Monday, September 28, 2009

Our first house - 1916 Bungalow



This was my husband and I's first house.  We had just purchased a little condo, rennovated it and sold it and had our eyes out for the perfect real house to flip.  I was 23, new to rennovation and design. 
I came across this beauty:  a cute little bungalow built in 1916.  We purchased the home with then intent to fix it up and put it back on the market.  I loved this house.  This was our first true "house" together.  But, it was not in the right area for us, and after the rennovations it was worth much more than we could afford.  It took a little bit longer to sell than our first that sold in 2 weeks.  This one was in a developing area - the street itself was precious, but there were some sketchy areas surrounding it.

Here is Front Before:




Front After a little red trim paint and a porch redo:



Here is the living room Before:



And the Living room After:



Here is another angle of the living room:  Can you tell I was in my loving red phase?  I think it looks good, but if I would do it so differently today, this was in 2005



Bathroom before:



Bathroom after:  We would have kept the clawfoot tub, but since it was the only bathroom, we opted for a jetted tub instead and sold the antique cast iron on craigslist to pay for it



Here is the cute little kitchen before.  I hated demolishing it, because it was just so precious.  It just wasn't practical though.  The countertop was a true drain board with the scores in the bark for draining and everything.  It just wasn't set up for modern cooking though, so we gutted the entire thing. 



Here is the after:  The picture was taken from the same angle with the sink still positioned under the window.  I still love the kitchen, but if I had to do it over again I would do things differently.  I guess I'll always say that 5 years after a project.



The guest room before (with the boarded up windows)



The guest room after:



I don't have a before picture of the next picture, but there was just a single door that led from the dining room to the kitchen, so we opened that whole space up, and we used the same style of casing for around the opening.  When I came home from work and the contractors had made a huge hole in the wall, and there was then a huge open floorplan - I was TOTALLY hooked on rennovation.  I couldn't believe the difference.  I can still feel how good that felt, and I'm sure my husband remembers me jumping around the house like a complete fool not able to contain my excitement.




See that huge kind of ugly thing hanging on the wall on the right?  That was my very first DIY/crafty project.  I was sitting in an Electrical Engineering class in college and I my mind was totally up in the clouds thinking about what to do above my brand new couch in my first apartment.  I sketched this up, made my first of 2 million trips to the Home Depot, got supplies and whipped this thing up.  It had sentimental value so it "hung" around (get it!) for a while, but I finally threw it in the garbage last year.

I will never forget this home, and I don't think any home that we own will be able to live up to it.  I miss it, but am so happy that we now have a forever home (after 4 years 5 apartments and 3 home flips).

I am posting this on Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Monday.

18 comments:

  1. Stef - I love your blog. I'm procrastinating work and I've been here looking through your posts. You're a creative genius. What great projects! I'd love to "show off" some of your DIY projects and before/afters if you're interested. :)

    Let me know. Great job on everything!
    Roeshel

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  2. Wow you do some amazing transformations! Great job!

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  3. Beautiful home! I love a bungalow. :)

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  4. What a transformation! You have nice taste which shows in your after fotos. So inspirational. Thanks for sharing!
    Michelle

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  5. What a labor of love. I grew up in an old Texas home and I know how much work it is to renovate an old home. I'll have to look through your posts; your blog looks so interesting.

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  6. you guys did a great job! im sure it was a lot of work!!

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  7. Wow - What a lot of work you guys did. It looks wonderful!

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  8. WOW!!! that is the CUTEST HOUSE. I wished it was in BHam, cuz I'd buy it!!!

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  9. ~WOW! I think it's just stunning down to every single detail. Kudos to you! Fabulous job! :)

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  10. Wow! You did a lot of work to that house. I love how you did the exterior of the house. The porch is great and I love the living room in Craftsman houses with those windows and built-ins.

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  11. Wow! You made some amazing changes. It looks beautiful. I especially love the den with the "pops"of red (my favorite color).
    Thanks for sharing!
    Traci

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  12. LOVE the red on the house...what a great accent color. Just love it! The whole house looks great!

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  13. Looking GOOD girl...you did some AWESOME work in your new (OLD) home! Hope you have a FUN and WARM weekend!

    Look...you have a new follower...it's ME!!!

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  14. Wow!! I just stumbled over your blog while googling sherwin william paint colors and I must say I am very impressed with your work. i have very similar tastes in colors and style but have the hardest time putting a room together with accessories, furniture or anything. Definitely a site I will continue to follow!! Jennifer

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