Finding our house was pretty much like an episode of House Hunters. We looked at three houses and put an offer on one that day. We picked House #2: a 1970’s contemporary that needed a little TLC. We wanted a house that we could grow into instead of a starter home that we may quickly outgrow and at 4 bedrooms/2600sqft, this one was a clear winner. This house hit pretty much every point on our wishlist and was priced really well for the neighborhood. The house is being updated slowly but surely so this page will constantly be changing to show its progress (unless I forget in which case this page will remain as outdated as some parts of our house).
Front Yard
Here’s a picture of the house soon after we moved in. You can’t see most of the yard but believe me, there’s a lot to do – remove some smaller trees, remove the azaleas and replace them with something else, trim back some of the other trees, toss out some grass seed and hope for the best, and maybe add some other plants.
This is what our yard is looking like these days.
Front Entrance
This is how the entrance to our house looked on the day we moved in.
The space has a long way to go and we’ve been tossing around ideas as to how to lighten it up a bit so it’s not so much of a cave. Here it is with a few changes – new light fixture, planters, new mat – but desperately needing a good power wash (among other things).
We ended up rebuilding the front porch due to rot. Here’s what it looks like now.
Entryway
I’m a bad, bad blogger and did not take an actual before picture. Instead, here is what one wall of our entry looked like not long after moving in.
Here’s a different angle showing what the area looks like today. We replaced the flooring and put down a rug that has now been partially chewed up by the dogs. We’re working on replacing the front door and after an attempt to remove painted over wallpaper, we’ve decided to just skim coat the ragged wall area instead. We also need to install baseboards on the short wall and I’d like to switch out the boob light for can lighting.
Living Room
Our living room was reminiscent of a mountain lodge – brown and woodsy. The paneling is actually really nice wood, not the cheap, shiny paneling that’s in a lot of 70s homes.
Here’s a similar angle of what the room looks like today. We replaced the carpet with laminate flooring, took out the railings on each side of the room, painted the paneling and ceiling, and stained the beams a little darker. The paneling looks bright white here but it’s actually a little warmer because we wanted some of the wood to show through. The fireplace has grown on me but unfortunately, there’s some pretty bad damage underneath the hearth so eventually it will have to be torn out and replaced. We also want to take out the two columns in the room.
Study (formerly the dining room)
The room we’re using as a study is what the previous owners used as the dining room. It doesn’t make sense for use to use it that way since there is a large room connected to the kitchen that functions better as a dining area. Here’s the photo from the listing, complete with futuristic light fixture.
We haven’t done much in this room yet – a little paint and some furniture have been tossed in and we changed out that light but we have a long way to go. We went ahead and replaced the carpet with laminate when we were working on the living room floor. We would love to add built ins along one wall and replace this sectional with something smaller that fits the room better. We also need to replace the old blinds that we got rid of, get an area rug, and I’d like to eventually add recessed lighting instead of the flush mount fixture we put in.
Kitchen
The kitchen was one of the first rooms we touched. When we moved in, it was very dark and claustrophobic.
We started on this room just hours after closing. To date we have painted the walls and the cabinets. We intend to add a backsplash – probably white subway tile and a dark gray grout – as well as paint the other walls a different shade of gray that doesn’t read as purple as our current gray.
Dining Room
This room was listed as a “Florida room” but we are using it as a dining room. Our future plans for this space are to move the doors further down the wall (which means expanding our deck), and swinging the kitchen peninsula around so that it’s against the outside wall. This will open up the space and fix our issue of blocking off access to each space when the fridge is open.
Laundry Room
The laundry room got a quick makeover shortly after we moved in. Here it is before we touched it.
And here it is after painting the walls (Sherwin Williams – Sea Salt) and the cabinets, adding in our new washer and dryer (which we got a major deal on from Sears scratch & dent), and installing a counter top. Eventually, we’ll replace the floor and both doors (access to the house and the garage) and look into the possibility of getting rid of the drop ceiling – maybe adding new pot lights, too?
Half Bath
Across from the laundry room is the powder room. We overhauled this room a few months after moving in and had to deal with a bit of surprise mold among other issues.
Here is what the space looked like after that project:
About a year later, we decided to re-do the room again because we weren’t really happy with how it turned out the first time and we felt like we had a better grasp on what style we wanted to incorporate into the house. Here’s what it looks like today:
Downstairs closet
Because our laundry room is small, we’ve had to find an alternate solution for things such as shoes, purses, and jackets..because taking them upstairs is clearly out of the question. We decided to work with the closet between the laundry and half bath. Here it is when we moved in (98% of the stuff in the closet was left by the previous owners).
We figured the best thing for us to do with this space would be to turn it into a make shift mudroom.
Master Bedroom
We have a decently sized master bedroom that boasts a double door entry and vaulted ceilings. You only get one picture because the only difference between the listing photo and what it looks like in real life is the addition of our bed, make shift nightstands, dog crate, and piles of laundry.
Master Bathroom
We have big plans for this bathroom. I’m talking knocking down walls, adding windows, big tile shower, double vanity, dream bathroom. Unfortunately, we’ve got to save lots of pennies for that to happen. We’re trying to come up with a few ideas to make it more appealing until we can afford the big reno but for now this is what we’re working with.
Guest Bathroom
The upstairs hall bathroom is small but workable. We did a small makeover taking it from this:
…to this:
Kyle’s studio (Bedroom #2)
Coming Soon
Jessica’s Office/Craft Room (Bedroom #3)
Here are the nightmare before photos of the Craft Room:
And here’s how it looks now:
Bedroom #4 /Master Closet
This is the fourth and smallest of the bedrooms which we converted to serve as our walk-in closet. We have two closets in our bedroom/bathroom but neither are very big and we both have a lot of clothes and shoes. We don’t need a full time bedroom here and we don’t have a need for an entertainment room either, so closet it is!
Deck/Backyard
Our deck and backyard have a lot of potential but landscaping is low on the priority list right now. I’ve already mentioned expanding the deck but the existing deck will most likely need to be torn down and a new one built in its place.
