Our Dream Home....in the making!

October 2008 we bought a house. For our price range it was a nice home with lots of character. It’s an older home, around 100 years old. The last addition before we bought it was done in 1930 by the handy man that lived there. So, to say the least there was a lot of work to be done.

(Before)

Immediately we replaced the furnace, central air unit and hot water heater. The heat went out New Years day 2009 and the air wasn’t far behind. The hot water heater would give you 10mins of hot water and if you did dishes that day you were out of luck on a shower that night. We also replaced the kitchen counters and carpet (Both a lovely shade of blue) and added a circle drive for the safety of our guest. Not to mention all the painting we did in each room!

Eventually we replaced all the flooring with hardwood, ceiling lights with fans, the roof to metal, replaced/repaired 3 windows, had insulation blown in, new gutters put on, bought a new water pump/tank for the well, had electrical updated, fix the drainage problem in the garage and added a dishwasher.

Outside we did lots of landscaping as it was a bare canvas of over an acre. We put up a privacy fence and added lots of trees, bushes and flowers. We also got our first real above ground pool, unlike the Wal-Mart specials we had at the rental.

 Last year we enclosed the front porch to have an entry way in hopes adding a porch back on. Well, that was easier said than done. I had to pay over a $100 to ask to ask permission to build on to my own house. You read that right, I had to pay to ask if I could ask to build a porch. This meant I paid my money, filled out the mounts of paper work then had to ask a panel of city code people if I could have my porch back. After 2hrs they said yes! I went to that meeting like I was preparing for war—war for my dream! But before the front porch could be built we added on a room to make the front of the house flush. This room would be the walk in closet/laundry room (currently my laundry room is in my pantry). I am so excited to get all the additions done so we can paint the house! There is nothing like a nice coat of paint and a change of colors to make the house look better than ever!

Our biggest projects are coming up just because they are all we have left. We are going to redo the bathroom with new fixtures. (Our current fixtures are from a trailer in a bathroom is the size of a bedroom which makes them seem all the smaller.) I want a large soaking tub, a two person walk in shower, a double sink and a normal sized toilet that I could get replacement lids for. The second big project is the attic. It is a large emptiness with 8-10ft ceilings right now and the only way up in a tiny hatch in the top of a bedroom closet. We want to turn this into two bedrooms, a common room and a bathroom. We are hoping to get the first steps, literally, this year by adding a staircase and possibly floors.

One of the rooms upstairs will be Keaton Michaels play room which will free up a room downstairs that will be turned into a living room, my current living room turning into a formal dining room.  I am so excited to see my visions turn into reality as each improvement is being made. It may not be where or what we daydreamed about when we talked about owning a home but this will truly be our dream home customized by me and my partner in life! Anything we can dream we can make happen and let me tell you we dream big!

(current)