Google+ Southern Newlywed home tour Archives - Southern Weddings

Southern Weddings

Tag: Southern Newlywed home tour

Taking down Christmas decorations sure makes a place seem a little sad, don’t you think? That’s why I’m taking lots of notes from today’s Southern Newlywed home tour–it’s one of the happiest houses I’ve ever seen! And no surprise, considering it belongs to one of the sweetest and cheeriest gals south of the Mason-Dixon, Maghon Taylor of All She Wrote Notes, and her childhood-sweetheart-turned-husband Chris. Maghon is a longtime friend of SW (you may remember her from her and Chris’ wedding post, or our launch party live streams, which she has graciously hosted for the past three years!), and we couldn’t be more delighted to take a virtual tour of the home she and Chris have lovingly renovated…and just in time for their baby boy, who will be joining the Taylor party soon!

Thanks so much to Anna Paschal (who also shot Maghon and Chris’ wedding!) for these lovely photos!

The couple: Maghon (30) and Chris (31) Taylor
Years married: One year and eight months
Children’s names and ages: Our baby boy (VCT) is due February 2017
Where you live: Elon, North Carolina
Tell us a little bit about yourselves. I am a sweet Carolina calligrapher on a mission to spread happiness through my handwriting through my business, All She Wrote Notes. My middle school sweetheart Chris is following a long-standing family tradition of working in the automotive industry. We have known each other all our lives, but finally found our way back to each other when we were 25, and knew right away that this was where we were supposed to be all along. We were born and raised in the same small town in North Carolina and are starting a family of our own this year! We love Carolina basketball, porch parties, playing golf, and banana pudding. We love traveling to watch live sporting events and Texas is our favorite state to visit. We eat breakfast together every day and we have a sweet and crazy goldendoodle named Teddy Confetti who keeps us on our toes.
Tell us your love story in one sentence. We met in first grade, fell in love in sixth grade, then crushed on each other for more than 20 years before promising to be on the same team forever.

What is your favorite part of being married? Oh goodness! All of it. Since I’ve had a crush on Chris Taylor since first grade, I used to doodle his name on my trapper keeper growing up. I LOVE that his last name is also mine. I still get all heart-eyed every time I get to say it or write it. Besides that, just knowing that I get to spend all of the holidays, all of the weekends, and all of life’s special moments with Chris by my side forever. He isn’t going away. I still pinch myself sometimes when I think about it.
What has been the most surprising thing about marriage? I love how fun marriage is for us. Even when things are crazy, there isn’t anyone else I’d rather be doing life with than Chris.
Do you rent or own? What are your hopes and plans for the future in this area? Tell us a little bit about where you live. We currently own two homes, but are in the process of selling my first home. We purchased this Elon property together in July and have been slowly renovating it room by room, and it has been awesome to see it all come together.

Tell us about the process of moving in together. Do you have any tips for blending your two styles? We moved in together a couple of weeks before our wedding. To be honest, it never truly felt like OUR home until we moved again a year later. Originally, Chris moved into my house that I had lived in for three years before we got married, and it was hard to find space for him to feel like he had ownership. Two of our spare bedrooms were filled with my business, All She Wrote Notes, and the house was at capacity with an additional person (and a new puppy). This past July, we purchased our new home in Elon together. NOW it feels like home. We have made every decision together and it totally and completely feels like a place that tells our story. As far as tips for blending styles, narrow down choices and let him pick between your two faves. If you leave the options endless, you may be disappointed. That way, if you love both, he gets to choose one of those and everybody is happy. Also, if there is a project that he is really passionate about, let him take the reins. It turned out, Chris is WAY better about choosing paint colors than I am. He chose every one in our house.
Where do you splurge and where do you save when decorating? What are some of your favorite sources for home things? We splurged right after we got married on a brand new (white) sofa! I just HAD to have it and it was our first married purchase. Even though Chris thought it was a bad, idea, he loves me and went along with it. I love it to pieces, but y’all, almost two years (and a puppy) later, it’s kind of a hot mess. Almost every other piece of furniture was either a consignment store treasure or a Home Goods/TJ Maxx score. I live for the thrill of the hunt, and at the end of the day, I love all of the items with a story SO much more than the ones that we ordered and waited months for. There’s just something so satisfying about walking into a store and there only being ONE of the item, and you were the lucky soul to find it. I get excited just thinking about it! I don’t believe something has to be expensive to have style, and I love sharing stories with people about how each piece came to join our family.

