The Fixer Upper

In the summer of 2006, June 30th to be exact, I closed on my little diamond in the rough.   

All by myself.  

Yes, I had a manfriend (who eventually turned into my mister) but this venture was done on my own.

Esthetically, the house was a train wreck.  I called it my "1967 Time Capsule."

Structurally, however, it was perfect.  I knew within minutes, upon attending the open house, that I'd be placing an offer on it.  The home improvement potential was screaming my name. 

Here we are a few years and dollars later, with some huge home improvement efforts under our belt.  I can't really call it Time Capsule anymore, since most of those 1967 features are a thing of the past.  Don't worry ~ most of those retro elements were not worth saving.  Faded textured wallpaper and carpet in the bathroom and kitchen were not doing this house any favors.

Here are the biggest and most costly projects tackled to date:

Project number one:  Exterior paint.  Summer of 07....

Before ~ Canary Yellow

After ~ Ranch Mink

*   *   *   *   *

Project number 2:  Kitchen flooring upgrade.  No one wants carpet in the kitchen.  No one.  This upgrade went down during Christmas break.  I think we actually tiled on New Year's Day of 08 all by ourselves!

Before ~ Carpeted kitchen

After ~ Kitchen is tiled

*   *   *   *   *

Project number 3:  Kitchen counter and backsplash upgrade.  Circa 1967 laminate everywhere.  This upgrade went down in the summer of 2009.  We hired Bob to do this job, as counter installation seems too tricky!

Before ~ Old laminate counters

After ~ New counters and backsplash

*   *   *   *   *

Project number 4:  Bathroom gutting and remodel.  Broken floor tile, textured wallpaper, old vanity and lighting.  Once again, Bob was hired to do all installation after we did the demo.  Summer of 2010.

Before ~ Original bathroom

After ~ New bath

 
Read about the bathroom saga HERE.

*   *   *   *   *

Project number 5:  Kitchen cabinets.  These needed a face-lift.  Nothing a little paint couldn't cure.  Summer of 2010.

Before ~ Kitchen cabinets

After ~ A little paint job

*   *   *   *   *

Project number 6:  Hearth room flooring upgrade.  Hardwood floor installation, again by Bob.  Winter of 2010.

Before ~ Nasty living room carpet

After ~ HARDWOODS!!!!!

*   *   *   *   *

Project number 7:  Laundry room update.  We gutted the laundry room during the summer of 2013.  It got a custom counter, new tile, wainscoting, and some paint!

Laundry room ~ BEFORE!

Laundry room ~ AFTER!!!! 

 *   *   *   *   *

Tracking the improvement efforts on this blog has been a fun way to document all the changes.  And even though the big stuff has been tackled, there are a few projects left to complete.

So stay tuned.