Our new house, 3 months later

[Blenheim]

Three months ago, I posted that my husband and I were buying our first home. We''ve done a lot of work around the house since then, and I just wanted to show it off a bit.

When we bought the house, we didn''t like the kitchen at all. The picture posted below is from the MLS listing. The upper cabinets were metal and from the 1950''s, while the lower ones were wooden and added more recently. The upper cabinets above the dishwasher were low enough that the counter was not really usable there. The stove was between the fridge and a wall, making it feel cramped and making it hard to store things often needed by the stove -- potholders, spatulas, oil, etc.

 

[Blenheim]

We replaced the cabinets and countertop, moved the stove and the fridge, replaced the floor, removed the wainscoting, removed the wallpaper, and painted. We did all the work ourselves.

After:

(This isn''t truly afterwards, because we''ve added molding around the window and attached the bottom panel onto the dishwasher, but it''s the most recent picture I have on my computer.)

 

[Blenheim]

Closer up.

 

[Blenheim]

Another after, looking in from the family room. I love the afternoon sun.

 

[Blenheim]

Another after.

 

[Blenheim]

The family room, also from the MLS listing.

 

[Blenheim]

We have a great fenced in backyard, but no real back door. So, this was our first real project:

 

[Blenheim]

I painted the walls of the dining room. Here it is with our furniture in it. It''s pretty messy, because we''re also using it for tool storage and as a staging area for all of the other stuff we''re doing though.

I''ve actually painted all of the first floor, except for the bathroom (more on that later), and all of the second floor, except for our fourth bedroom that we''re just using for storage. I just don''t have pictures of all of it yet.

 

[Blenheim]

Here''s our downstairs bathroom, after removing the wallpaper from the far wall (it was upside down and had little teeny flowers all over it).

 

[Blenheim]

And here''s the downstairs bathroom, last weekend!

 

[Blenheim]

I''ve finished removing the tub surround, the floor, and the tub. I also ripped out the wallboard next to the tub, because it was far from level or flat, only to find that there used to be a window there and they never added more framing when putting the drywall up. No wonder it wasn''t flat. I''ve repaired a couple water damaged studs and a board in the subfloor, and added new plywood on the floor. I''m in the process of hanging new drywall.

We''re putting hex tiles on the floor, subway tiles on the tub surround, and wainscoting on the walls. We''ve replaced the bathtub, and we''re going to replace the vanity with a pedestal sink.


And, on an unrelated note, we adopted a dog from the shelter about a month and a half ago! He''s an Australian Cattle Dog whom we''ve named Aonghus.

 

[Blenheim]

Aonghus and Dylan love to play with each other.

 

[Blenheim]

That''s it for now! I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of this.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Blenheim - your new house looks lovely with the work you guys have done. I''m very impressed and I LOVE your choice of paint colors

Your new furbaby is DARLING - I love ACDs, they are such neat dogs (I''m a sucker for all the herding breeds). That''s so wonderful that you rescued too - it always warms my heart to see a rescued doggie in a loving new home. He and Dylan look like they are having a blast. Yay for your new family in your beautiful newly-remodeled home - I can''t wait to see more pics as you guys progress!

 

[FireGoddess]

Blen you have done so much work and it looks AMAZING!!! The paint colors, the kitchen cabinets - I mean wow, such a difference!!!

 

[ellaila]

Looks awesome, Blen! Love the dining room color -- WOW!!

And I love the kitchen! But ... I guess I''m a little biased but we just redid our kitchen, too and it looks veerrrrry similar to yours

Same cabinets (Stat, right?), same countertops, same end units!! I had to fwd the link to my husband b/c it make me laugh out loud! Will have to post a photo tonight once I get home.

Congrats on a job well done!! You should be very proud of yourselves!

 

[jcrow]

wow! GREAT color choices!!
more pics please (um, whenever you get the chance, i mean)

 

[Kaleigh]

Blen you guys did a wonderful job!!! I love the colors you picked!!!

 

[Steel]

Well done.

You have put a wonderful amount of work in and it shows in the space you have created.

Love the colours too!

ETA: I was most impressed with the window conversion. Nice choice of back door.

 

[Blenheim]

Thanks so much!!

Amber, thank you! I''ve never had such an intelligent dog before, so he''s a bit of a handful, but we love him. We''ve been giving him a lot of exercise, good food (after reading a thread that you started, I''ve been feeding Dylan and now Aonghus Canidae), and some basic training, and he''s started to look really happy and healthy. He was about 10 lbs overweight when we got him, which is odd for a former stray. He''s now lost 4.5 lbs. Also, I now understand exactly what people mean when they say "velcro dog".

Ellaila, they are Stat! I love them, don''t you? I can''t wait to see your kitchen too.

I just went upstairs and took some more pictures. The bathroom was a baby blue originally, but I had to repaint because they hadn''t painted behind a wall unit that we wanted to remove. Everything else was white.

 

[Blenheim]

Our bedroom.

 

[Blenheim]

Oh, regarding that last picture -- a ceiling fan is going in tonight. We bought one earlier this week, and when we installed it the motor on the fan wouldn''t work. I just exchanged it, and hubby''s going to install it when he gets home. We don''t normally have wires hanging from the ceiling, I promise.

Another of the bedroom. Aonghus''s dogbed (in the bottom corner) is dark brown, because it helps to hide all of the black fur that he sheds.

 

[Blenheim]

I''ve been using the upstairs landing as a dressing/makeup area. I recently painted the dresser white, and I think it looks a lot better than the weird brown it formerly was.

 

[Blenheim]

Last one for now.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Everything looks great! I can''t believe how much you guys have gotten done in 3 months! I am so impressed.

 

[zoebartlett]

You guys have been BUSY! I love everything you''ve done and the house looks gorgeous. I really love all of the paint oclors you''ve chosen. Congrats on the new puppy, well, dog. How do you pronounce his name?

 

[Blenheim]

Tacori and Zoe -- it''s really helped that I haven''t been working this summer.

Zoe -- his name is the Gaelic spelling of Angus, and they''re both pronounced the same way. (Angus, like the beef. He''s a cattle dog. Get it? Haha.

)

 

[Efe]

Very impressive and an enormous amount of hard work. I have so been there. Love your choice of colors and that new door.

 

[lili]

i love the colors you chose.
you guys did a fabulous job with your home!

 

[Linda W]

Beautiful house!!!! You both did a wonderful job!!!! Love your doggies too .

Linda