Search Results for: house renovation

This post is sponsored by Trulia, but the views expressed here are solely mine. To learn more click here.

Our house is finished. Well, okay, a house is NEVER truly finished, right? BUT we just completed the outdoor paint and landscaping, and it feels pretty good to sit back and take a breath. (To see the complete indoor renovation, click here.) I can’t believe we’ve been in our house for over a year now – in some ways, it seems time has flown by, yet I also feel like I’ve lived here forever.

I remember the first time we looked at this house. We saw it on Trulia, and figured what the heck, we’d make an appointment to check it out. The house was on the market for the first time in 40-something years, and frankly, it smelled like it.
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Even D, who does this for a living, shook his head and said it was too much work. We walked away, yet the house stayed on our minds constantly for the next few weeks. During dinner or while bathing the kids, we would make little comments…”if we opened up that kitchen wall,” or “did you see the original light fixtures in the hallway…”

Fast forward two months from those evening conversations (and a bit of a roller coaster ride), and we had ourselves a home. We got straight to work on the interiors, and now, I’m proud to say the exterior is finished as well.

Happy happy joy joy.

Have you checked out Trulia? It’s a great website that makes it easy to find a home, a neighborhood and a real estate agent. Obviously, the home buying process is an emotional roller coaster. (What can I afford? Is it the right house? Is it a good neighborhood? What’s the best kind of mortgage? THE QUESTIONS.)  Trulia provides home buyers with information on neighborhoods, schools, crime, local amenities, agents, and financing so that they can answer those questions with confidence.

You can check out some more (oh-so-true) postcards and share your own crazy homebuying moments at Trulia’s website.

The master bedroom of our home needed some MAJOR help. I mean, you guys, it was pretty dang sad when we purchased it. (Remember this little video I shot of the demolition? It was the last room of the video.)

Am I right? Ouch.

We are much happier with it post-renovation. (HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT.)

We purchased the canopy bed prior to owning this house, so it wouldn’t have been our #1 choice for this particular space, but we still love the bed itself. (Room and Board, yo!)

We loved and wanted to keep the original cantilevered closet doors, even though they were the biggest pain in the arse to prime and paint. However, I love how they retain the original feel of the room.

The closet space itself isn’t massive, so it forced me to do a little refreshing and updating to my wardrobe. Not a bad thing, people.

We also love this red chair that was compliments of Fashion for Home. Adds a nice pop of color to the room.

Happy dance. The kids rooms are up next!

I have to say, our home’s formal living room has been the most unexpected surprise for us. As you walk into the front door of the house, this room is directly to your right. It’s the only room in the main living area that isn’t a part of the great room, and we initially assumed it would be the least used room in the house. Well, I have to say that this room has become my favorite for many reasons. First off, it houses so many of our finds and treasures from the past decade – I could spend days telling stories about the objects residing in the room. Secondly, although I love that our kitchen, family and dining room are one bright, open space, it is nice to have one room separate from the others. (And I suspect it will be a welcome oasis as our children get older and want some space from each other…oh, who am I kidding…they are already bickering at the ripe old ages of 3 and 7.)

Truthfully, though, the #1 reason I adore this room is the fact that it’s the warmest during the winter months. I’m easy to please, what can I say?

The room is rather large, so we created two sitting spaces. The true living space, and my “office.” That Eames chair serves as blog central, and I love that spot because I can look out the window to the left and see all the happenings on my street, which is crucial to me not feeling so isolation central while working.

I am obsessed with this vintage brass light fixture that we found at Kerson in Palm Springs. It produces the coolest shadows at night.

(And yes, we love this rug from West Elm so much that we have it in both living areas!)

We found this large display cabinet at HD Buttercup several years ago when we were planning to move into the mid-century mold disaster. (Remember that fun, homeless time? Ugh.) We weren’t sure if we would be able to use it again, but it fits nicely in the living room. Talk about a lot of books and set-abouts, people. The piece has 18 glass panes, and I could probably write a 18 blog posts about the items in each and every one.

Our main renovation task in the living room was dealing with the fireplace. As you can see, it was quite a mish-mash of materials.

We simplified by using a gorgeous grey quartzite material called “London Fog,” and are super pleased with the result.

That orange pillow was the very first gift I ever gave D…12 years ago. Time flies, whoah.

Overall, the room is light, bright, happy-making, and don’t forget, quite toasty during our brutal Southern California winters.

Thanks to Jessie Webster for the lovely photos.

 

It’s home tour time. Cue trumpet fanfare!

First up, the kitchen and dining room. Here’s the kitchen when we bought the house and after the renovation.

(psst – all of the previous nitty gritty renovation posts can be found here.)

Our new island is totally the command center of the house. (All kitchen appliances and fixture choices can be found here.)

And check out the dining room transformation. Sayonara, nasty wood paneling!

Although, it’s funny – we thought we were done with this part of this house until we decided, well, we weren’t. We made a few more changes since photographing the house, namely, adding another window in the dining room.

I’m telling you, that window is a game changer. The morning light is beyond. LOVE.

As for the other window in the dining room, we changed that as well. (Please take a look at that before photo. Not only were we dealing with the wood paneling, but the previous tenants purposely installed a carpet strip into the wall. WHAT THE WHUT.)

Did I mention that the lovely and talented Jessie Webster shot these beautiful photos of our space? Here are some of my favorites.

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