A House in Progress

We purchased our house almost one year ago. On a limited budget, we were just looking for something bigger than a shoebox and had off-street parking. We were instantly smitten with our house. We walked in and immediately started planning what we could do with the space. 

This is the best shot I currently have of our house, forgive me.

Once in the doors, you are immediately in the living room, which to me is almost like two separate rooms.

On the left...

...on the right!

These pictures were taken during our inspection, so this is not our furniture. The previous homeowners have a beautiful piano, something I would love to have.

Straight ahead from the front door in the dining room, separated from the living room by two beautiful columns, which I apparently forgot to photograph is the dining room.

 To the left of the dining room is a bedroom with a half bath attached. We are currently using it as a guest room because the layout is really awkward for a couple to use it on a daily basis.

The kitchen is attached to the dining room, complete with a carpeted peninsula and a trash compactor.

The colors were so wacky that I painted over them right away. Robin egg blue, tan, burnt orange and sage green didn't mesh well in my opinion.

The sage green room is the family room, an add on by the second to last homeowners in 1996. We really liked the vaulted ceilings and gigantic windows. I'm so-so about the pine paneling. If I'm ambitious, I will someday paint over it. The majority of the house has original dark wood trim and doors. I originally wanted to paint all of the trim in our house white, but I've gotten over that now. I think it adds so much character to the house!

 The gas stove is awkward. We've toyed around with the idea of taking it out and putting in a gas fireplace. I don't think that will happen anytime soon. While expensive to run, it is really nice to have in the wintertime.

Going up the stairs and to the left is a little nook. The previous homeowners called it an office, I use it as a crafting room. Never mind the husband in the middle of the shot.

 On the opposite side of the nook is a bedroom.

Bright blue walls with a flower border and really brightly colored curtains. It's kind of a small bedroom, perfect for a baby or small child. We've been using it as a second guest room and office for Mike.

Down the hall is a full bathroom. It's really cramped and in need of some storage solutions. We are not really bath people, so we had to go down to the basement to shower when we first moved in.

More wallpaper bordering. At least there weren't entire walls covered in wallpaper.  Love the sponge painted stripes on the wall (totally kidding)!

Finally at the end of the hall is the master bedroom.

The previous homeowners had a king bed, which sounds luxurious to us, but it totally takes up the entire room. Our queen bed fits perfectly in here and it's cozy but quite inviting. I was initially impressed by the skylight in the room but I now wish it wasn't there. We always have light in our room, even at night when we are trying to sleep. One of the advantages to urban living (or not) is having your house right up to the street. We don't really have a front yard and there happens to be a streetlight right in front of our house. It is bright, something we never anticipated when we bought our house.

Some lovely stencil work that matches the curtains.

Heading down to the basement, you immediately run into the laundry room/bathroom. Not ideal. The previous homeowners painted it blue, which I really like, but it doesn't help the fact that I have to watch out for the toilet when I open the dryer door. 

Gross old musty shower. Not exactly a spa.

To the left of the bath/laundry is a large room, used previously as a workshop/weight room. This is an addition from the 90's.

The main part of the basement is supposed to be an entertaining space. There is a kitchenette and shelving meant for an entertainment system. It's even wired for speakers! It's currently being used as a graveyard for junk and boxes. We have ambitions to make this a movie room someday.

Finally you have a "tandem" garage. The space you see can fit one car. If you pull your car in the garage and keep going past the garage, there is a space for a second car. It's not really part of the garage, but it was advertised as so. We do park both of our cars in here, but we eventually need to put up a wall between the garage and the utility room. 

So that's our house! These all happen to be pictures from our inspection, before we moved in because I didn't manage to take many pictures when we were in that transition. Coming soon will be transformation and progress pictures so you can see where we are now.