I guess I'll start at the very beginning, a very good place to start as Julie Andrews will tell you, so let's go all the way back to May. My husband, who evidently got the real estate itch, was searching through the mls listings online. He was findin some pretty nice stuff, but let's be honest, I don't really do nice stuff for a couple of reasons:
1.) I'm super-particular (or maybe OCD), and I wanna pick out my own everything, from carpet to door knobs.
2.) I quite simply don't wanna pay for it
Soooo, I told him to knock $100,000 OFF the price he was searching, and there it was! I said, "now that's a house for us!" It was a short-sale, vacant and neglected - needing new EVERYTHING, but in an amazing location...and by amazing I mean, the last house to sell in the neighborhood went for $1m+ We looked at it the next day, and made an offer the day after that. Unfortunately, being a short sale, there was nothing short about it and we didn't close until 2 days before Thanksgiving!
I had been wanting to start a blog for quite a while, especially with the explosion of Pinterest. There are so many blog links on there that make me think, "I can show people how to do this." And I find myself commenting on people's posts about tips and tricks and better methods, and why something is a great technique while something else is not. This train-wreck of a house seemed like the perfect launch pad. Hopefully, it will only be the beginning. I would love be able to share not only construction, but crafts, recipes, seasonal decorating, landscaping, - anything I can remember to take a picture of! The trick has definitely been trying to remember to take pics of EVERYTHING for tutorials, before and afters, and whatnot. This is definitely a learning process, both at the house and online, but I hope you will enjoy the journey with us, or just laugh at us, and muster up some courage to try a project of your own - there's almost nothing that can't be fixed, so give it a try!
Enjoy the "before" pics, and say a prayer or two for us! ha!
View of the front porch...so many people ask if we are keeping the color.....we've decided to respond with "why would we change it?"
Lovely master-bath....we have ridiculous changes in mind for the entire master suite, like relocating it to another floor, but for now I'll just keep you in suspense :o)
Just a glimpse at the condition of the windows. This pane happens to be in the master bedroom. When Bryan was on the phone with a window salesman the guy asked, "So what makes you think you need new windows?" to which Bryan responded, "Well, the glass is foggy, but mainly they don't close."
Again, in the master bath. And don't for a second be fooled and think that's a nice vanity....it's not! But as usual, we have big plans....for the mirrors as well...posts to come!
View from the master bedroom lookin towards the back of the house where the master bath and closet are located.
Anther view of the master lookin toward the front of the house and the crazy non-closing windows.
One of the girl's bathrooms (yes, one of the major draws of this crazy little victorian is that each of the 4 bedrooms have their own bath! Holy moly! Who's gonna clean that!?!)
The bedroom to which the above bathroom is attached....if you're wondering what is on the wall between the windows, it's stenciled lettering saying, "LIFE IS A JOURNEY" .....that's puttin it mildly! We half joked about framing it....I have more seriously considered cutting out that chuck of drywall to keep forever...again, holy moly.
Another girl's room...probably the oldest, but we shall see.
View of the entry foyer from upstairs (just in case you were confused I felt the need to be extra explicit). Check out the lovely wallpaper, chandelier, curtains, and wasps nest on the trim thanks to again, the sad, tired windows.
Possibly my favorite room in the house. I have no idea what the orginal intent was, it's not the den or living room, and a little too far from the kitchen to be any kind of eating area....but it's fabulous, and I have grand plans of making that my crafting area, with a lovely, soon to be re-refinished antique table from my grandmother where I can paint, sew, draw, and dream up more craziness. *sigh*
The dining room....there really are no words....everything is attrocious, but just wait!
This is a super-neat little balcony between the den and the above mentioned fabulous craft room. CANNOT wait to sit out there, drink sweet tea, and enjoy the fruits of our labor (assuming we haven't litterally driven ourselves crazy with renovations)!
The den, with surprisingly pretty brickwork on and in the fireplace.
View from the kitchen to the breakfast nook. Eventually the area you see here will be the kitchen, an over-sized island will hold a double-oven and gas cook top (approximately where the stove is now), and a pantry and coffee bar will be on the wall behind me, which you can see in the pic below.
Current kitchen (coffee bar to be under the window. Also, side note, that window looks out onto the cute little balcony you saw earlier).
Guest bedroom bath. This is a better pic of what I'm workin with as far as vanities go. I have some thoughts.......refinishing posts to come...
Current guest room, which, fingers-crossed, will one day be a master bathroom with all kinds of wonderful things such as a free-standing tub.
Formal living.....have no idea what I'll do with it now.....figure it out when we get a little closer to being put back together....doesn't really matter though b/c I really just want it to be the master bedroom (the above bedroom that I want to turn into a bathroom is adjacent)
Another pic of the current master bath....I know this pic should have been place further up on the page, but I PROMISE I will get better at this! Hang in there with me!