What most makes your house feel like home? Eating pizza on our wedding china every Friday night with Chris on the couch next to me and Teddy snuggled up with us. This is a tradition we started when we were engaged and it’s the highlight of my week. I love that our home is beautiful, but it’s also lived in. It makes me happy to see Chris’ shoes in the floor and his clothes in our laundry room. We lived apart for so many years that it’s such a great feeling to finally share a home and a life together.

What is your go-to weeknight meal? Weekend meal? Chris actually works third shift from 7 P.M. until 6 A.M. during the week, so we only have weekend meals together (besides breakfast). Since there’s no one else here to cook for, it just never made sense for us to cook during the week. Since our time is so limited on the weekends, we let someone else do the cooking (and the dishes!) and eat takeout pizza on Fridays and other local favorites like Mexican or Italian on Saturdays and Sundays. We don’t go anywhere super fancy and rarely spend a lot, but it’s nice to have that time together. We are welcoming our first child this February, so an effort to make more meals at home is in the works, since there will eventually be an extra mouth to feed!
What’s your favorite place to find recipes? I have an old-fashioned recipe book that I’ve written down my favorite meals from my mom, my friends, and most recently, Chris’ grandma, in. I use those (currently there are about 20) every time I cook. I love pen and paper, so this works great for me. Even if something is emailed to me, I transfer that onto a cute little card and file it away.

How do you remember your wedding in your home? (Pictures, mementos, etc.) Our wedding program was a five-foot chalkboard that listed all of our attendants. I calligraphed it myself and we actually have it in our dining room as part of the decor. Our theme was “Cheers Y’all” and we had a large wooden sign hanging over our bar at the reception, which is proudly displayed in our not-so-formal dining area. We gave out golf tees as favors that said “For Better or FORE worse” and I have those on the nightstand by my bed. We also have our invitation envelope framed (it was my favorite paper detail) after I saw the idea in Callie and Jamie’s newlywed interview, here on Southern Weddings! And of course, we have amazing photos from Anna Paschal Photography in as many places as we can put them.
Which items from your wedding registry do you use the most often? Our china! I am not a cook, so we actually order takeout quite often. However, I insist on eating on our wedding china. Life is a special occasion, and I fully support breaking out the fancy plates on a Friday.

What different decisions, if any, would you make for your registry if you knew then what you knew now? We got married in our late 20s and I already had a fully stocked home. We didn’t register for too many things, but I wish we had actually done a little more. Over the past year, in an effort to get excited about cooking, I have purchased a lot of stone bakeware, glass bowls, measuring sets, and lots of fun tools. In hindsight, these are all items I could have registered for; I just didn’t feel like we would use them. We also purchased a really nice vacuum cleaner with gift cards we got from our guests, which was a GREAT idea that I highly recommend. We use it all the time.
How does your family handle finances? Do you use a set budget? We created a budget when we first got married and based all of our spending off of the percentage that each of us makes. Our salaries don’t align up 50-50 (more like 70-30), so we divided all of our bills accordingly. One of us pays the mortgage payment, and the other one pays all of the utilities. We still have separate accounts for things we had prior to our marriage such as car insurance, car payments, and the like. We also have a joint savings account. We don’t go grocery shopping consistently (see above posts) but we take turns paying when we do. When we go out to dinner, we play what we call the card game and shuffle our two debit cards under the table. One of us draws a card, and that’s who pays! We laugh about it every time and the suspense and playfulness makes it feel like we are still on a date!

