House Love At First Sight

It was on Memorial Day weekend last year that we saw this house listed for sale on Trulia. It was in a nearby neighborhood we had been "stalking," it was within our price range, it had all our "must-haves," and it had just the right amount of potential. Our Realtor showed it to us later that afternoon. We put in an offer the next day and found out the offer was accepted the day after that. We went from casually browsing to buying a house practically overnight.

We've done a lot of work so far and we have a lot more to go, but I often get so caught up in the urge to fix everything all at once that I forget to take the time to reflect on everything we've accomplished in one short year. It's hardly the same house anymore…and that's a good thing, I think.

Here's a montage of the house as it was listed one year ago and how it stands today.

Exterior changes: Powerwash, new paint (blue, gray, & white), new white steel door, new white vinyl windows downstairs (new windows upstairs coming soon!)

One Year Later

Backyard: Powerwash & new paint, new bay windows, cleared out monkey grass, vines and small trees, repaired broken lattice and play set.

One Year Later

One Year Later

Living Room: Painted walls, trim & mantel, new windows, new curtains, new pot lights, stainless steel outlet plates.

One Year Later

Dining Room: New paint, new windows, curtains and rod, new light fixture, table and chairs.

One Year Later

Kitchen: New windows, custom window seat, new light fixture, primed for paint (next week!) 

One Year Later

Front Hallway: New paint & trim (including banister), new white steel door, new light fixture.

One Year Later

Laundry Room: Painted wall and cabinets, knew knobs, new dryer, custom built folding shelf.

One Year Later

Guest Room: New paint, curtains, art, etc.

One Year Later

Master Bedroom: Removed border, new paint, white outlet covers, curtains (new windows coming soon).

One Year Later

A lot of people think we're joking when we say it will be years before we're done fixing up the house, but it's true.  For every project we've finished, there is an equally daunting project we still have to accomplish (the kitchen, bathrooms, third bedroom, landscaping, etc.). Let's blame HGTV for making us feel as though we can "makeover" an entire house in a short hour-long "episode." Today, though, I will remember this house as it was one year ago when we first saw it, and how far it's come.

Lightening up the Laundry Room

Our laundry room is a small space that shoots off from a small hallway at the side entrance (which we never use).  It's in a part of the house that's often forgotten, even though it gets used on a regular basis.

Before and after

We're slowing making some changes in here.  As you saw from the last post, we now have a shelf for folding (thanks, Dad).  We also painted the inside and the outside of the cabinets white (Valspar white semi-gloss; the same white we use for all the trim). Priming and painting also helped take care of the old dryer sheet smell that seeped into the wood. We also added new shiny silver knobs.

Dark cabinets

White cabinets

To top things off we bought ourselves a new dyer!  It's nothing fancy (it was the cheapest model--Admiral--on sale at Home Depot for $299), but it works better than our old one which had to run for three hours before everything was dry.

When the old dryer was hauled out, we started painting the walls.  I can't tell you the exact color because it was a $3.00 can of "mistake paint" from Lowes, but it's some kind of periwinkle. We still have a couple walls to paint but it's already transforming from a dark cave to a laundry room that doesn't feel so much of a chore to be in anymore.