1.) I'm super-particular (or maybe OCD), and I wanna pick out my own everything, from carpet to door knobs.
2.) I quite simply don't wanna pay for it
Soooo, I told him to knock $100,000 OFF the price he was searching, and there it was! I said, "now that's a house for us!" It was a short-sale, vacant and neglected - needing new EVERYTHING, but in an amazing location...and by amazing I mean, the last house to sell in the neighborhood went for $1m+ We looked at it the next day, and made an offer the day after that. Unfortunately, being a short sale, there was nothing short about it and we didn't close until 2 days before Thanksgiving!
I had been wanting to start a blog for quite a while, especially with the explosion of Pinterest. There are so many blog links on there that make me think, "I can show people how to do this." And I find myself commenting on people's posts about tips and tricks and better methods, and why something is a great technique while something else is not. This train-wreck of a house seemed like the perfect launch pad. Hopefully, it will only be the beginning. I would love be able to share not only construction, but crafts, recipes, seasonal decorating, landscaping, - anything I can remember to take a picture of! The trick has definitely been trying to remember to take pics of EVERYTHING for tutorials, before and afters, and whatnot. This is definitely a learning process, both at the house and online, but I hope you will enjoy the journey with us, or just laugh at us, and muster up some courage to try a project of your own - there's almost nothing that can't be fixed, so give it a try!
Enjoy the "before" pics, and say a prayer or two for us! ha!
View of the front porch...so many people ask if we are keeping the color.....we've decided to respond with "why would we change it?"
Lovely master-bath....we have ridiculous changes in mind for the entire master suite, like relocating it to another floor, but for now I'll just keep you in suspense :o)
Just a glimpse at the condition of the windows. This pane happens to be in the master bedroom. When Bryan was on the phone with a window salesman the guy asked, "So what makes you think you need new windows?" to which Bryan responded, "Well, the glass is foggy, but mainly they don't close."
Again, in the master bath. And don't for a second be fooled and think that's a nice vanity....it's not! But as usual, we have big plans....for the mirrors as well...posts to come!
View from the master bedroom lookin towards the back of the house where the master bath and closet are located.
Anther view of the master lookin toward the front of the house and the crazy non-closing windows.
One of the girl's bathrooms (yes, one of the major draws of this crazy little victorian is that each of the 4 bedrooms have their own bath! Holy moly! Who's gonna clean that!?!)
The bedroom to which the above bathroom is attached....if you're wondering what is on the wall between the windows, it's stenciled lettering saying, "LIFE IS A JOURNEY" .....that's puttin it mildly! We half joked about framing it....I have more seriously considered cutting out that chuck of drywall to keep forever...again, holy moly.
Another girl's room...probably the oldest, but we shall see.
View of the entry foyer from upstairs (just in case you were confused I felt the need to be extra explicit). Check out the lovely wallpaper, chandelier, curtains, and wasps nest on the trim thanks to again, the sad, tired windows.
Possibly my favorite room in the house. I have no idea what the orginal intent was, it's not the den or living room, and a little too far from the kitchen to be any kind of eating area....but it's fabulous, and I have grand plans of making that my crafting area, with a lovely, soon to be re-refinished antique table from my grandmother where I can paint, sew, draw, and dream up more craziness. *sigh*
The dining room....there really are no words....everything is attrocious, but just wait!
This is a super-neat little balcony between the den and the above mentioned fabulous craft room. CANNOT wait to sit out there, drink sweet tea, and enjoy the fruits of our labor (assuming we haven't litterally driven ourselves crazy with renovations)!
The den, with surprisingly pretty brickwork on and in the fireplace.
View from the kitchen to the breakfast nook. Eventually the area you see here will be the kitchen, an over-sized island will hold a double-oven and gas cook top (approximately where the stove is now), and a pantry and coffee bar will be on the wall behind me, which you can see in the pic below.
Current kitchen (coffee bar to be under the window. Also, side note, that window looks out onto the cute little balcony you saw earlier).
Guest bedroom bath. This is a better pic of what I'm workin with as far as vanities go. I have some thoughts.......refinishing posts to come...
Current guest room, which, fingers-crossed, will one day be a master bathroom with all kinds of wonderful things such as a free-standing tub.
Formal living.....have no idea what I'll do with it now.....figure it out when we get a little closer to being put back together....doesn't really matter though b/c I really just want it to be the master bedroom (the above bedroom that I want to turn into a bathroom is adjacent)
Another pic of the current master bath....I know this pic should have been place further up on the page, but I PROMISE I will get better at this! Hang in there with me!
2 comments:
Hi Amy! My mom gave my your blog address and I have not had a chance to visit until now! wow... this house is amazing and yes, a little terrifying as far as a "project." Just curious, where did you find this diamond in the rough? Is it in Nashville? Just love it and it CERTAINLY could be a dream house... I am starting at the end, working my way up... can't wait to see the progress! :) Kim Kramer Brooks
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