May 29, 2013 - What we have done to the house so far. Part 1.

We have had a busy year and 4 months in our new home. We have been working hard on repairing some issues and making the place our own.  Just wanted to get some side by side before and afters to show the progress we have made.

Our very 1st project was to take these 2 closets and re-purpose them. The pantry was too small. And, we weren't going to benefit that much from this coat closet.

So, the one became our broom closet. And, the other a much larger pantry.

                

Another big issue in our home was the kitchen. At a distance it wasn't so bad, but, the cabinets were kind of gross. We couldn't get the sticky from greasy cooking off them. The back splash behind the sink showed evidence of water damage and one was burnt on the bottom of it from a toaster fire or something. So, we took advantage of a kitchen Dad was redoing and were able to get all new cabinets for free. We just had to pay for counter tops, backsplash, and new flooring.

Here is a closer look, a shot of the gutted kitchen, and evidence of the underlying damage we repaired.

Gutted kitchen. 

We had to bleach the floor and replace drywall and insulation behind this section because of an ant colony living in the wall.

Most of the cabinets moved on to a new home, but, we kept 3 to hang in the laundry room. This improved storage space and I no longer feel like everything on that shelf could fall down on me at any moment. We also painted the laundry room and hung the hanging rack shortly after moving in. We have most rooms painted at this point, but, the rooms needing water friendly paint were 1st on the list. You can't see it in the pics, but, there is a slop sink in there by the washer.

With the flooring from the kitchen also running into the 1/2 bath, we coupled it's renovation with the kitchen renovation. The toilet in there was so bad when we moved in that it flushed twice every time we flushed it. We also discovered more evidence of past water issues in there as well.

 As I have already mentioned, there have been water issues. The most worrisome one for us to deal with was the sump pump. It didn't turn on one night our first week in and we had to kick it back on and clean up a basement an inch deep in water until 2am. On other occasions, it would kick on and not turn off. Fixing this problem was a multi-step process. First we had to redirect the large amounts of water that kept it working like crazy, which meant we had to dig a trench and run pipe to the back corner of the yard.

2nd we had to get a new pump. This was our nasty old pump. We think they replaced the original malfunctioning pump with another old pump that was also iffy about working. Sorry, no pick of the new one, but, we rest easier at night when it rains now.

As the warm weather hit, the need to send the children out into the yard became important, which meant we needed a fence, to close in the 2 sides that were unfenced, to feel more secure about leaving them out there on their own, and something for them to do while they were out there. The fence we decided was worth hiring out, but, the play set was designed and built by us. 

 Not all of our projects have been out of necessity, some have been to make the house more fun and homey.
Like painting Corinne's room and the dining room.

Actually, the dining room still needs flooring, so, this one is to be continued. 

And, Jamie's room has morphed a couple of times already, first he got blue walls and Thomas the Tank Engine appliques, then, we built him a new bigger boy bed and eventually a matching night stand, and switched to Transformers appliques. Meanwhile, little brother advanced to big boy status and got the bed and dresser Jamie had.  And, green walls with Cars appliques.