So, here we go again. It’s been about six months since we purchased our current home. It needs a little bit of TLC and a lot of updates – it was originally built in 1970. Some could call it a fixer upper, but really everything is functional and it’s in a great neighborhood, it just needs a little polishing.
Marc and I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of years talking about what we really want in a home and found that we were really looking for the following things – 1. a home in a safe neighborhood with great schools 2. a home that was close to town/the train for commuting to work 3. a home that we could put our own stamp on. We’ve learned that it’s more rewarding to renovate a space than to move into someone else’s pride and joy. We thought we found that in our previous home but then this house came on the market and it caught our eye. I know that anything can be changed within a house (this house is now our third home that we’ve done renovations) but that you cannot change its location, and the location of this house is unbeatable.
So I’ve put together a little photo tour of the home. The next time you see these rooms they will look very different. Up first, a peak at the empty rooms and then on to the list of projects!
The kitchen is my least favorite room in the house and will be a total gut job. Right now it’s clean and functional but the cabinets are old and there is hardly any storage or counter space. The plan for this room includes painting, new floors, new cabinets, new counter tops, new backsplash, new sink, new light fixtures and new appliances. Basically everything will be new including the layout/floorplan. We may even knock out a wall to open the kitchen up into the dining room. In the rest of the rooms it will just be cosmetic changes – a fresh coat of paint, new hardwood floors, doors, windows, trim and baseboards. That big bay window (especially without the curtains) in the living room makes me so happy but it’s old so we will eventually be replacing it with a new, more energy efficient one. 
During the inspection, we found mold in the attic, which we had abated before we moved in. We were also told we would need a new roof in three to five years. The pitch of our roof is really shallow and the front of our house is very traditional. To add a little interest we are changing the pitch of the roof, adding some windows and adding some additional square footage (a third floor) to the house. This will be our biggest project to date. When it’s finished, half of the space will be for storage and the other half of the space will be for multipurpose use – office, playroom, family space, guest room. This house doesn’t have a basement so I’m most excited about the additional storage space!
Part of the “third floor project” also includes bumping a bedroom (the room designated to be my studio) out over the garage. By doing that, we’ll be able to remove those two small closets currently in the master bedroom and add a walk-in closet. We’ll also be enlarging the master bathroom, swapping the location of the sink and shower stall and making the shower larger. Plus, a fresh coat of paint and a new window, door, tile floor, vanity, etc.
There are five bedrooms in this house. Four of the bedrooms share one hall bathroom. One idea we’ve been tossing around is losing a bedroom and using half of it for a jack and jill bathroom and the other half for a laundry room. Our laundry is currently on the main floor and shares space with the powder room/half bath. Once the laundry is moved upstairs, we will also redo the powder room/half bath and gain some additional square footage in the kitchen.
Our first project was remodeling the upstairs hall bath. At first we thought the project would just be cosmetic but we ended up gutting the entire thing and the only item we kept was the toilet. In the nursery, we’ve painted, removed the old hardwood floors and installed carpet, installed new windows, new trim and new baseboards. We still have to install new doors and a ceiling fan/light fixture. More details on these projects coming soon!
We are doing home projects weekly. People aren’t lying when they say the renovation process never ends. It’s a slow and tedious process. I’ll be back soon to share more stories about our renovations and decorating process. In the mean time, I’d love to hear about any of your home buying or home renovating experiences!
Like on Facebook
Pin to Pinterest
Share on Twitter
