Half bath almost done.

Here is the half bath with the sellers things:

Wall paper coming down:

Paint, new mirror, towel holder and a good scrub down:

$9 pair of frames/artwork:

And we have a nice, clean, modern looking powder room!

Before and After:

Simply Fabulous!

~M

Quick Update.

The upper cabinets are on with the hardware!!

Leaky wall, drywall coming down and finding all sorts of interesting things inside our wall...

Such as, wasp nests

and two bats! Eek!

Next up new drywall and painting.

~M

Kitchen is coming along.

The cabinet doors came down and I decided I wanted to open the doors and see fresh, clean shelves. So, I began painting the insides a gloss white. I may have rethought out this plan if I realized how time consuming it is!

A close up of the ugly brick. There was no cleaning it up, I tried.

So I primed it with Zinsser 123.

Painted the boxes a nice linen color. We didn't want a stark white, something more warm.

And chose a greyish brown for the bulkheads.

I can't wait to finish painting and get our floors in so I can start cooking!
~M

Been awhile...

But let me show you a little of what we have been working on the past month and a half.

First a few pictures of the before, with the sellers stuff, to give you an idea of what we were working with.

A quick shot of the new tub we put in and new drywall.

And here's the result of everyone's hard work!

What a total different feeling between the before and after!

Such a reward after so much effort. I think it's my favorite room in the house now!! :D
Onto the master bedroom!
~M

Progress!

We have our new ceiling fan installed.

We have the carpet laid down!
Now we just have to put up the trim and get our furniture in the room.

Counter tops are touched up and getting the last coats of poly put on them.

It's been a lot of work but definitely worth it to make this place home! :)
~M

What I've been up to this weekend:

Turning our Formica counter top into an awesome granite workspace with regular acrylic craft paint. It took about 3 hours and much frustration but I think they are what we were going for.


I still need to touch it up and put some poly on top but I think it looks great, if I do say so myself!

Next up, painting the cabinets and possibly the brick as well.
What do you think we should do?!
~M

It's a start!

We've been working every spare minute we have at the house. Our main project has been the family room. We have been stripping wallpaper, tearing out paneling and pulling up the carpet.

Just to give you an idea of what we have had to deal with, here's what the family room looked like before (with sellers stuff):

A closeup of the lovely wallpaper:

The men doing a fantastic demo job:

The mess we made and had to clean:

The walls have been patched, sanded, primed and painted. Next up, carpet, window treatments and furniture.

Stick around for the Reveal!!
~M

The best part of waking up.

Unfortunately, the previous owner had a dog living with him that wasn't properly trained to do his business outside. As a result, we inherited a house that smelled like a zoo.

My dad stopped over and gave us a great tip. Take three large cans of inexpensive coffee and a box of Tide and spread it over the floor. Leave the mixture on for three days than sweep/vacuum it off the ground.



It will absorb the smell. And let me tell you, it does! We noticed it working almost immediately. A very handy tip for anyone who has that aromatic house scent of ammonia.

~M

The Grand Tour

Here is a Video that B took after we did our final walk through.

Click for the tour

Sunny Day.

Hello.
My Husband and I just closed on our house, January 6th!
Though, we were unable to take possession until Jan. 27th...

We recently relocated to the States from Scotland. And this is the first home for both of us.

I will be posting our adventures of home ownership, DIY and well, making this house our home.

So, here is is in all it's glory.

Home.

I hope you enjoy our Journey.

~M