Sunday, January 25, 2009
Layouts: Before and After
I decided that these pictures will make more sense if you could see how we intend things to actually end up. So, here you go! I know that they aren't really to scale, but you will get the general idea. And, if you click on each layout, you should be able to see the image large enough to actually read the labels on the rooms.
Weekend Warriors
Hubby still has friends in the contracting biz, even though he is leaving that sector soon. So, out of the kindness of their hearts, Joey (hubby's counterpart at another custom home firm), Hank (a trim carpenter who also happens to live around the corner from Juniper House) and Hunter (Hank's 10-year-old son), gave up their Saturday to help us on a few things in the house.
With their help, we are starting to see real progress! The studs are out of the (former) wall between the dining room and den. The utility closet is no longer. Trim is going up. Yay!
Here's some photos of the progress.
Looking through the dining room/den to the back door. See - no wall!
Looking from the den into the dining room. The door to the kitchen to the left.
Joey (on left) and Hank (on right) having a very important conversation about the trim.
Hunter going to town on the tile left in the foyer/dining room.
The utility closet is no more! The range will not stay there and I'm not sure why it is there now. But, the closet used to house the washer and dryer. We will be moving the washer/dryer into the storage area that is just outside. We will have to add a door to that storage area through the breakfast room. But, for now, the kitchen looks that much better without the huge utility closet. The door that you see in the first picture is going from the breakfast room into the dining room. The dining room is being converted into an office. The original living room will be our new dining room. Confused yet? I'll draw up a before and after layout somehow :).
With their help, we are starting to see real progress! The studs are out of the (former) wall between the dining room and den. The utility closet is no longer. Trim is going up. Yay!
Here's some photos of the progress.
Looking through the dining room/den to the back door. See - no wall!
Looking from the den into the dining room. The door to the kitchen to the left.
Joey (on left) and Hank (on right) having a very important conversation about the trim.
Hunter going to town on the tile left in the foyer/dining room.
The utility closet is no more! The range will not stay there and I'm not sure why it is there now. But, the closet used to house the washer and dryer. We will be moving the washer/dryer into the storage area that is just outside. We will have to add a door to that storage area through the breakfast room. But, for now, the kitchen looks that much better without the huge utility closet. The door that you see in the first picture is going from the breakfast room into the dining room. The dining room is being converted into an office. The original living room will be our new dining room. Confused yet? I'll draw up a before and after layout somehow :).
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Photo update
Progress mudding and priming the paneling for paint
Bookcase gone! Wall to come out soon!
Demolition on the tile started
Let no one say that I don't do manual labor! Yes, that is me taking out the dry wall. We are opening up the living room/den area. In the end it will be the dining room/den area. In case you are wondering, I'm wearing hubby's ear protection. All the pounding was giving me a headache.
This little guy came over to visit while we were working. He was cute! I don't know where he came from or where he went later, but it was our first visitor to the house. I've decided to call him Toto.
Bookcase gone! Wall to come out soon!
Demolition on the tile started
Let no one say that I don't do manual labor! Yes, that is me taking out the dry wall. We are opening up the living room/den area. In the end it will be the dining room/den area. In case you are wondering, I'm wearing hubby's ear protection. All the pounding was giving me a headache.
This little guy came over to visit while we were working. He was cute! I don't know where he came from or where he went later, but it was our first visitor to the house. I've decided to call him Toto.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
What's in a name?
Everything! In another life, I would be living on a grand estate with a suitable name such as Tara or Twelve Oaks or Pemberley. Kind of cheesy, but I like for homes to have an identity. It's quite obvious that our 1700 square foot ranch house is far from Pemberley. But, I still like the idea of having a name for our house.
I'm not sure if anyone realized that our last house had a name. It was called The Mr. Beaumont, a la Friends (when Joey buys a boat at a charity silent auction and names it the Mr. Beaumont). There wasn't any rhyme or reason as to why we chose that name. We just did.
Therefore, I have given our new house it's name. Drum roll please........ Juniper House. It may not be too exciting, but there you go. The name comes from the name of the street that the house is on - Juniper Drive. Sadly, there are no Juniper trees in the yard, but I'm hoping that will change eventually. And for all Auburn alumni, you will know what I'm talking about when I say that the name of the house is Juniper House, not The Juniper House (think Haley Center).
