Old pictures of the new digs!

This post is LONG overdue.  About 4 months ago Jim and I bought our first house!  We've been steadily making changes throughout the house since moving in.   Now I'll admit my first impression of the house was not all positive.  It had none of the finishes or small touches that I'd fallen in love with at other houses we'd seen.  It was 2100sq feet of brass fixtures and orange colored trim and miss-matching floors. I don't have any current pictures but here are the realtor shots from when we first saw the house.  Maybe you'll see some of the reasons why I did love this house...

First off, this is the view as you drive up to the house... hello deck and under-deck patio with walk out basement... I dream of a pergola on the right side of the deck with an awesome dining area and a hanging bench/hammock underneath the deck.  I'd like to make an opening to the yard from the front of the deck as well. Right now there is a gate off the far left corner of the deck to the driveway but it's not convenient to get to the yard.

 

 This area on the right side of the house gets the most sun... Hopefully we can put in a garden eventually!

 

This is the front side of the house.  Look at those WINDOWS! Love!  That two car garage also had me at hello.  Unfortunately then we go to a front deck covered with astroturf, hideous brass light fixtures, half-dead evergreens in a 'flowerbed' full of stones and 2 ancient air conditioners.  I've got lots of work to do out there!

 First look inside... On the upside, look at that 2story living room?  Lofted second floor open to the entry way and the living room, with windows galore!  If you can see it past the yellow walls, ugly trim and metal fish scale-esque railings... or the broken fan, giant eyeball track lights or HUGE hideous brass chandelier in the front entryway (not shown, and already taken down, thank god!)

 

Another interesting detail in this house is the fireplace.  I have a love hate relationship with it right now.  I love having a wood burning fireplace... but the staggered brick and weird slanted wood over it??  Ehhh.  Not my deal at all.  But it's slowly growing on us as I get rid of the 80's brass and dated decor around it.  We'll see if we end up refacing it at some point in the future. 

 For now the only thing we've done with the fireplace is had it cleaned and inspected.  Safety first!

 

Dig those awful brass and crystal chandeliers??  Gone, gone, gone baby. 

 

 The dining room is open to the sunken living room, and that whole wall to the right side of picture is sliding glass doors... Yup, the whole front of the house is sliders.  9 total  I'm still not sure how to deal with them.

Now you see the kitchen...  More wood, bad florescent lighting and a bad tile job with grout that runs from off white to just plain gross.  Add in a tiny wall oven and microwave that is original from 1981... oy.  Also, who makes a lower breakfast bar?!  Those stools shown?  No normal person can sit at them and get their knees under the counter.  It's just weird.  BUT, it's a huge kitchen, with TONS of counter space and storage several pot lights and that massive island??  It's got a nice cook top in it and means I actually don't have to cook with my back to the rest of the house.  There's also a really cool pantry unit next to that door (to the garage) and a little coat/broom closet on the left side of the picture.

Kitchen and dining room are open to one another... I just wish they had the same flooring throughout.  There is tile in the kitchen, laminate in the dining room, hard woods in the living room, carpet in the master bedroom, another tile in the bathrooms and a third type of tile in the entryway... and that's all on one floor!  I dream of someday ripping it all up and putting in hardwoods throughout the whole first level so it all flows together instead of being chopped up.

The second floor has a loft area and then two bedrooms with giant closets.  The bedrooms share a jack and jill bathroom.  We haven't done any work upstairs yet except starting to paint the trim white.  There both pretty basic rooms.  Need paint and new carpets and some closet systems so they can actually be useful.  There's also a tiny linen closet upstairs that has no shelves so eventually we need to finish that off.

This is the view of the master bathroom.  It's tolerable, and hey, it's a master bath, but I do wish the vanity area was closed off from the bedroom so I could get ready in the morning without waking Jim up.  Same goes for him waking me at night when he comes to bed!  The door to the right goes to the tub/toilet room and there is a door on the left that goes into our walk in closet (YAY CLOSET!)  Eventually we want to remodel the bathroom and make it all one big room instead of two little ones.  We dream of putting in a jetted tub... okay, I dream of it, Jim doesn't really care as long as I don't paint the room pink.  Right now it's just one of those tiny tub/shower fiberglass unit things.  And everything is original so the fixtures all leaked and the tub/toilet are cream colored.  Not good.  The first thing Jim and I replaced when we moved in was the faucet. Pictures to come someday... lol.

Weird little cubby next the the sliders.  Like I said, still getting used to sliding glass doors everywhere.  Also getting used to the cats walking through the vertical blinds.... I really need to find new window/door coverings that block light and provide privacy (it's the bedroom!) but still can be pulled easily out of the way to let light in!

 I'll finish up with the yard... it needs work.  No more white picket fence please, and there has to be a better way to divert water than that horrible plastic sheeting but for now we're taking it a day at a time.  I love how private it is and that it's all ours! :)