Thursday, November 23, 2017

ENTRY AND FORMALS

Welcome back, Blogging Pals!!

Alright.  I have thought about this and decided on what I hope is the best way to show you the renovation process.  We will do "sections" of the house from demo to finished in a single post.  You have already seen the pre-purchase full house "tour".  You can always refer back to that to see the initial condition although I tried to get pictures once the estate sale was done and all of the "stuff" was gone before demo began.  (Click here to view the first post.)

Note that all flooring was replaced, all rooms painted, and all doors/trim painted.  Some rooms needed nothing more.  Others had a lot of additional work done.  You will see all that.

Without further ado... let's take a peek at the entry and formals.

The entry viewed from inside looking toward the front door with a detail of the tile.


Demo started.  Carpet was ripped up throughout the house along with the tile (which was removed after the carpet).

From the front door looking straight ahead into the den... then standing in that den door looking back toward the front door.


Alright.  The entry tile finally was removed and the new tile (which will flow from the entry through the den/kitchen/utility/powder room) started being laid on the diagonal (my preference).  Tile detail is in the lower picture.



Okay... let's take a look at those formals just through the cased opening to the right as you come into the entry from the front door.

Nothing like the old "pony wall" with spindles!!!  :)  So... the formal living room is immediately off of the entry and we are looking into it from the entryway.  Below that, we have walked to the far end into the formal dining room (clearly defined by what I called "the octopus" chandelier) and are looking back toward the entry through the far opening.




Alrighty!  The carpeting is ripped out and destruction of the pony wall and spindles is underway.






Did you notice the wall color?  Yep.  No more "builder beige!"  (Don't worry.  "The octopus" found a new home when I found a fixture for what is now my new office!)

And finally... new flooring.  (The lighting changes the look but it is a brown/grey scraped-look vinyl plank.)


So... this is where we went... dark grey tile with beige carpeting to light stone-look tile and wood-look vinyl plank... putty beige walls to light grey walls designed to work with the new flooring but remain neutral... separated rooms to open expanse.

Now you may have an idea of the direction we are headed.  I hope you are liking what you see!!

Stay tuned!!  There is a lot of house left to be done!

Until next post...

THANKSGIVING 2017

Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies!  And Happy Thanksgiving!!

This is just a short post for the holiday.  While we are able to return to our traditional Texas Thanksgiving meal this year (Turkey Dogs, Tater Tots, and homemade Sweet Potato Pie!), there are lots of things to reflect upon this year.

Every morning on my walk, I offer thanks for my life, my parents, my spousal-unit, my health, and my good fortune.  But there are other things I want to mention here.

I expand upon my thankfulness for the spousal-unit who, for completely unknown reasons, chooses to stick around even as I move us and stick him smack in the middle of a kitchen renovation!  :)  He obviously got the dose of patience I missed out on.

I am thankful my aunt had a long and full life... and am thankful she does not have to suffer any longer.  I am thankful to so many in Louisiana who provided care and love to my aunt.  We should all be so lucky to have such wonderful care in our final years.  Bless all of you.

I am thankful to be back in Texas and able to have OUR traditional Thanksgiving meal!  I am also happy to be in a new city that offers all I need without all the things that aren't great about a big city.

I am thankful for Ikea and the reasonable proximity to my new location!!  I continue to be thankful for the spousal-unit who is able to interpret the assembly drawings and is willing to put the darned stuff together!

I am thankful for so many friends who continue to stick with me, even as I move from state-to-state!  It is wonderful to keep those relationships going and I appreciate their willingness to do so.

There are plenty more... but I will let you get to YOUR traditional Thanksgiving meal now.  :)

Gobble, Gobble...

Until next post...

Thursday, November 9, 2017

THE WACO HOUSE RENOVATION PROCESS - BEFORE

Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies!

Okay.  I have put this off long enough.  This will be a long road with many stops to get you from the house purchase condition to its current state.  I have debated how to present it to you to make sense.  I think I will show you the "before" pictures (taken after going under contract and when I was here for the inspection) all in one post.  Then, we will break it down as the destruction/reworking begins.  Finally, I will post the "after" pictures so you can see the changes.  Might even do a before/after post with the two shots side-by-side so you can see the whole change!  We'll see.  If you have any thoughts about how you would like it presented, let me know!

