kansas | Fort Leavenworth | 2015-2016
We lived off base while assigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This charming split-level home was our very first experience living in a “real” rental (rather than base housing). Because we lived here for less than one year, I vowed to transform the entire place without using a drop of paint…and these room reveals contain some of my best rental hacks ever!
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina | 2012-2015
We lived in Paradise Point (military base housing) aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in a single-story Capecod-style home. This is the first home I decorated while blogging; and I truly painted, furnished, decorated, and then re-decorated every inch of this 1300 square foot home. It is here where I really learned how to DIY and came to firmly believe in the power of decorating a rental home!
Quantico, Virginia | 2011-2012
We lived board Marine Corps Base Quantico from 2011-2012. This was a fast, busy year while my husband was in school and our first baby was a newborn. Although I did as much as I could to this one-story Lincoln Military Housing unit, a new baby and our short timeframe curtailed many projects. However, this is where the DIY bug really took hold and I officially published my first post here on the blog!
San Diego, California | MCRD San Diego | 2008-2011
While assigned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego (MCRD) from 2008-2011, we were young, child-free, and lived in a small-but-stylish condo in Mission Valley. Having just returned from overseas, we experimented with lots of DIY projects and rental hacks as we attempted to find our home style, but this was all before good digital cameras and home blogs, so photos are scant!
Okinawa, Japan | Camp Courtney | 2005-2008
Our very first assignment as a young married couple was to Okinawa, Japan. From 2005-2008, we lived aboard Camp Courtney in one of the newly renovated “Towers.” When my husband deployed for the first time, I bought a bunch of Better Homes & Gardens magazines and immersed myself in the world of home decor and rental upgrades. It was here that I taught myself to how to sew and paint furniture, and I truly DIY’d every single inch of this apartment with very limited access to craft supplies, fabric, furniture, and other craft necessities!