What is one small way you love or serve your spouse? Chris brings me breakfast every day. I don’t ever have to place an order–after all these years, he knows what I would love to eat from any place he goes. My favorite is when he saves the last bite of his cinnamon roll for me. The middle bite (the best one) has always been mine. It’s so small, but I don’t take it for granted. He also leaves the lights on when he knows I will be coming home after dark. I can always count on the porch lights and garage lights beaming when I turn in and it makes me feel safe. I am half asleep when Chris comes in from work at 6 A.M., and this time of year, it’s still dark outside. Our house alarm wakes me up and I shout from our room, “Hey babe! Welcome home!” every morning. Once he comes to bed and before I actually get up for the day, I lay there with him for a few minutes and rub his hair while he falls asleep.
Do you have children? What are your hopes and plans for the future in this area? Almost! We found out we were expecting our little boy just a few weeks after one first wedding anniversary. He will join our team this February. We are so excited!
Before getting married, I wish someone had told me… it’s so much better than you even think it will be.
This year, our family is most excited about… welcoming our baby boy! It’s still so surreal to think we will have a little guy here with us in just a few weeks. We know that the first year with a newborn will certainly be a challenge, especially with our schedules, but we know we are so blessed that God chose us to be his parents, and we are so excited to take on this adventure together.

What’s your best tip for balancing your relationship and other life priorities (work, personal time, extended family, etc.)? You have to make the time and put each other first. Since we don’t have a traditional schedule, Chris and I don’t see each other during the week other than about 20 minutes in passing in the mornings or evenings. As hard as that may seem, it actually makes spending time and juggling other priorities like family and work a breeze, as long as I can get them done during the week. Then I fiercely protect our weekends. I almost never work on Friday-Sunday and neither does Chris. We also try not to make more than one weekend night of plans with other people like friends or family. When we are together, it’s easy to get caught up on our phones, so sometimes I will literally grab them both and put them in another room. Quality time is both of our love languages, so it has been huge for us to protect those moments together, since the quantity of our time is sometimes low.

Which room in your home is your favorite, and why? This is currently changing by the day, but my favorite room in our house is my All She Wrote Notes studio. I run my business from home and I LOVE that I have a dedicated space over the garage so that it is somewhat separate from the rest of our home. Chris and Teddy walk upstairs every day at the end of my work day, and that is seriously my happiest moment and what I most look forward to.

Is there anything else about your home or family life that you think our readers would be interested in? When we bought this home, there was literally floor to ceiling wallpaper in almost every room. It was built in the early 90s and was probably amazing at that time, but we channeled our inner Chip and Joanna and we were so excited to get to work. Little did we know, I was pregnant, so I was very sick throughout the whole renovation. All of it took much longer than expected (and it’s still ongoing), but with the help of both of our parents and friends, it all came together. We are so proud of it and are honored to share with all of you. Renovations are NOT like they look on TV, y’all. It can sometimes get SO crazy and overwhelming, but what I would recommend to anyone is to finish one room to completion if you can, and let that be your little oasis. We completed our living room, my office, and then our bedroom one at a time, and every time, I got a little bit of sanity back. It was a HUGE game changer to go to sleep and wake up in a room without saw dust, and allowed me to breathe and collect myself before starting the day.

Thank you so much for sharing your hearts and home with us, Maghon and Chris! Find Maghon’s business here (we highly recommend her super fun hand lettering classes if you’re in the Triangle!) and follow her on Instagram here.

P.S. We’d love to hear from you! Our hope is to feature REAL couples in the South – your inspiring friend, super talented cousin, or neighbor with the cutest house – the kind of person everyone would love to “e-meet.” If that sounds like you or someone you know, take a peek at our Southern Newlywed submission page and shoot us an email!

lisa Written with love by Lisa
3 Comments
  1. avatar Maghon Taylor reply

    Thank y’all SO much for featuring our home sweet home!! Southern’s Weddings has been with us every step of the way and we love all of your reminders of a beautiful life and marriage together.

  2. avatar Sarah reply

    This is the cutest home, but the fun is really in the details, love the pom, pom banner on the bar cart, like a party wherever it goes and the confetti chair!!

  3. avatar Lorin Fairweather reply

    That desk chair – so lovely!

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

Reply to:
close

We had the privilege of meeting Alison almost a year ago when she and a group of the Proverbs 31 Ministries ladies came to visit the SW office. We were so impressed by how kind and intentional these ladies are, and truly cherished our time chatting about life and business with them! When we spotted a few photos of Alison and her husband’s house in Charlotte, we had no doubt that along with beautiful photos of the place they call home, we could count on Alison for an insightful, thoughtful interview here on Southern Newlywed. Sure enough, I loved getting a peek at Alison and Luke’s space, but even more so, I love what they shared about making their house a home, quality time together, and so much more. Enjoy!

