Our first house took 6 years of blood, sweat, tears, remodeling a basement and tearing out a few trees. This is where 2 DIYers were born (and our two kids). This charming cottage was one of 30 Storybook style homes in the neighborhood - which was the area's 1928 "Street of Dreams"! Oh how our standards have changed since then. We have a few photos to show the changes (below). Most were taken after we staged it to sell, so they are "edited" versions of how we furnished our house.
FRONT YARD
Our first before picture shows the cute 1920's Storybook-Style cottage we bought... and a whole lotta age.
SIDE YARD
Living on a quiet corner provided us with a beautiful, large, sweeping side yard - great for entertaining!
Our quiet neighborhood and wooded view made the yard feel private. Unusual for a corner lot, but nice!
LIVING ROOM
We put a buttery color on the walls, tore out the carpet, refinished the wood floors and layered our curtains. A crisp white on the fireplace, mantel and built in shelves brought out the charming architectural features.
DINING ROOM
The dining room opened up to the living room through a large arch. Gotta love those arches - what charm!
KITCHEN & NOOK
We did a mini-remodel to this kitchen: painting, replacing all lower cabinets, counter, faucet and floor. Oh that floor! We decided to tear up the old flooring before laying the new one (seemed like the best idea). Three layers, one-all nighter and thousands of teeny, tiny pieces of linoleum later - and the old flooring still wasn't torn out. Plan B? We put plywood over the whole floor to level it out and have a fresh surface to start from. It worked great, but it makes me tired just thinking about the project.
More lovely arches... ahhh. I loved this kitchen nook, what a sweet eat-in kitchen it made! I hung plates over the arched entrance, and then repeated the plate arch inside the nook to add architectural interest.
MASTER BEDROOM
It took awhile to find the right blue for the wall (thank you Ralph Lauren). But once we did, it showed off the peaked ceilings and billowy white curtains perfectly. I was in my toile-phase then, so I pulled everything together with blue toile on the bench, shade and some accessories.
MAIN BATHROOM
I removed some dated floral wall paper, painted the walls sage and tiled the floor. This was the only bathroom until we added another when we remodeled.
BASEMENT APARTMENT
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| Kitchenette/Wet Bar |
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| TV/Bonus Room |
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| Entry/Hall Way into basement suite |
BASEMENT BEDROOM
BASEMENT BATH & LAUNDRY ROOM
