Week 1

Ok, I'm jumping into this blog thing feeling completely clueless!  But, I want to be able to share the enormous joy, fear, and sometimes utter panic I feel as we tackle this huge project, so here we go! 

What started out as a little minor remodeling, plus gutting the kitchen, has turned into an almost completely-down-to-the-studs renovation.  It's crazy!  Every little project has led deeper and deeper into the bowels of the house.  I'm excited when I can picture the finished project, but also a little afraid that we'll never move in!  Here are the "Before's"...
Front of house. So much to do I can hardly stand it, but inside is definitely the priority right now.

What an un-lovely little entry!  But we have a few ideas.  First, lose the wallpaper!  And let's take the water heater out of the a/c closet behind the wall on the left and move it down the hall.  Then we can move the wall back even with the coat closet and have a little bit larger entry.  Oh, and change the door.  Of course!

And here's the living room.  Not too bad, but I Can't. Stand. Brick.  Not outside, and not inside.  So we will cover it up with something much more 'me':)  This was their staging furniture.  I'm glad I snapped a few 'before' pictures while we were inside with the realtor.  Everything went so fast once we took possession that I didn't have time to get more pictures before the demolition began!  You can sort of see the laminate floors, which we have pulled up and will upcycle into some of the property we own when it's time to replace carpet. It will be much nicer for the apartments, and will save us money along the way. Always a good thing:)


Looking from the fireplace to entry and dining room.

 And here's the lonnnnng hallway. It has a bajillion doors! Ok, just 10. More wallpaper to remove, and more laminate to be pulled up.  And lots of doors to paint.

I can't believe I don't have a picture of the former master bedroom!  But this is the master bath.  Oh my!  It will have a hole cut in the wall in the closet you can see to the right (through the decorative little posts.  haha) and it will then be accessible from the back bedroom.  The master bedroom has become the new laundry/craft room, while giving up about 2 feet so we could expand the living room a little and make the walls even with the new entry walls.  It has a door to the back yard, and pool, so this will also serve as the mud room for sopping wet little grandbabies.  I'm sure Duke will be happy to share his  new doggy shower if we need to hose anyone down!

There are 3 bedrooms in this end of the house, after losing the master.  They will be able to use this bathroom, or the one in the hall.

And here is the hall bath. We were going to leave as-is except for the paint, but after I removed all the baseboards and trim and got a really good look at the tile job I just felt a change was in order. Fortunately the DH agrees, and big changes are in the works!

I hope you enjoyed this little house tour.  I'll be posting photos of the kitchen (be prepared - it's hideous!), designated master bedroom and back yard soon.  Hope you'll come back for more!

Oh, and please bear with me as I learn how to actually set up a blog!!  Thank you:)