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Thursday, July 05, 2007

A House becomes a Home

When we bought our condo 2 years ago, we were kinda looking for places that we could put our personal touch on. Thinking he'd enjoy having a house as a project, my husband was eager to have weekends full of construction where he could put many of his abilities to use. Thus, our condo.

Certainly a project.

An old man had lived here and had lived here since the place had been built: mid-80s. There was floor to ceiling wallpaper. There were floor to ceiling mirrors in the living room, wallpaper on the blinds, the outlets, and even on the ceilings in the bathrooms. There was terrible carpet, outdated tile, and old, decrepit cabinets.

We set to work. And we worked and worked, and no project went easily (pulled down some wallpaper in the master bedroom, for example, and the whole wall came with it), but within the first six months, we had finished both bathrooms and both bedrooms. But then we lagged; slowly, the office was finished and we started to de-construct the other rooms, and then let many months fall in between projects; then the new year, and suddenly we were on fire again. So in January we set out to finish this place. We started in the kitchen. Above (top picture), is the kitchen as it was a year ago: old cabinets, crappy laminate counters, old tile floor, poor layout.

It all came out. As you can see from the pic (second pic) with my husband working on the plumbing: that gaping hole was where the sink used to be.

For many months, we washed dishes in the bathroom and ate primarily take out and pizza, but slowly it came together, and when the tile was installed last week, the kitchen project was finally completed. We do still plan on replacing the appliances (we'd like stainless steel), but that will be several months from now when some of these construction costs have been paid off.

What was left for improvement was the living room/dining room. All those walls with black splotches? Those used to be all mirror, baby. (We briefly considered the idea of abandoning the idea of a "home" and just turning this place into a discotheque.) We tore out the old carpet, which was grody, chipped up the old tile in the entryway, tore out the old half wall and my husband built a new one with shelves, and yesterday -- on his holiday -- my husband installed the flooring.
We still have trim to do, and there are certainly some touch ups that need to be finished, but otherwise? This completes the 2 year endeavor to remodel.

I can't believe it. This project has spanned not just 2 years; it has been an era: In that time, we got married, got Scooter, I ran a marathon, I got a full time teaching position, we traveled, we bowled, and we drank a lot of beer, so now that it's finished? I honestly feel like a huge chapter is coming to a close. Now we will finally be able to live in this entire space: We will be able to have friends over to watch a movie and those friends won't have to sit on the bed to watch the TV!

Granted, I will now care if someone spills a full glass of red wine on the floor, but I guess that's how adults live.

Once we finish the last details, get some furniture in here, and get a chance to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne, I'll feel settled. I suppose my husband will be lost without the constant feeling that a project is looming, but our credit cards will get a breather and I hope it's the end of arguments over what kind of knobs to get for the closet doors (remodeling is not easy on a marriage). So finally, this place will feel like "home."

12 comments:

David said...

Nice work! It's tough wrapping up projects once you get distracted. Especially when there are several going on simultaneously. You guys sure pulled it off, though; what an improvement!

Enjoy bowling tonight!

teacherwoman said...

The hardwood flooring with the colored walls is absolutely gorgeous! I LOVE IT! What ever will you guys do with your *free* time!

mouse said...

when I actually buy a house/condo/living space of my own, I'm totally calling you guys up for advice. the place looks fantastic!

on a side note, you must post even more pictures of scooter. he is too freaking adorable.

Alison said...

Wow! It looks incredible! You are such an inspiration. We bought an 80-year-old house and had all these aspirations of gutting and re-doing stuff, but we haven't done ANYTHING yet - with everything that's happened in the past year, we just haven't had the time or energy.

J~Mom said...

It looks fantastic!!! I love all of the colors and especially drooled over the kitchen sink and faucet. Nice work!

Marcy said...

HOLY MOTHER!!! That looks wonderful!!! I'm jealous!! All these things we should have done before having kids, now they're on the back burner LOL Definitely kick ass!

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

OMG.... why don't you come to OKC and do a home makeover for us? That is quite the job that you've had going on and the end results look great!!! Way to go...

I'll bet our friend Marcy could find a use for the mirrors.....

Neese said...

the cabinets and hardware are gorgeous what a big undertaking kudos to you both, beautiful work!, i hope you can now snuggle up and not argue about knobs anymore lol

Unknown said...

Wow, it looks great! Wanna come do my house now?

Anonymous said...

Wow! Everything looks great! I love color of your kitchen cabinets, and I absolutely *heart* the color of your living room walls. Everything looks so cozy and well-put together. Looks like a fun place to entertain friends and family!

Mendy said...

WOW! What a fantastic job you and hubby have done. Totally looks like a different place altogether. I'm very impressed! Marcy's right - do it now before kiddos come - they'll distract and it will NEVER get done. We have projects around our place that need to be done, and we keep putting them off - maybe you will inspire us to finish.

Looks beautiful and classy! Those are some nice hardwoods too...

Bathroom Remodeling said...

Hello,
Nice job yar a house become a Home
I like it If you decide to go with the entertainment space, then you'll want to include a kitchen. And a basement kitchen remodeling project is a lot easier than you might think, and the costs can be quite affordable.

Thanks
jenifer