The Befores

Okay, so I've now been in my new house for a little over two weeks and I feel like I am finally starting to make some progress. Slowly, but surely, it is starting to resemble a house instead of a dumping ground for brown cardboard boxes. Since I hope to be posting my After pictures soon, I decided to go ahead and post the pics that I took of the house before we bought it. When I first saw it I knew it had potential and now I'm starting to actually get to see some of my visions come to light. So I hope you enjoy the Befores and I hope to have at least a few Afters in the very near future!
(You can click on the pics to enlarge them)


The House: It was originally built in 1952 but was gutted earlier this year and was completely rebuilt except for the framing. I love the mix of the newness with the feel of the old. I really love the colors of the siding and trim. The concrete on the big front porch is stained and looks really nice. There will be a bistro set on the front porch just as soon as I can find one that I like and can afford. December is NOT the time to be looking for outdoor furniture though and I'm having a hard time finding anything.


Master Bathroom:
I was really excited to find that this house had a master bedroom suite which is not typical of older houses. Since the bathroom at my old house was huge I was worried about having a smaller bathroom. This one has good space though and it doesn't feel cramped at all. I actually really liked the wall color so I left it. Its hard to tell in this pic but the countertop is a really nice brown/black stained concrete. I also really liked the open storage beside the shower. Its the perfect place to put cute baskets and adds a lot of valuable storage space. The master bathroom is probably the room that I have closest to being complete and I love the way it is turning out!


Master Bedroom:
I know its kind of hard to tell much from the pics. But the wall color is a really pretty silvery/grayish/blueish/greenish. :) I picked a black and white damask comforter and this color complimented it nicely so I'm not planning on changing it. The master bedroom is right off of the living room and is split from the other two bedrooms, something else I was suprised to find in an older home.


The Living Room: The same gorgeous wood floors are throughout the entire house with the exception of the bathrooms and kitchen/utility room. They have stained concrete. I'm not sure if the floors are original to the house or reclaimed wood from another home but they are stunning. They are probably 95% of the reason I chose this house. When you first walk in through the front door you are in the living room and can see through to the dining room and kitchen. I loved the visual of the three rooms flowing into each other. There is a seperation but also an openess and I really liked that.

The Dining Room: I am a big formal dining room person so I was so excited to find a house that had a seperate dining room. The dining room has a beautiful chandelier and lots of space. I finally have a table in there and my baker's rack from the old house and once I get my hutch in there (which I still have to pick up) it will be complete! Oh, except for the painting. This is one room that I definitely have plans to paint, I'm just not sure when...


The Kitchen:
I really liked this kitchen. The cabinets go all the way to the ceiling which gave me a lot of space. My plans are to lightly glaze the cabinets with an Espresso glaze to tie the countertops and cabinets together. The countertops are the same brown/black stained concrete used in the bathrooms. I was pleasantly suprised by how much I liked the stained concrete countertops. I would have preferred granite but I knew that I would have a really hard time finding a kitchen that had it (since the whole point was to find a cheaper house to live in while we build our new house). I think the stained concrete is a much better option than formica. There is a big sink and a cute little window above it. The kitchen and utility room both have stained concrete and access to the back yard so its the perfect place for the dogs to be during the day. Speaking of the back yard...


The Backyard: It is beautiful. Its got lots of room, gorgeous trees, a brand new fence, a small deck, and a beautiful flagstone walkway leading to the gate. The dogs have really enjoyed it and as soon as spring gets here I'm going to really enjoy planting some flowers in it.



Second Bathroom:
I loved the pedastal sink! I have always wanted one. I think they are so charming. This bathroom was the same color as the other one and I decided to keep it the same as well. I found a gorgeous black and white shower curtain for this bathroom but still have a few finishing touches left. One of the main ones is to add a white candelabra/chandelier. I think it will look fantastic!



Second and Third Bedrooms: As I mentioned earlier, the house does have a split floor plan. Both of the bedrooms are good sized and have large closets with double doors. And those floors! One of the bedrooms is now my office and the other is currently the home of all of the boxes I have yet to unpack but will soon be a guest bedroom for my adorable nieces. I would eventually like to paint both of these rooms but we'll see...

So there it is! I love it more every day and it starts to feel more like my home every day. I'm so excited to get to live out my dream of living in an old house. And living downtown has been fantastic. There are so many beautiful old homes and I keep finding new ones everyday. I still have a lot left to do to get it the way that I want but at least I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere!