The scary and fun part of a remodel

It's no secret to many that I'm not a fan of a "new build" typically. A custom build, maybe. But I usually opt for older homes. So of course that means I love walking in to homes and seeing the potential. The area we live in has many houses built in 1950's or 1960's and it goes without saying that they often need some work. I hear all the time from people "I can't handle a remodel. I'm not cut out for construction." And this is why...

This is a picture of what the floors at Blossom looked like when demo finished. Because of the original flooring, the subfloor also had to be demo'd. 

Then there were the walls. 

This is about the point where most people bail out. The chaos. The dirt. The ugly. It can be a lot if you're not focused on what it WILL be. I walk in and get excited. 

Charlie tagged along one day and told me it looked like a house from the 1700's. 🤭 Here's a peek of a bathroom during demo, well minus the toilet that was out later that day. You could literally see down to the basement in 1/3 of the house. 

 

Pretty scary if you're a homeowner. Or a kid. Or anyone who hates construction. 

But let's talk about the end product...that bathroom above? Now looks like this. 

And this...(there's a shower behind that open door but since the bathroom is small, it's too hard to photograph for this amateur photographer). 

The other main bathroom went through quite the transformation as well. It first started like this. Blue and green wallpaper with a green and white floor. The shelf and vanity were installed beside the pedestal sink so it was very choppy. 

And now, with just a little vision...

In truth, this bathroom was renovated with box store items. Yep.  Vanity, lights, towel bars, etc. are all from Lowes and mostly in-stock items. You don't have to do tile or high-end finishes if your budget won't allow. You can still get a very nice look with other options. 

We replaced the floor with basic LVP in a barn wood style. It's waterproof and easy to install (which translates to less labor and thus less $$). The shower (not pictured closely) is a simple insert vs. tile to save more money. Also a simple fix for rough plaster walls - bead board. Some say it's not "in style" but in certain rooms, it can really add a touch of texture and provide another visual element without breaking the bank. 

A long vanity with a large mirror was all this bathroom needed to be more functional. Of course I added some fun elements in the art to make it feel more cozy...

What's hard to see is that the paint, the simple decorative touches, new lighting - all those details helped pull both bathrooms back to life. 

So while the in-between can be scary, the finished product is so rewarding! Stay tuned for reveals this week on the rest of the spaces. You're going to see some pretty amazing changes! 

A new project is Blossoming!

Well folks, I've taken on a new project. This time it's not in my own house (although there are plenty of those going on currently as well). I've had the privilege of being asked to remodel a home in our Five Points area to become an Airbnb, affectionally known as the Blossom St. house. If you recall, I did the same type of project last fall in a similar area of town. 

I thought I'd swing in and show you the before pictures so you can appreciate when I show you the after pics in several weeks. 

Shall we start the tour? 

The Living room - it's pretty dark at the moment but thankfully it doesn't require much work. This will simply get a coat of paint, new blinds, and a new light fixture. The house has beautiful high ceilings that I plan on accenting in the design plan. 

From this door, you walk in to the Dining Room...

This room will get a new light fixture, paint, blinds and I'll probably clean up the dead bugs on the bench. 

From here let's try to step our way in to the kitchen nook...kitchen...pantry...well all of the above but it takes several turns through a variety of random doors. You first walk in to this tiny little nook before you take a louey to enter the actual kitchen.  

This above picture is from the other side of the kitchen standing in the door that leads to the laundry area (laundry area pictured below). There's also a little pantry in the other corner. A little hint: that wall is no longer. Nor is the one to the left. Did anyone say island? 

Next up, the back room. This looks to have been used as a den. Originally it was a porch, I'm guessing. It's dark. Like really dark. And it has stinky old carpet and a popcorn ceiling. 

This room will get a new coat of light paint, scrape and smooth the ceiling, add an overhead fan and light and new flooring.

And we'll get rid of this boob light. I can't stand a boob light! 

Next let's take a tour of the bedrooms...my favorite is the master bedroom at the front of the house. It's light, airy and has the cutest fireplace. This room will get new paint, new blinds and a new light fixture. 

  

Then there's the next bedroom which is just across the hall. It will get that icky carpet ripped out and we'll use the pretty hardwoods underneath. Plus a new coat of paint and new blinds. 

