Be sure to speak with a professional when having work done on your home.
So the last 4+ months of our 2022 was filled with renovations. LOTS of renovations.
Last year, my husband finally accepted the fact that I’m not budging from this place until at least our youngest is out of high school. And after that I’d love to have a smaller home (plus a travel trailer to see the US). That means at least 8 more years in a house I love and a neighborhood I love.
We have lived in our foreclosure home for about 7+ years and have slowly (and I mean slowly) been fixing it up. First it was painting the entire inside and out Pure White by Sherwin Williams (love this color) and Dot to Dot white for the exterior with a chalky black for the shutters.
Updated master bedroom closet change early into our time at this house…
A year or two later the flooring was changed. This was after our cat at the time that would poo all over the carpet no matter what we would do to try to get him not to (including in kids’ backpacks and other not so fun places bleh!!!). When my sweet niece and nephew took him in, I started ripping out the disgusting carpet. That was already gross before we ever moved in even after we had all the carpets cleaned. That not only helped with cleanliness but also my kids’ allergies settled down a whole bunch.
I’m not a fan of carpet!
Next, I started with tearing out the stairs carpet and staining the pine wood I found underneath. I also cut up the pieces to build a frame for our lack luster fireplace, stained to match the stairs, and built a fireplace frame around that same time with my man’s help putting it together.
Actually, I might have first pulled up my daughter’s room’s carpet to replace with peel and stick laminate before the above. It’s SOOO much better and cleaner! And was easy enough that my kids helped put it in.
Check out that reno here… How To Create A Beach Themed Bedroom.
Next was the March or April 202?, when a giant hail storm went through our neighborhood. Almost everyone on our street got a new roof, new fences, windows and more because of the baseball sized hail flying around at wind gusts of like 80mph. We were in Texas went it went through but the neighbors talked about poor birds just knocked out of the sky and trees falling over and roofs destroyed.
The upside to the hail store was when our neighbor across the street took in 3 little tiny kittens who lost their mamma in the storm. She was feeding them every 2-4 hours around the clock for a couple weeks. Neighbors helped as much as possible but my neighbor is like an animal whisperer. And that’s Rocky the Cat’s and her sisters’ origin story. One of her sisters, Masha, still lives with my sweet neighbor across the street. Rocky will still run to my neighbor when she calls her. It’s adorable.
Rocky was sooo helpful in putting up the wallpaper in our alcove…
At some point I installed some fancy expensive wallpaper that a PhotoWall was gracious and sent to me for our alcove between the living room and our master bedroom. It still makes me smile when I’m walking toward our room.
My kids and I eventually pulled out the junky laminate tongue and groove flooring in our hall and living room. Mainly because it was super ugly and the floor would move around when I walked on it. Around that same time I pulled up the carpet in our master bedroom much to my husband’s dismayed. I waited 5 years for some help with the house and that was stupid. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself or just wait until your husband can’t stand it any more. LOL
Sometime in the last 7 years, hubby had to live in another state and they set him up with some pretty cool digs. Our summers were spent at the coolest apartment EVER. Life is short and we were living it up! LOL Here’s how we outfitted the penthouse on a beer budget…
In 2021, my husband started working on the backyard and WOW it is amazing! Seven years ago it was an overgrown patch of land with a dilapidated, condemned play fort. Now it has four giant water trough veggie and flower gardens, thousands (and I mean thousands) of flowers and a bed of roses, 40 espalier apple trees shaped in a diamond pattern, bird baths, and a cool statue that reminds me of the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s just lovely!
See what this man can do when it’s something he is excited about doing.
Last summer in 2022, we finally got brand new windows. They were stupid expensive. Not because we weren’t searching for a deal but because it’s just expensive to get good windows especially when 2 are oversized with arches and one other one that had an arch as well. Those are what really cost the most because they were special orders. So glad that window above the garage is finalllyyyy fixed!
It was a frustrating 7+ years to say the least but money was being spent elsewhere or we just were broke here and there over those 7 years with me still staying home with the kids. We also are pay as we go kinda peeps. Debt is no bueno in our casa! No thanks!
I started with little updates like a new toilet paper holder being installed…
Plus, the house was not a priority for a loong while especially since my man for many years complained how he hated the house. Hard to make a home when your spouse continually complains about your home and town. He had lofty ideas about a house we could “buy” but not actually ever own outright due to the steep price. I’m sick of living life in debt and want to be free of the debt shackles once and for all (minus an amazing vacation each year). I think I’ve finally won him over on this idea and with our new kitchen he seems to be seeing a light at the end of the house reno tunnel. Plus, the street we live on couldn’t be better. Our neighbors are like family and we look out for each others’ kids. #blessed
Luckily, over the last year my sweet man has been working on the reno for our kitchen, laundry room, and pantry. AND IT’S AAAHHHHMAZING! There was lots of planning on his part and lots of time taken to get the cabinets put in and the new wood flooring in the entire downstairs of the house, and tile in the kitchen and new tile in the boys’ bathroom, and so much more.
But my favorite part of the kitchen reno is a toss up between the under the counter ice machine, the coffee bar, the 6 burner stove, and all the extra cabinets, ohhh and the separate freezer and refrigerator and the face there is no ice machine in the freezer. I never ever want to own a freezer with an ice machine EVER again. Having it under the counter is THE WAY TO GO!!!
Project from our little duplex 8 years ago…
And also happening this past reno year has been a whole new setup of living room digs. We have a “library” which is 2 cabinets that are about 7ft tall and 5ft wide each with glass front doors. FINALLY I’m so happy that the books that have been hidden under the stairs are now at our fingertips. It’s AWESOME!
The last part of the renovations for now are setting up the laundry and pantry areas. My hubby even moved a bunch of walls, put up headers, and made extra room in the too tight to walk through previous laundry room IT’S AWESOME! Can’t wait for this part to be finished up!! Ooo and I almost forgot the tankless water heater. A game changer when two showers are going and the laundry. How did we live without this luxury?! #spoiled
So while this started out as a rant, I’m finishing up with a thankful heart. Glad to have this place starting to feel more like a home and less like a construction site. And glad I have a family and a good roof over us. Blessed, blessed, blessed!!! Thank you Lord for overabundance and being so blessed.
Are you working on anything at your place right now? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
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If you are feeling down or depressed for more days than not, please seek medical attention. If you are feeling like you cannot go on, please call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or chat here>>> https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ Or visit the suicide prevention lifeline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
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