So, I hope that one day I will be able to send you all an invitation to Juniper House soon!
I'm not sure if anyone realized that our last house had a name. It was called The Mr. Beaumont, a la Friends (when Joey buys a boat at a charity silent auction and names it the Mr. Beaumont). There wasn't any rhyme or reason as to why we chose that name. We just did.
Therefore, I have given our new house it's name. Drum roll please........ Juniper House. It may not be too exciting, but there you go. The name comes from the name of the street that the house is on - Juniper Drive. Sadly, there are no Juniper trees in the yard, but I'm hoping that will change eventually. And for all Auburn alumni, you will know what I'm talking about when I say that the name of the house is Juniper House, not The Juniper House (think Haley Center).
So, I hope that one day I will be able to send you all an invitation to Juniper House soon!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Remodeling early lessons
They make safety goggles and face masks for a reason. I started in on the remodeling by taking a sanding machine (those hand-held things) and spent some quality time with the foyer wall. The previous owners had lovingly put a really weird texture to the foyer walls. It's much like they threw sand at the wall as the paint was drying. So, before we can paint those walls, we have to sand them down to get the texture off. It's real fun.
After about 2 minutes of sanding, I realized that I had not bought the most important items needed for this job. I had my sunglasses which I wore, but weren't perfect in keeping the dust out of my eyes. But, what I really needed was a face mask like a dentist has or something. I can't tell you how much dust I think I tasted and/or breathed.
So, lesson learned. The wall is done and is ready to paint. We will have more sanding to do because while I was breathing in the dust, Hubby was mudding the wood paneling in the living room to prep it to paint. I'm guessing that we will sand that down tomorrow and do another round of mud.
Moral of the story is - do things the right way. Sometimes it is worth it to look like a goober (safety goggles and mask).
After about 2 minutes of sanding, I realized that I had not bought the most important items needed for this job. I had my sunglasses which I wore, but weren't perfect in keeping the dust out of my eyes. But, what I really needed was a face mask like a dentist has or something. I can't tell you how much dust I think I tasted and/or breathed.
So, lesson learned. The wall is done and is ready to paint. We will have more sanding to do because while I was breathing in the dust, Hubby was mudding the wood paneling in the living room to prep it to paint. I'm guessing that we will sand that down tomorrow and do another round of mud.
Moral of the story is - do things the right way. Sometimes it is worth it to look like a goober (safety goggles and mask).
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Ready, Set, Go!
We are set to close on the house at 10:30 AM on Tuesday. Also Hubby's 30th birthday. Wow. We have already gotten some things started. First thing to tackle will be demolition, of course. But, the crux of our updates will be in the kitchen. Thus, we have started our kitchen plans already.
We met with Roger and Brian at Van Nostrand Cabinets to get a design ready for the kitchen. Hubby has worked with Roger a lot in the past. They did our first house too. They are by far the best in the biz when it comes to cabinets. And, Roger and Brian are about the nicest guys ever and so easy to work with.
While we are trying to straddle the line between making the right updates to the house and not spending so much that we don't make any money in the end, cabinets are a big deal to us. Call me a snob, but I (we, really) can't stand cheap cabinets. There is nothing worse than fake wood cabinetry. I understand budget issues and all. But, I would feel bad about putting cheap cabinets in my house. Cheaply constructed cabinets that are veneers are a sin in my opinion. I'm not going to bust my budget for ours, but we are making it work so that we can put real wood cabinets in our house.
That said, we had fun picking out our design. They have the coolest program to show you a 3D layout of your finished kitchen. Super cool! Hubby let me drive the design. So nice of him :).
I am doing a 180 on design from our last house. Before, our kitchen was really dark. Dark cabinets (beautiful!), dark green granite counter tops. It was pretty, but felt dark. Because the new kitchen is small, I thought that doing a white cabinet would be best. Actually, I'm going on a design from the movie "Something's Gotta Give". The beach house in that movie is like my dream home. I have learned from Roger that this style is Shaker style. Here's some photos for where we are going on design in the kitchen.