From that bedroom you can see that it goes in to another little room that I like to call the Nook. I am not exactly sure what this would have been used for originally. A nursery? A play room? An office? It's sandwiched between the second bedroom and a tiny bathroom. It's technically a bedroom since it does have a small closet in the room. I'll be putting a twin bed in this room so someone can have their own space if they want. 

There are two bathrooms - the first picture is of the one that's off the Nook and also off the laundry area. Yep, it's a little odd but hey, it's still useful. 

It's getting a gut job. There's a shower behind the door, which was just too hard to capture in a photo. 

The other bathroom is between bedroom 1 and bedroom 2 and is much more spacious. Sadly, it's not in great condition so it's also getting a gut job. And it's weird. Blue, green, random cabinetry...just weird. 

So there's the 10 cent tour! I walk in to houses like this and see so much character. Literally my brain starts to explode with ideas. So much so that I have to go back and digest them all to put together a comprehensive plan. But that's the part that's so fun. 

The design plan is done. Construction is well underway. It's going to be a mix of traditional and modern looks using both bright, unexpected colors and more muted gray tones. I can't wait to show it to you! 

Ok, gotta go - I got a lot of plates spinning in the air at the moment!  

I jumped on the Marie Kondo Tidying Up bandwagon.

I admit, I heard rumor about this Netflix show on cleaning up or tidying up or something up and thought "I should see what all the fuss is about." But then there just seemed to be other things to watch and I never revisited it. Then my cousin texted "Have you seen Tidying Up yet!?" Nope. It wasn't until she said "she has a way of folding that will change your life!" 

That little nugget was all I needed to look in to the show. Secretly I was already working up the motivation to clean out my closet. It was overflowing with old clothes, too many shoes (ok wait...that's not really possible. Maybe I should say too many shoes I don't wear and need to make room for new shoes I will!) 

You get the picture. 

So here we go - my Tidying Up experience.

I did NOT...

1. Greet my house. 
2. Thank my items as I tossed them. 
3. Empty my entire closet and drawers at one time. I would have just quit at that point. And we would have had to sleep on the floor. 

However I DID...

1. Hold each piece/item and ask if it brought me joy. That really seems to work! 
2. Organize by category. So that's why I did #3 instead of everything at one time. 
3. Emptied my shelves first and dealt with those. Then moved to hanging clothes then to my drawers. It was definitely a multi-day, multi-week process. 
4. Move on to other closets once mine was done.

This is what I started with...a hot mess. 

And because I hate putting up clothes because I have to force and shove them in my closet or drawers, I end up with this often times.

And I also had to store my scarves behind the bathroom door, which was bulky and a mess.

So once I decided to embark on this journey...because believe me, it was a journey and not one to be done when you only have a few hours...I went over to Bed, Bath & Beyond to see what might be useful. I knew I needed a new over the door shoe holder and a new shoe rack for the floor.  Then it was time to get to work. 

And now...

Do you hear the angels singing!? Do you see those empty hangers!? That means not only do I have extra hangers but I also have SPACE. It's glorious. And this new shoe rack for over the door holds shoes so much better...

I organized by color and style so that my wedges are in the floor rack, athletic shoes and boots on the left side of my floor and then everything else is in this shoe holder. So much easier to find my shoes! (don't judge the volume. I have issues.)

The shelves are also much better. I now have everything coordinated so it's easily seen and quick to grab...

Those clear containers holding my clutches are the other storage items I bought at BB&B. 

Take a look at my fabulously organized jeans. Thanks to the new folding method, I can now fit all my jeans in these recycled china boxes. 

Once my closet was complete, it was time to start my drawers. I had several bedside table drawers, 3 drawers from the tall dresser and 2 from the long dresser. Not to mention the scarves and a plethora of misc. in a basket behind the bathroom door. 

All done! 

And all those scarves? Turns out when you clean out, you have an extra drawer that they can fit in. 

I got rid of bags and bags and bags of old clothes. Some went to donation, some went to consignment and a lot went to trash. 

I can't tell you how much nicer it is to get dressed now. I can easily find everything - I feel more inspired by my clothes (maybe because I can find them now) - and I know what extra toiletries I have (apparently I'm set for deodorant in 2019!)

I've since moved on to a few other closets and have just two left. If you take nothing away but how to fold better, it's worth it! I feel so much more put together now. 

Now remind me of this when we have to tackle the attic this spring. I'm sure tears will be "springing" when that starts!