We’ve been keeping this a secret, since the first house we tried to buy fell through, and now it’s finally out! WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!
We debated staying in the area where we’re renting, and paying more for a house, or finding something in the country or small towns nearby for less. Ultimately, we found this house and decided to stay here. We love being able to walk to my elderly neighbors house, Edison’s school, church, the consignment store, and our favorite deli.
This house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a three car garage with a loft. A big garage was VERY important to Brian – he couldn’t have cared less what the house looked like 🙂
I wanted something with old house charm, but that I could put my own spin on. Ultimately, I’m glad that the first house we tried to buy fell through – I would have felt too much pressure to change how I decorate to fit the Victorian style and preserve it. This house has already seen some renovations (hello wood paneling!) so that gives me much more freedom.
Here’s what we want to do before moving into it in a few months:
Kitchen and bathroom renovation
As it is now, the main floor bathroom is off the kitchen at the very back of the house. The pantry is off the living room in the middle of the house. Both rooms are exactly the same size. So, the plan is to convert the pantry to the main floor half bath. The current bathroom will actually become part of the kitchen.
The kitchen leaves much to be desired – there’s barely any cupboard space, and the layout is awkward with the island placement. We’ll get rid of that island, get rid of the cabinets and counters, open the wall to where the bathroom is currently, and make it one big space. Then we’ll install a new kitchen (already got the plans drawn up – we’re going with an IKEA kitchen on the recommendation of many people!) which will have a peninsula, some open shelves, and plenty of storage to make up for losing the pantry.
We’ll also need new flooring, but we’re undecided on what to do. I want something that will transition well to the dining room, like an engineered wood or wood tile in the same color. Brian is thinking slate tile. Any thoughts?
Entryway, Stairs, Living Room Ceiling
As you’ll see in the video tour, the linoleum floor in the entryway is coming up, so replacing it is also on our list. The stairs going up are so claustrophobic for me, so one of my top priorities is taking out at least one wall and putting in a nice bannister. I’d love to take out the walls on both sides, but Brian thinks one side could be load-bearing. The panelling has got to come off, either way!
I also want to see if there’s nice wood under all that carpet! I suspect there may be!
When we take out the wall on the right side of the stairs we’ll be able to see what’s going on with that dropped tile ceiling in the living room. Most of the first floor has very high ceilings, including the entry, but that room with the fireplace is extremely low. I’m hopeful that since there’s no ceiling light fixtures we’ll be able to just pull down that tile and uncover the original high ceiling again.
Laundry Room
You may have noticed in the laundry room that the placement of the washing machine is very odd. It doesn’t bother me too much that the dryer is on the opposite wall, but I do at least want them to be closer to the wall, not standing out about a 12 inches. We’d like to reconfigure that to be a better use of space, and also repair the damaged ceiling.
Eventually, I’d like to replace the flooring, but it’s pretty serviceable right now, just like the linoleum in the bathroom.
Garage and Basement
Other updates that are slightly more exciting for Brian include sealing up the foundation and cellar doors in the basement, and rewiring the garage. The garage also needs foundation work, one wall is bowed out considerably, and the floor needs to be repoured. Of course, we’d like to fix up the loft too into useable space. I think it will become my little writing retreat, or kid’s hide out. Maybe some of both!
Panelling and Painting
Throughout the house, we’ll try to take down as much of the paneling as possible. The main floor and bedrooms need to be repainted, and I’m going to paint the built-ins in the office white. We’ll remove the lower cabinets so we can put in our white IKEA desks instead. It will feel so much lighter and brighter in there after that!
Those are some of the big things – of course our list goes on for a mile, but we won’t try to do everything right away. We’re going to do most of the work ourselves, and with two kids and Brian working full-time, we’ll have to be patient.
I’ll document our process as we go, so if you’re interested, subscribe to my YouTube channel to follow along!
You might also be interested in the work we did to our last house. Here’s the link to all the befores and afters of our Arizona house.