So... as mentioned, I was here for the inspection of the property.  What I didn't know was the family of the owner was having an estate sale the upcoming weekend!!!  The house was FULL of "stuff."  It was pretty funny.  The "before" photos are going to show you what I saw when I got my first look at the property!  (I trusted my Realtor, Cindy, enough to make an offer and go under contract without seeing the property first.)  What follows are a lot of pics and descriptions.

Opening the front door, which is centered on the front of the house, one finds the entry.  There is a cased opening to the right leading into the "formal" rooms (living & dining), an opening with double doors directly ahead leading into the den which opens onto the back patio via a sliding glass door, and a hallway to the left leading to the bedroom wing.

Looking to the right into the formals, the living area is first, then the dining after passing through the pony wall with the spindles.

From the dining area, there is a door leading into the kitchen.  Interesting layout as the electric cooktop/microwave, sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, and double ovens are all along the wall to the right!!  You will see some changes when we get to the end!

Did I mention the kitchen was carpeted?  Yep.  Surprised me!

The door at the far side of the kitchen goes into the utility room and where there is a door into a half-bath.


From that door, one can turn back toward the kitchen and see the peninsula between the kitchen and den.  There is also a little corner built-in with glass doors and shelving in the kitchen to the right.

Standing at the corner of the peninsula, this a view of the den... the double doors at the far left lead into the entry...

... and scanning to the right, you see the fireplace with the sliding glass door leading onto the back patio just past the furniture.

Walking into the den and looking back into the kitchen.

Looking down the hallway from the entry toward the bedroom wing.

First door on the left leads into the (now) guest bedroom.  It is on the front of the house.  It is connected to another secondary bedroom (second door on the left at end of hallway) on the front corner of the house by a Jack and Jill bathroom which is the partially opened door on the right.

The Jack and Jill bath was interesting!


The bath flowed into another secondary bedroom (now my "dressing room!").  It has windows on two walls as it is on the front  corner.  The door into the Jack and Jill is behind the clothes rack.


Standing at the doorway of this second bedroom looking toward the back of the house.  The hallway from the entry ends and makes a 90 degree right turn toward the back of the house.  Note a door to the right, a door to the left, and a door directly at the end of this hallway.

The doorway to the right leads into the third secondary bedroom... the largest one (now the "Man Cave!").  Has a great wide window across the back looking onto the back patio.

Directly across from this bedroom door is another door leading into... the Master Bath.  (More on this later.)

At the end of the hallway, there is the Master Bedroom.  It has a wide window on the side, two smaller separated windows across the back, and a sliding glass door onto the back patio across from the wide window.

So, we will back up a bit into the hallway and look into the Master Bath.  Note the door on the right in the Bath.  That door goes directly into the Master Bedroom.  So, this bathroom, while directly connected to the Master Bedroom, does also serve the third bedroom directly across from it.  I guess you would have to share if you had three kids... but that isn't a problem for us.  :)

Finally, there is a teeny little shower at the back left of this photo.  It was an "insert" cultured marble shower with a very low ceiling.  The shower head was so low, I literally had to do full squats to wash my hair!!  CRAZY!!

There is a little section in the Master Bedroom that goes between two closets to the door into the Master Bathroom.  A little awkward... but works for now.  The Man has these two closets.  My clothes are in my "dressing room."

WHEW!!!  Okay.  You have now seen the place as it was when I arrived.  I have a LOT more photos of everything including some detailing specific items/areas.  But you don't need to see those.  Would be WAY too much information!!

So... we will begin going through the changes to each area as well as the selections made, from colors to flooring to countertops/backsplashes to the final appliances, etc.  It will take several posts to get it all done... but I hope you enjoy the journey.  I will be posting about other things, too, so it won't be JUST the house process.

Thank you for staying with/joining me on this new blog!!  I hope it has some interest for you.

Until next post...