Where It All Began …

Three years ago Dan and I were in a bit of a pickle.  We were expecting our oldest son Brody, and we had to figure out quickly whether or not we wanted to continue renting, or “grow up” and take the plunge into purchasing a home.  Well, courageously and gracefully my in-laws took us under their roof until we came to a decision.  We knew fairly quickly we wanted to buy, it was just finding the right home.  It took us a year total, looking in every city imaginable besides the one we were living in.  Only to go looking at Christmas lights one evening with Brody and pulled into the drive of this colonial home that needed some TLC.  Tis’ the season right? Of course we wanted it, the minute we pulled into the driveway it just felt right.

The next day we looked at it with our realtor, and the most important deal breaker opinion of them all, Dan’s father John.  John has years of experience as a general contractor, and was a HUGE factor in helping us flip.  We took a deep breath when we opened the door, knowing it had been empty for at least 2 years.  It was exactly what we expected – OLD OLD, GROSS, and OLD.  What were we thinking wanting to buy a home that needed so much work when we had a little one? We made sure to remember that it was the bones of the house that mattered most, and the potential of what it could be.  We knew we could do it, and with Dan and John ready to roll up their sleeves, we purchased the home that very week and got to work just weeks following.

Here are some pictures of what the house looked like when we first purchased it, and the work we did along the way …

KITCHEN:

Original Game Plan : Paint cabinets & lay laminate.

SURPRISE! There was mold behind the sink & cabinets so everything had to go. Including our next pay check to purchase cabinets that we had not budgeted! Ah!
Once the dry wall was up, our new cabinets were painted and put into place.  The countertops we chose were cheap and simple, yet another item on our replace list. The paint color we chose we were completely unsure about at first, so glad we kept it, we still love it.

We laid new laminate flooring, that does not match our original hardwood floors (we know).  At the time we preferred laminate over tile, and it has worked out great with the kids, easy to keep clean!

The kitchen was renovated from floor up practically, so no need to ramble about the details!

DOWNSTAIRS (DINING ROOM/LIVING ROOM/SUN ROOM):

Our dining room, wish we would have known how much Brody would grow to love golf, would have kept the turf.

The living room, the bay window had us at hello.  We had to paint, tear up carpet, fix outlets, and lighting.

The green carpet was the least of our worries after we pulled a corner up to find original hardwood underneath.  HAHA.. Well, as the tug of war began we came to find this wonderful layer of glue/padding/practically cement laying underneath the rest of the dining room, living room, and hallway stairs.  Nevertheless, we were determined! Soaking and scraping by hand until our knuckles were bleeding! So dramatic I know, but it was a PAIN!!…

Almost there…

Much better.

The rest of the living room work to do, was paint.  The woodwork had to be painted 3x throughout the entire house because it was all oil based paint.  The walls were easy, we had a blank canvas downstairs.

And then we had our sun room, these pictures are so strange to look at.  We kept it this way, for a year, threw a curtain over the door so we could try to forget it was there! We were afraid to tackle it, knowing what a project it would turn into.  Now that it is done, I cannot believe it’s the same room!

When we were ready to start, Dan stripped down the ENTIRE room.

One fine sunday afternoon while I was working, Dan called me from Home Depot, all excited that he found these french doors on clearance that would look great in our sun room.  Anyone who knows me, sales are just my thing, and something I can RARELY pass up.  Of course I said yes, however, I, for some reason thought they were going in the entry way from the dining room to sun room.  Then I came home to this …

I was not a happy girl, if I do recall, Dan got an earful of confusion from me at first. Comments like, “Oh great, so it’s going on the back of the sun room? For what? Guests to open the doors and jump out into our backyard?” Only to be reassured that a deck/patio would be in the near future.  Just another project on our list =)

Never noticed how the snow had melted by the time we got the doors in, so funny.  Just goes to show how we do things, with two boys, and a very helpful father, we do things when we can! We ended up doing flooring, electrical, dry wall, lighting, paint, carpet, and heating.

1/2 BATHROOM:

We love this little bathroom, we always joke with our guests to use the airport bathroom.  Where you can go to the bathroom and wash your hands at the same time. Tiny, but a convenient first floor bath.

We kept the sink, and then dry walled select areas, painted, replaced the mirror, flooring and toilet.

UPSTAIRS: ( 3 bedroom, 1 bath)

Going up … We tore the rest of the carpet up, and painted the entire landing upstairs.

Brody’s Room, we painted, and replaced light fixtures.

Our Bedroom, we painted and replaced light fixtures.

Owen’s Bedroom, we painted and replaced light fixtures.

HAHA. Our bathroom, there is a handle incase anyone needs to jump out the window to spare themselves from staring at these curtains! In this room, we painted, replaced the floor, electrical, vanity, mirror, toilet and select tiling on the wall.

BASEMENT:

This is how the basement looked when we purchased the home.  It is currently our main project that we are breaking down slowly but surely.

Okay folks! So that is where it all began.  Hate to leave it all on a cliff hanger, but over the past two years we have re-decorated SO many times that we would bore you with all the pictures.  So, stay tuned.  We will be posting our current home tour pictures this week, to fast forward you to where we stand today.  Our style is forever evolving, we even repainted our dining room this evening.  OOPS.  We cannot stop, and we wont!