I wanted to share with you a five year project: our first house! We have been renovating this thing for such a long time. Trying to find time to be a couple, raise babies, and little ones, and renovate has proved to be a challenge, but a worthwhile one! I look back at all the midnight painting sessions, late night backyard dirt digging sessions, and feel a satisfied warmth that we actually managed to do all of this and turn this little thing into our home! With the exception of a window, we really did almost all this work between the two of us and the occasional helper.
Without further adieu, may I present Kahmann's Cottage:
Look how little she is! Lily here was just 2 1/2 years old when we purchased this home. I remember how much this yard disgusted me, so I threw something cute in front of the house to try and compensate for it. Thanks Lil.
Notice the overgrown weeds in the front yard, an overgrown tree directly to the right of the home, ugly satellite featurette, and general lack of landscaping.
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| Before |
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| Before |
We opted to keep the original 1950s door (it fit the home I felt), replaced the sagging front bay picture window with one that was flush with the home (a choice based on a $2000 difference between the two). We added some landscaping, gutted our front yard not once, but three times to rid it of weeds and grubs, removed the overgrown tree, replaced the cheap house stickers with metal letters, and removed the satellite, broken flag pole, and replaced A LOT of broken siding.
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| After |
Now feel free to come on in!
The entire living room space here was painted a ghastly shiny, shiny yellow from floor to ceiling. But don't you just love the archway entering into the living room by the front door? I loved that. And that was the ONLY thing I did love about this house when we purchased it, I kid you not.
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| BEFORE |
Our kiddos loved this bay window dearly. It was Sawyer's road for the first four years of his life and he spent hours upon hours driving his little cars back and forth along it. It also served as a little stage for our Lily's performances. But alas, wood rot had begun to take over the underneath of it and we were worried it would eventually seep into the sides of the house. It was also beginning to sag, so we splurged and decided this was the ONE project we would hire someone to fix.
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| BEFORE |
The previous owners had opened up the space, but we hated the cheap pine they had used to frame the opening to the eat-in kitchen.
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| BEFORE |
We painted the ceilings a flat ceiling paint, killing the glossy finish , replaced the windows, updated the electrical outlets, painted the area a neutral tan, and had new heating radiators installed.
Want to hear something fun? I made, found, free, or thrifted nearly every single piece of furniture in my home. It's my hobby.
Because the new window was so wide I couldn't find curtains I liked that would fit the width and the price to have them custom made left me laughing. So I went to Big Lots, bought some white and teal shower curtains and made them myself. The width was absolutely perfect and by adding on the teal at the bottom I solved the length problem.
The black little side tables were roadside finds (score!). I made the two signs on the wall for less than $5 each. I purchased the pillows and blanket at a thrift shop for $3 each. The coffee table was a roadside rescue also, destined for the dump. It was in sad shape, but I could see how cute it was underneath the bad stain and dirt covering it. I sanded it down, painted it, distressed it, and added a coat of dark stain to the top. I love it now!
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The yellow dresser was also a roadside find intended for the dump (You should see some of my acrobatics at trying to get these big pieces of furniture into the car by myself. I'm actually quite impressed with myself after I manage to get these big pieces in the car alone.). Isn't it cute with it's scalloped edging and vintage vibe? I originally intended for it to go up in our guest room, but it sat and sat there for a month. Then I threw a few decorations on it...and soon it was being filled with our library books, gloves, hats, etc. And so it stayed. We came to be good friends.
In the corner above you can see some of the cool work Keith did on the opening. It looks so lovely now! High five Captain Awesome!
When we moved into the house we had no dining room. After much discussion we decided that we wanted to place our only TV in the basement, outside of our daily life so that we could focus more on things that matter, like our family and spending time with each other. We chose to take our table out of the eat-in kitchen (no dining room in this house) and place it in our living room. It worked for us!
Speaking of tables...this was another free find! It was an old butcher block table top originally and a project I undertook myself. I never did get to refinishing the seats of the chairs. It just exhausts me to think about it...
Moving into the kitchen!
Now, do not get jealous. We had AWESOME carpeting in our kitchen when we bought the house. It was blackish grey. Then I paid someone to clean it. And it turned a grayish blue. Then we removed the ALWAYS smoking stove from the room when I insisted that it was a hazard and we made the lovely discovery that the carpet was actually supposed to be a vivid blue.
And if you aren't jealous enough, see that ceiling fan? If you dared to turn it on it would spin and wobble from side to side. The children were under strict orders to not stand underneath it and hug the sides of the counters at all times. It terrified me.
Now, before you marvel at that darling little bird house gate, I must break your heart and tell you it was the FIRST thing I threw away in the house followed shortly after by the constantly smoking old stove.
AFTER:
Keith replaced the lighting in the kitchen with track lighting and some pendant lights. Hallelujah! I was so happy to be rid of that ceiling fan 5 years later. He also built me the shelf that went on the wall with the window which I painted, stained, and distressed to match the island. We purchased some Ikea metal racks to place our pots and pans on and free up cupboard space. We also updated all the electrical outlets and light switches in our kitchen. The room was painted the same color as our living room to create continuity and the yellow ceiling was given a fresh coat of flat ceiling paint.
The stove we found nearly brand new on Craigslist. How much? $100 baby! Owned by a bachelor that hated to cook, nearly always ate out, and had used it only a handful of times.
We opted to keep the counters, because we are cheap and you can't find THOSE on the side of the road (darn). We also opted to keep the cupboards. With the help of my Relief Society church ladies we cleaned them up nicely and I later polished them and Keith added drawer pulls and handles to bring them up to date. We also added a stove hood and a cart on the side of the fridge.
Keith replaced the carpet with awesome tile (which is secretly self-stick linoleum squares that we grouted, but shh!). We also replaced the dishwasher when it was rude enough to quit on us a month ago.
The microwave shelf was originally built for a microwave the size of Texas, so we pulled that out trimmed it up and put it back in place at a much less annoying height, and removed the wine rack which served no purpose for a lil' mormon couple.
The kitchen island I found...roadside! I located the owner and asked if they were throwing it out. $25 later I was once again using my muscles to hoist a roadside find into my trunk. It was originally a workbench, but I removed a bar and placed two tall chairs (that were, once again free) underneath to create an island. I then sanded down the bottom portion and painted that section, distressed it, and stained the whole thing (minus the top).
The desk was also...well, free. Thanks Jill! I found the really cute chair too for $5 at a thrift shop. It's my special spot for editing photos.
And one of my FAVORITE rooms in the house, the laundry room:
I know, I know, it was perfect before, but I just couldn't help adding my little touches to the room.
I realize I don't actually have a picture, but we removed the little birdhouse gate, replacing it with a 6 panel door, which we close when the washer and dryer are running.
This project was mine, though I did have help from Captain Awesome when I got stuck a few times (especially with the doorway). We replaced the floor with the same self-stick tiles used in the kitchen (They have held up BEAUTIFULLY over the last five years and I highly recommend them. They stay warmer under your feet too than regular tile.)
I painted this room my two favorite colors: Blue Fox and Wave Crest. The ceiling was given a flat white ceiling paint also.
We purchased two shelves at IKEA and I found that awesome "SNOW BOY" sign at an auction for a few bucks. I painted the window sills and the door leading to the outside white and we put a bookshelf in the room for extra food storage.
Opposite this view I painted a chevron striped "fun wall" that you may remember from this post.
On that wall we added a hanging rack to dry clothes and a wall holder place for our ironing board/iron.
Stay tuned for part 2!!!
