Sunday, July 28, 2013

The Progress Tour

Sorry for the delay on this post. We were having some internet trouble. And by internet trouble I mean, we hadn't hooked up the Ethernet in our house yet, at all, since we'd moved in. But, without too much front end rambling, here are the progress photos of our house. Taken one year and two weeks apart. For the original before pictures see this post.

The Exterior. This is the part of the house that looks the least done. It looks unfinished and sad but it looks better than before. This is the part of the house that in most pictures looks like we've moved backwards. But it's all still moving forwards slowly but surely. New trees, shrubs and flowers need to be planted. The trim on the house needs a paint job. We need downspouts and our gutters probably need to be lined. We need to replace all of the concrete (sidewalks, driveways, walkway, back door stairs). It'll get there one day. All you need is a little cash. Of which we have none. So be patient on the outside.
 
  
The new exterior sconces are not staying. The originals are in our basement, fully re-wired, cleaned and almost ready to be hung up. We need to fashion a plate for one of them, patina it and then get them reinstalled. You can throw this one up to just being lazy. But the new house numbers, and the removal of the screen door are all pluses in my book.






The side porch ceiling came down in order to insulate with foam the bottom side of our sitting room (right off of the master bedroom). A new ceiling went back in, along with crown, down lights and the original pendant. Caulking and painting have been on the to-do list for a couple of weeks now. We also plan to use the Behr Deckover product once we've patched the porch concrete so that all of the structural cut outs are no longer visible. Keeping my fingers crossed that the product works as well as they say it does.

Entry. This room still needs a lot of work. But we removed the two rotting closets on either side and opened it up. We will get it cleaned up, caulked, and then add a bench/hall tree and a console table. We rarely use this door but our mail comes in the side of the house into this space. 

The Foyer. Hello bubbled plaster and nasty nicotine covered wood and light fixtures. Glad to see you're gone. Still some work in this space but it already feels cleaner than before.

 


 

 The Dining Room. I surprisingly miss the molding in this room. All the crown molding for the entire house has yet to be put up. We will go back in every room, first floor receiving something large and extravagant, the second floor much more simple, the way the house was when we bought it. And I am even considering going back with some wall molding. It'll have be be slightly different than what was there originally based on the new layout but it might just happen.


The Kitchen. You guys, this kitchen. It was so unbelievably disgusting. The pictures just don't do it justice. The walls were lined in grease. The layers and layers of floors and the dead bugs were just almost too much. It was originally two rooms, a breakfast room and a tiny kitchen. We took out this wall and the cabinets and created a functional usable kitchen that won't have me looking for another house in five years time. Still a ton left to do in this room but we can cook, wash and refrigerate so the basics are there. We also opened the other side of the kitchen up to the other side of the house. We now have a full track instead of having to wrap all the way back around to the living room.








The Living Room. I told you I wasn't picking up or staging these photos. The living room is the first real proof of that. The room felt the least comfortable for the longest. It is starting to feel much more like home and I can't wait to finish this space out. 



The Bonus Room. We took out the non-original bookshelves, created an opening to the kitchen. We raised the floor to be level and removed the rotting, bubbled wood paneling. This room has a long way to go as well but it's new travel path alone makes the changes that we made worth it.


The Staircase.
Not many changes here besides the new walls and a good cleaning. We still have 4-5 spindles that need to be replaced and the grate under the stairs needs to be fixed or replaced as well. Debating a runner for the stairs but haven't been able to commit. These things creak louder than you can image so it might be nice to have some sort of sound dampening cover. More to come for this space, maybe not right away, but at some point.








The Guest Bedroom. We removed the wallpaper, chair rail, bubbled plaster and door into the master bathroom. Not to mention the other upgrades the rest of the house got. Right now, the room is serving as our staging room for unpacked boxes and stuff we are not quite sure what to do with yet. 


The Master Bathroom. The original photos we took for the before tour cannot be replicated because we removed both doors from where the original pictures were taken. So until I can figure out a better way to snapshot the room, here is the difference in the vanity next to the bedroom door. I need to install the feet and the hardware today as well as re-adjust the doors on the cabinet. Not to mention just clean up my crap. This room originally had three entrance points. Three. It was walls and walls of doors. We're down to one door and while it is still small for a master bathroom, it's ours and living in an old house, that's a pretty unusual thing to be able to claim. So I'll gladly take small. 

The Master Bedroom. If only you knew what the progress photo looked like from the other side of the room you'd be shocked to see a week and a half's worth of laundry all over the floor. Hah. Oh the power of a camera angle. This room is starting to become my favorite with every little detail that gets checked off.

 

The Sitting Room. The fact that this room doesn't smell like cat pee anymore is about the only plus this room really needs to have. I'm sitting in here right now, right where that black door used to be, leading into the master bathroom, typing this post and am in love that this is just our (mine and Paul's) space. 


Addison's Bedroom. This room was practically impossible to take pictures of too. I took the before photos from vantage points that I can't get to anymore so I got as close as possible. Her room is moving along, but because she's in that funny stage between nursery and big girl room, I've yet to finish out the whole space. I am curious to see if I piece this one together or take the time to finish it out.
 
 



 Addison's/Guest Bathroom (Jack & Jill Style). This room was terrible functionally. There were two sinks, one of which was only ever hooked up. The other was there for decoration I guess? The toilet was in the middle of the room and there was a linen closet tucked in behind the bath/shower, unusable, due to the toilet being in front of it. We got ride of the full height linen closet, tucked the potty back into the alcove and will have a cabinet above it. We moved the sink to the wall where you enter and it fits perfectly between the two entrance doors.



Kid's Bedroom/Guest Room. Until we have another kid, this room is technically another guest room. Once we do have another, this will be the new nursery. A vast improvement considering the original was blue walls, blue trim, blue stained carpet. I mean anything would be a step in the right direction if you got away from that right? 


Stairs. Other than the new walls and a couple of thorough cleanings, this space didn't see much of a difference. Again, give it some time but I think some changes might be coming.


The Garage. Sitting exactly as it was before. But with cars in front of it, meaning some one's home!!! One day there is a good chance this whole thing might need to be replaced but for now it's home to some of our storage and a scary looking efficiency apartment. I'll spare you the nastiness.


 Stay tuned. We're obviously not done yet. 

1 comment:

  1. I'm amazed with the transformation in your home. You really took the time to capture photos of how these areas looked before and after your improvement projects. Both the exterior and interior look magnificent. I fell in love with the dining area, especially with the French door! It's really amazing, plus the fact that you're not done yet. What more could we expect from your house? Good luck on your future home projects!

    John Gwaltney @ Nehemiah ReConstruction

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