The first photo is from the movie. The other two are just inspiration photos. We will be doing white appliances. I'd love to do stainless, but the existing range that is in very good shape is white. We have to get a fridge and the dishwasher needs replacing, but we'll be matching the range that is there now to save a few $$$. I don't think we'll be doing a backsplash. That's a hubby thing. I would love to do the subway tile backsplash, but he's not sold on it. And, I'm undecided as to what flooring. I like having tile in the kitchen, but I love the way the wood floor looks. We'll see. I've decided to do a gray wall. Not dark, but not real light either.
This style will go through out the house. I knew I wanted to do this kitchen, so I'm making the rest of the house fit the kitchen. It should be interesting.
I will take a mass of "before" photos and have them up soon.
We met with Roger and Brian at Van Nostrand Cabinets to get a design ready for the kitchen. Hubby has worked with Roger a lot in the past. They did our first house too. They are by far the best in the biz when it comes to cabinets. And, Roger and Brian are about the nicest guys ever and so easy to work with.
While we are trying to straddle the line between making the right updates to the house and not spending so much that we don't make any money in the end, cabinets are a big deal to us. Call me a snob, but I (we, really) can't stand cheap cabinets. There is nothing worse than fake wood cabinetry. I understand budget issues and all. But, I would feel bad about putting cheap cabinets in my house. Cheaply constructed cabinets that are veneers are a sin in my opinion. I'm not going to bust my budget for ours, but we are making it work so that we can put real wood cabinets in our house.
That said, we had fun picking out our design. They have the coolest program to show you a 3D layout of your finished kitchen. Super cool! Hubby let me drive the design. So nice of him :).
I am doing a 180 on design from our last house. Before, our kitchen was really dark. Dark cabinets (beautiful!), dark green granite counter tops. It was pretty, but felt dark. Because the new kitchen is small, I thought that doing a white cabinet would be best. Actually, I'm going on a design from the movie "Something's Gotta Give". The beach house in that movie is like my dream home. I have learned from Roger that this style is Shaker style. Here's some photos for where we are going on design in the kitchen.
The first photo is from the movie. The other two are just inspiration photos. We will be doing white appliances. I'd love to do stainless, but the existing range that is in very good shape is white. We have to get a fridge and the dishwasher needs replacing, but we'll be matching the range that is there now to save a few $$$. I don't think we'll be doing a backsplash. That's a hubby thing. I would love to do the subway tile backsplash, but he's not sold on it. And, I'm undecided as to what flooring. I like having tile in the kitchen, but I love the way the wood floor looks. We'll see. I've decided to do a gray wall. Not dark, but not real light either.
This style will go through out the house. I knew I wanted to do this kitchen, so I'm making the rest of the house fit the kitchen. It should be interesting.
I will take a mass of "before" photos and have them up soon.
Friday, January 2, 2009
A few photos
Just to get these up before we get our bulk before photos, these are from the realtor's listing. In case you can't see it in the photos, the entire house (excluding bedrooms) is tile flooring. Yikes. I won't even comment on the kitchen cabinets and wood paneling in the den.
A History
To begin our remodeling blog, I thought I should bring everyone up to speed on our housing history.
Most of you all know that Hubby is in the residential contracting business. He has been in and around the construction industry for half his life, actually. He is going to be making a career change into sales soon, but he will continue to be our personal contractor for ever :).
That said, we started our adventures in real estate 2 1/2 years ago with our previous house which we just recently sold. We built a house in the very popular Camden Ridge subdivision in Auburn. This was built as an investment house. The plan from the beginning was to live in it for a couple years and then sell it for a profit. We stuck to that plan and things worked pretty much like clock work. We completed and moved in that house December 2006 and moved out December 2008. Even with the crazy housing market these days, we came out plenty ahead. A huge blessing!
As a first house, I don't think we could have asked for any better! Being an investment house, the finishes we picked were all done for resale value. So, it ended up that we had much more space than we needed with really great finishes. It was a beautiful house and I know the current owners will enjoy it.
Thus we must continue the plan. We decided that in this market, we should sell the house first, then start building the next one. No reason to get into a situation where we might have to make two house payments. The house ended up selling within 7 weeks - many thanks to our fabulous realtor Ashley Smith Durham. So, we found a rental not too far away. Another blessing that we were able to get this rental with a garage and fenced backyard with no lease and a great price.
While all this selling and moving was going on, a few items crept in to make things more complicated on building the next house right away.
