The Big House Renovation

This project is awesome. You are doing a great job.

 

Thanks Carolyn!

 

Today I finished my projects very quickly. Two coats of paint on the porch posts and I'm done! Had to start early this morning because they're talking rain this afternoon. I'd like to be able to attach the downspout before it gets here. I must say hubby did a nice job figuring out how to make this work, it really came out nice. He still has to caulk/seal the bottom and top of each column, then they really will be done.







And I have to include a finished garage door pic. I think the siding color is going to look nice against the white trim.

 

Well if you want my opinion, always start home improvement project with Kitchen and Bathroom. As kitchen and bathroom are both considered as the most important rooms of your house, its really a nice idea to renovate those.

 

Hi Carl- Yes, we're in our 15th year of working on this house (which was my childhood home), and all the interior did come first. Now we're tackling the exterior, especially the garage that had major structural issues. Our house was bought as a fixer-upper.

Luckily the kitchen had been recently remodeled by my parents before we bought the house, with custom cabinetry to the ceiling. They also took out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, adding a bar island. The vinyl flooring was poorly installed (and not our style), so we put in tile & painted the refrigerator black to match the other appliances, and painted walls to go with our new tile. We also replaced all the light fixtures.

Before


After




We also updated all the bathrooms, removed all the carpet in the house revealing original hardwood floors, finished a basement bathroom, removed the wall in the basement building a piano studio. The piano studio is my favorite project, I took the summer off work one year to do it.



Bathroom tile for teenager's bathroom. She got to pick out her own colors and help place them in the shower.


Floor that was underneath carpet! We didn't have to do a thing in the livingroom & hallway. We did have to refinish all the bedrooms though. We've painted the walls the same color as the diningroom now, and replaced the vertical blinds with curtains.

 

LOVE that studio!

 

Thanks cherylad! Funny thing is...now that the exterior will be taken care of, we'll be official empty nesters which opens up a bunch of ideas of what to do with all our extra bedrooms (we have 4 bedrooms). It looks like we're past the kids moving back home stage. lol

This winter I plan to turn our daughter's bedroom into a guest room / waiting room for the piano students. Then I'll have an accessible bathroom in the basement for the piano students. A murphy bed will be the solution. Then I can put chairs in there and let the kids have a place to play while their siblings take piano lessons without having to be completely quiet all the time. That will be an easy change, just paint the walls and build the murphy bed. I've got chairs I can move into the room, along with a tv perhaps (with no cable, just dvds or maybe a game system). Got to keep it age appropriate. My only expense will be paint and the murphy bed.

 

Thanks Eileen, bring a paintbrush if you want to visit!

 

The Beginnings of the Deck Rebuild

Today's Project: Three 42" deep deck post footing holes are dug, reference lines strung, form tubes put in and leveled, concrete hauled, mixed and poured, and post anchor bolts inserted in fresh concrete. Rented concrete mixer cleaned up and returned.

 

I love your house PL! Especially the piano studio and your daughter's (former) bathroom. Very cool. You two are doing a great job!

 

There's nothing like doing a job yourself. You KNOW it's done right. Can't wait to see the deck.

 

Wow, you can be proud of what your hubby and you have done. That is so nice. Bet you are proud.

Barb in Pa.

 

House Number Plaque

Just got back from picking up our house number plaque from getting powder coated. We had it fabricated out of steel (26" tall, 6" wide, 1/4" thick with 1" standoffs). I held it up to our big white post on the porch, it's going to look fantastic with the white color showing through. Can't wait to get it installed!