My House Before & After

I just found some pictures that my husband took, when we were contemplating buying our house. Just a little over two years we flew back home to Metrowest from Chapel Hill, NC to buy a house in a weekend. I know people who relocate for jobs do that type of thing all the time, but we never had done anything quite so fast. The twins arrival was quickly approaching, and I was getting bigger by the minute, so we had to act fast: we needed to come home to our family.

There didn't seem like there was too much inventory, but that didn't stop us. We found a house with only one previous owner. A house with a good vibe, albeit not the best aesthetic, but we believed it had "good bones." Somehow we were able to see through all the pink ceramic tile and laminate to what would become our home.

Hall Before

Hall After

Kitchen Before: The giant TV came with the house, but so did the columns, all the shelving, and blue counter top.

After

After

After

In the kitchen we removed all the shelving, visual equipment, track lighting, etc.  Next my husband (with the help of some awesome friends) removed all the ceramic tile and a flooring company matched the oak in the living and dining rooms, sanded and stained it in Jacobean.  We replaced the laminate cabinets and island with painted custom cabinets and carrera marble counter tops, moved the refrigerator, and replaced the appliances.

Master Bedroom Before

 

After

One of the strangest things to contend with was the vanity and sink in the middle of the master bedroom.  I think most home buyers would have probably just walked out upon seeing it.  Luckily my husband had a quick solution: take it all out, and drywall.  We replaced carpet, patched, painted, and added a new ceiling fan.

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Peak into Nursery Bathroom Before

Peak into Nursery Bathroom After

For the months while I was on bed rest with twins (exactly this time two years ago) my husband spent every day at work and every night working on getting this house ready for us.  He lived in the basement while I stayed with my parents (one mile away) so that they could feed me my 3 meals, 2 snacks, 1 dessert, numerous decaf Arnold Palmer's every day, and make sure I wasn't walking around.  I'm quite pleased with the outcome of Phase I of our little renovation.

Too much time on my hands

Is it possible that I have too much time on my hands?  It certainly doesn't feel that way to me, but why then, for example, do I have enough time to search Giada Laurentis' art choices for her home  or go through slide shows of other people's houses when my girls are taking frequently interrupted naps? It sounds so trivial, but let's face it, no one's coming to me for a solution to stop the oil spill in the Gulf (it looks like the only solution is to do as the Russians did and detonate a small subterranean nuclear explosion....what?!).

I was struck by the "Amore" acrylic on canvas in Giada's kitchen and I wondered where it came from which led me to a really cool story about the artist, Darren Quinn.  He created the original "Amore" as a wedding gift for Giada and her husband. An original can cost between $3500 to $400.  Quinn is a talented artist but also happens to be a fearless Quadriplegic who created a board so that he could still windsurf!  http://www.darrenquinn.com/index.html

Then I was really mesmerized by the simplicity of the design of one of the featured house tours on apartmenttherapy.com.  This site is one of my favorite ways to waste hours viewing other folks' design choices.

The Conwallisville, NY house is really lesson in restraint and embracing the old.  The house's owners took 5 years to find the house and another 2 stripping away layers of paint and wallpaper, and whitewashing the interior.  As you can see it's stone house with a barn now used as a pottery studio.

I love that there's no Viking stove or a Sub Zero fridge.

The veranda and stairs in the library that go nowhere.  I love it!

A wood stove as the focal point of the room, a cozy guest room, and peeling paint on a bathroom  wall just became charming.

Outdoor bath or horse trough?  Who cares?

Next time: Musings on children's TV characters.