#1. The banks went crazy and started putting all kinds of requirements on lending for new construction. I won't say anymore than that because if I get started on the banks right now, I won't stop.
#2. Hubby will be changing jobs in just a few weeks. Making the #1 situation even more confusing.
#3. We had decided to downsize on the next house simply to be in a different price point on resale. Even to do that, the available lots just weren't in the right price range to make that happen.
So, being that we were moving 2 weeks before Christmas, Hubby was working 2 jobs (pre-loading at UPS during the busy season) and I was having the craziest month at work as well, we put our housing decisions on hold until after Christmas. After some thought on the situation, we decided that building right away may not be in our favor. Hubby is starting a sales job and he didn't want to have to split his attention between starting that off right and a major construction project.
We figured that buying an existing house would be the best option. That's tricky, because we had specific goals in mind for that:
#1. Something reasonable on price (still in the downsizing mode).
#2. Something that we can sell easily.
#3. Something that we could make money on when we sell it.
Given those goals, it became clear that a fixer-upper was in order. We called Ashley and let her know what we were looking for. She sent us a list of homes in our price range. There were a lot to choose from (go figure, in a buyer's market). But one clearly stood out to us.
Two days ago, we went and looked at it, made an offer, offer accepted and plans started! This time, the bank cooperated nicely (interest rates are nice).
So, that's where we are right now. I cannot wait to start this! Funny, because I had said that I preferred to do new construction instead of remodeling. But, here we go! I'll find the listing photos and put them up for you to see some previews.
Most of you all know that Hubby is in the residential contracting business. He has been in and around the construction industry for half his life, actually. He is going to be making a career change into sales soon, but he will continue to be our personal contractor for ever :).
That said, we started our adventures in real estate 2 1/2 years ago with our previous house which we just recently sold. We built a house in the very popular Camden Ridge subdivision in Auburn. This was built as an investment house. The plan from the beginning was to live in it for a couple years and then sell it for a profit. We stuck to that plan and things worked pretty much like clock work. We completed and moved in that house December 2006 and moved out December 2008. Even with the crazy housing market these days, we came out plenty ahead. A huge blessing!
As a first house, I don't think we could have asked for any better! Being an investment house, the finishes we picked were all done for resale value. So, it ended up that we had much more space than we needed with really great finishes. It was a beautiful house and I know the current owners will enjoy it.
Thus we must continue the plan. We decided that in this market, we should sell the house first, then start building the next one. No reason to get into a situation where we might have to make two house payments. The house ended up selling within 7 weeks - many thanks to our fabulous realtor Ashley Smith Durham. So, we found a rental not too far away. Another blessing that we were able to get this rental with a garage and fenced backyard with no lease and a great price.
While all this selling and moving was going on, a few items crept in to make things more complicated on building the next house right away.
#1. The banks went crazy and started putting all kinds of requirements on lending for new construction. I won't say anymore than that because if I get started on the banks right now, I won't stop.
#2. Hubby will be changing jobs in just a few weeks. Making the #1 situation even more confusing.
#3. We had decided to downsize on the next house simply to be in a different price point on resale. Even to do that, the available lots just weren't in the right price range to make that happen.
So, being that we were moving 2 weeks before Christmas, Hubby was working 2 jobs (pre-loading at UPS during the busy season) and I was having the craziest month at work as well, we put our housing decisions on hold until after Christmas. After some thought on the situation, we decided that building right away may not be in our favor. Hubby is starting a sales job and he didn't want to have to split his attention between starting that off right and a major construction project.
We figured that buying an existing house would be the best option. That's tricky, because we had specific goals in mind for that:
#1. Something reasonable on price (still in the downsizing mode).
#2. Something that we can sell easily.
#3. Something that we could make money on when we sell it.
Given those goals, it became clear that a fixer-upper was in order. We called Ashley and let her know what we were looking for. She sent us a list of homes in our price range. There were a lot to choose from (go figure, in a buyer's market). But one clearly stood out to us.
Two days ago, we went and looked at it, made an offer, offer accepted and plans started! This time, the bank cooperated nicely (interest rates are nice).
So, that's where we are right now. I cannot wait to start this! Funny, because I had said that I preferred to do new construction instead of remodeling. But, here we go! I'll find the listing photos and put them up for you to see some previews.
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