Thanks so much to Maggie Colletta for these lovely photos!

The couple: Alison (27) and Luke (25) Fargason
Years married: Four
Where they live: Charlotte, North Carolina
Tell us a little bit about yourselves. Luke and I both from sweet home Alabama. I grew up playing with art supplies and Luke grew up playing sports and hunting and fishing with his dad. We both attended Auburn University (War Eagle!), which is where we met and fell in love. This was special to us because both of our parents met at Auburn as well! We now live in Charlotte, North Carolina and we absolutely love it! Luke is a financial aAdvisor with Thrivent Financial and I am the Design Director at Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Do you rent or own? What are your hopes and plans for the future in this area? Tell us a little bit about where you live. We bought our first house in May 2014 in Charlotte. It is located on a quiet street with lots of amenities close by. Some of our favorites things to do are evening neighborhood walks with our golden retriever, Ellie, and drinking coffee on our front porch in the mornings before work. Our house is a 1980’s red brick ranch that needed lots of TLC when we first moved in. Seeing our house transform from an outdated home into the perfect space for us has been so much fun. We still have a long list of updates we’d like to make, but for now, we are learning to enjoy the process of seeing it transform, little by little. We love hosting parties and having guests over. Our hope is that people always sense God’s peace and joy in our home.
Tell us about the process of moving in together. Do you have any tips for blending your two styles? I would say our moving in together process was relatively easy. Luke trusts me with designing our house and lets me run free with my ideas. His only two cents was that it “needs to comfortable–it can’t JUST look good.” And I agree! Charlotte has tons of amazing antique shops that we enjoy going to on the weekends. Luke grew up hunting with his dad, so you will find several deer heads and antlers throughout our house. When I recently hung the deer head in our den, Luke looked at me and said “On earth as it is in heaven.”

Which room in your home is your favorite, and why? I would have to say our main den. When we began renovating our home, this is where we put our attention first, and it’s where we spend most of our time together. Lots of our favorite furniture pieces are in there so that we are able to enjoy them the most!
Where do you splurge and where do you save when decorating? What are some of your favorite sources for home things? Thankfully, the majority of our furniture was given to us by our parents or grandparents, so we have not had to splurge on many things for our home. And honestly, we’ve found some things off the side of the road (so fun!). In some cases, I see something I like online or in a magazine, and if it is expensive, we will wait to buy it, and search Craig’s List for a pre-owned option. Favorite sources for home things? Goodness, where do I begin? First off, I love antique malls. Charlotte has a plethora of awesome, amazing places to visit (and with great prices too). The Depot and Gibson Mill and White Owl, both in Concord, North Carolina, are favorites. And who doesn’t love Home Goods?

Who cooks dinner? I do, but Luke has mastered the grill and makes a mean omelet!
What is your go-to weeknight meal? Weekend meal? Our weeknight go-to is BBQ Chicken Apple Pizza. It is a super easy and quick dinner! We usually eat out on the weekends, and our go-to is anything Mexican!
What different decisions, if any, would you make for your registry if you knew then what you knew now? I would have registered for more unique pieces that you can’t buy at Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Target. Don’t get me wrong, I love those practical things, but it’s not really stuff that you can pass down to your children and grandchildren one day. I’d go for more heirloom pieces.

How does your family handle finances? Do you use a set budget? Considering Luke is a financial planner, we definitely set a budget. He is really great about leading us in this area and I am SO thankful. Although he has more of a knack for numbers, our goal is to always handle our finances jointly. We always want to be in agreement about decisions and plans for our future.
What’s your best tip for balancing your relationship and other life priorities (work, personal time, extended family, etc.)? Communication. Luke and I always try to over-communicate our plans and expectations. At the beginning of each week, we usually go through our work schedules and any plans we have. This allows us to know what is ahead for the week and helps us to adjust our needs and to dos accordingly.

