We bought a remodel

Isn't she a beauty, in all her 1960's contemporary glory! She had not been touched since her owners built her 5 decades ago. There was a lot of shag, a lot of wallpaper, and a lot of popcorn ceilings. She had great bones though, and my cute carpenter husband knew he could make her into something great.

The original owners had passed away and their children were selling the home. It had been on the market for a long time without much interest. So we offered low and they accepted the offer that night. We sat in shock at the fact that we had just signed our names on the dotted line for such an undertaking. And make no mistake, there would be no fixing it up while we stayed in the comfort of our just completed adorable ranch home that we remodeled. We would have to live in this renovation, there was no other financial way around it. We put our house on the market, sold it in one day, and we were off.

It has been a long couple of years. It has been hard living in a house that is constantly under construction, when you have small children running about. We learned so much through this process, we learned ways to remodel cheaper than anyone ever thought was possible. My husband researched everything we bought for this house, finding the cheapest deal possible. So many things we bought were off the Internet...including our front doors that he bought off ebay for a quarter of the price anyone would normally have paid for such doors. We learned how much money you can save while doing it yourself, and we learned what things are not at all worth doing yourself. We did things that I cannot believe we were able to pull off. I speak mainly of my husband....there were times we both sat back and thought things like "I can't believe I just took down that load bearing wall, I hope I figure out how to put the new one back up". He always figured it out. He may have burned up the phone lines to my Dad that is a real contractor, but nonetheless he figured it out. God has given him a great gift, he has the mind of an engineer, a gift that I was certainly not granted. Here is what she looks like today...

My husband's creation, his pride and joy, the portico...

Only time will tell, but I hope this is the house we live in forever. I want my children to grow up here, and I want to remember the steps we took over these last several years so that I can remember why we will never do it again. So for the next few weeks I am going to type it out. Every room in our house has been gutted and I want to walk through and hit the highlights...or the low lights...whichever way you look at it. I hope to see you again.