What is your favorite part of being married? Always having the opportunity to be together. Quality time is the #1 love language for both of us, so obviously, we LOVE spending time together, even if it is just sitting in the same room or going to a coffee shop. I remember when we came home from our honeymoon, it was so much fun moving in together. It was like having a sleepover every night with our best friend!
What has been the most surprising thing about marriage? Honestly, I have been surprised by how selfish I can be. I did not realize this until my imperfections were bumping up so closely to someone else’s. Living with someone and being so vulnerable can reveal some of the selfish things we tend to hold on to. All and all, I am thankful for this. Daily, I hope to grow into a better, unselfish, and loving spouse.

Do you have a favorite date night idea to share? We love to go out to eat at our favorite local restaurants, but I think one of our most favorite things to do is go on family walks with our golden, Ellie. There are several restaurants and coffee shops within walking distance of our house, and we love treating ourselves to iced americanos after a long walk!
Do you have children? What are your hopes and plans for the future in this area? Not yet, but we are excited to have kids soon!
This year, our family is most excited about… taking a bucket list trip to Israel!

Thank you so much for sharing your hearts and home with us, Alison and Luke! Follow along with them on Alison’s website and Instagram and Luke’s Instagram.

P.S. Just as a reminder: we’d love to hear from you, too! If you’re interested, take a peek at our Southern Newlywed submission page and shoot us an email!

lisa Written with love by Lisa
3 Comments
  1. avatar Donna reply

    Loved your article Lisa…..thank you for sharing a glimpse into the life of Luke & Alison and photos of their beautiful home built on the love❤️

  2. avatar Paula reply

    I love the decor!! So well done!! Beautiful!!

    http://www.livingpaula.com

  3. avatar tammy reply

    Loved this. So encouraging!! Thank you for sharing with us.

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

Reply to:
close

Raise your hand if you’re addicted to HGTV’s Fixer Upper…hands all raised? Us too! One of the most fun things about sweet Joanna and Chip’s show is that I think it has made us all a little braver about the possibility of taking on a fixer upper of our own. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what Jessica and Mark did–she bought their Montgomery house as a “renovation side project” before they got engaged, and as the house began to turn into a home, they knew it would be just right for their newlywed nest. Jessica and Mark are expecting their first little one this year, and I can only imagine how special it will be to bring their new baby home to a place they poured so much love into!

Check out the “before” pictures of Jessica and Mark’s house below (and more here, if you’re interested!), and then keep scrolling to see the finished space captured by Holland Williams Photography!

The couple: Mark (30) and Jessica (28) Spurlin
Years married: Five months
Children’s names and ages (if applicable): One on the way!
Where they live: We live in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Cloverdale Historic District.
Tell us a little bit about yourselves. We share a love of architecture and old houses! Mark studied landscape architecture in college and just finished his Masters in building science. He is an assistant project engineer for a commercial construction company and is loving it! I am an interior designer and have a background in art history. We were married on July 25 and just found out that we are expecting!! We are in for a fun ride!

Tell us your love story in one sentence. Some mutual friends thought we were a perfect match…they were right!
What is your favorite part of being married? Being on a date that doesn’t end is pretty cool! We have so enjoyed spending time with each other doing the little things, like dishes and yard work. You get to know each other in a different way than you can before marriage.
What has been the most surprising thing about marriage? The pet peeves!! We laugh nearly every day about doing things that drives the other crazy! Mark constantly forgets to close his closet door and I don’t do anything in the kitchen without making a commotion!

Which room in your home is your favorite, and why? Our kitchen is absolutely our favorite space in our home! When we first bought the house, the kitchen wasn’t fit to cook as much as a hot pocket. It had a stove that looked like it came off of the Little House on the Prairie set, a microwave, and a washer and dryer. I redesigned the kitchen and added custom cabinetry so that it’s functional…and so that no one actually knows we are hiding a washer and dryer in there!

Who cooks dinner? I do, usually! Since finding out we’re pregnant, we have definitely cooked less frequently, but we have loved experimenting with new recipes and foods, and trying not to burn the house down in the process.
What is your go-to weeknight meal? Weekend meal? Our go-to weeknight meal is usually soup. We have experimented with some different recipes, but our favorite is a peanut butter and vegetable soup–sounds scary, but is divine! We live around the corner from a really yummy pizza spot, Tomatinos, which is our go-to weekend meal. It’s super convenient and the food can’t be beat!
What’s your favorite place to find recipes? In the world of Pinterest fails, I’ve learned to actually follow food bloggers and ask friends for tried and true recipes. My latest addiction is allrecipes.com–I love pictures and reviews, and this website makes it super easy to find great dishes.

Do you rent or own? What are your hopes and plans for the future in this area? Tell us a little bit about where you live. Mark introduced me to his favorite realtor, and I bought the house before we got engaged as a little renovation project! After endless months of demo, work, and renovation, we knew this house would be the perfect newlywed nest. As our family continues to grow, we will definitely need more space, so we hope to do more renovation in the future. You learn a lot about each other through dealing with an old house–it’s the ultimate premarital counseling!
Tell us about the process of moving in together. Do you have any tips for blending your two styles? I am an interior designer, so combining multiple styles is in my blood! I locked Mark out of the house for two weeks leading up to the wedding and moved ALL of our things in. We added some new pieces to some that we had prior to this house, which helped our older things feel new. My best advice when combining two styles: making sure that your spouse feels at home and comfortable is key. If you can’t picture them living there, then you’ve missed the mark!

What most makes your house feel like home? When designing our house, we wanted it to feel comfortable and welcoming above all else. We chose washable slipcovers and young, fresh colors, and ended up with a casual and fun space that we can relax in. Low maintenance is difficult to find in an old house, and somehow, we got lucky and made it happen!
Where do you splurge and where do you save when decorating? What are some of your favorite sources for home things? We wanted to make sure that our splurge items were good investments we would have for a long time, while items we could save on could be a bit more temporary. We splurged on a new sofa with fabulous Lulu DK pillows (that we’re completely obsessed with!), but saved on a rug by going with an inexpensive seagrass. We also used IKEA light fixtures in our kitchen–we could never agree on what to put in there and needed a fixture to pass inspections. Luckily, we loved them the second they went up! We found most of our accessories at PARISH (the sister store to the design firm that I work for) but have also found many pieces at antique stores, flea markets, and our parents’ attics.

What is your favorite memory from your wedding? Our favorite memory from our wedding day was our first look (which just so happened to be as I was walking down the aisle!). Our ceremony was outside overlooking a beautiful valley, and Mark’s brothers opened two antique doors that led to the aisle. Perfect moment!
How do you remember your wedding in your home? (Pictures, mementos, etc.) Over the past few years, we have both done quite a bit of traveling abroad, so rather than a guest book, our guests signed vintage postcards from some of our favorite places! We have a basket in our living room with all of the postcards in it, and we have had SO much fun reliving our day through those sweet notes.

What different decisions, if any, would you make for your registry if you knew then what you knew now? More towels! Holy moly, you can never have too many towels!

Do you have a favorite date night idea to share? Our favorite date nights are usually the ones where we can hang on the sofa and watch a movie we’ve seen a thousand times. We can talk and laugh and really just be mindless. Those are the best nights!
What’s your best tip for balancing your relationship and other life priorities (work, personal time, extended family, etc.)? We are definitely figuring this out along the way! We have been very intentional about our commitments to other people or organizations so that we still have time for each other and our families. After reading “The Best Yes,” I realized that even good things that you want to say yes to can often take you away from something (like being with your husband) that is a “best” yes. Read it–you will be obsessed!

Thank you so much for sharing your hearts and home with us, Jessica and Mark!

P.S. Just as a reminder: we’d love to hear from you, too! If you’re interested, take a peek at our Southern Newlywed submission page and shoot us an email!

lisa Written with love by Lisa
3 Comments
  1. avatar Lauren Carnes reply

    Wow, this is so, so beautiful!!!

  2. avatar Rhiannon reply

    This home is incredible! What an amazing and special transformation.

  3. avatar Jordan reply

    Beautiful, airy, fresh, bright and cozy! Oh wow – what an inspiration! They did a fabulous job transforming their new home. Love!

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

Reply to:
close
Top