We bought a dream house. A used house. A neglected and abused house. Our dream was to find a house we could live in, and work on, simultaneously. We were looking for a project house, and we found one that fit the bill perfectly. Our plan is to live in this home a couple of years, while making improvements, and then sell it and move on to another project house. When this house is done, we’ll see if we really have it in us to do it again. This place might break us in more ways than one!
I wanted to update family members out of state on a regular basis, so I decided to document all the projects and progress by way of a blog, and this is the very first entry.
So, here’s a thing you can know about me: I have a need to engage in the creative process, on a continual basis. I have to have a project (sometimes multiple projects) going at all times. Chances are, if you don’t know me, and you've stumbled upon this blog, you might have that same drive. And then maybe you understand why a neglected and abused house is our my dream house; it just presents so many opportunities for projects! I absolutely love home improvement! Not just the design process, but the implementation process as well. That’s why this house is not a ‘flip’ like you see on TV, where the home is transformed in a matter of weeks by a small army of contractors. In our home, I do nearly all the work myself. I say nearly, because we did call in an air conditioning guy, and a pool guy. I don’t do that stuff. But my point is that when you do it all lone-wolf style, it takes a while. So we figure it will be a year or two before everything is done.
Who is ‘we’ you say? It’s me and my husband; newly minted empty-nesters. He works from home, which is convenient when I need an extra pair of hands, but for the most part, he stays out of the fray. He likes to spend his free time on the golf course. This home improvement thing is my passion. I don’t force him to be engaged in the home improvement projects, and he doesn't force me to spend hours on the golf course. It works out.
Here’s a second thing you can know about me: I love tools. In the traditional sense, not the current slang sense. Hand tools and power tools. I love to acquire them and I love to use them.
And here’s a third thing you can know about me: I am a perfectionist. Perfectionism is time consuming. Thus the extra year leeway in our time estimate of when this house will be done. It’ll be done when it’s done (and when it’s done right!).
Enough about me, let’s talk about the house. It is a 2 story house built in 2002, and has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths in 2600 square feet. We were really looking for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch, but we stumbled upon a great short sale deal.
Oh yeah, and it has a pool :-)
Our house sat vacant for just over a year before we bought it. It was dusty and dirty. The carpets were atrocious, the bathrooms disgusting, and the ceiling fans caked with grime. The pool was empty, save for some green sludge in the bottom. It was perfect!
One more thing about this house. It gives the impression that it was decorated in the eighties, which is quite a feat, given that it was built in 2002. How can I tell the decor of an empty house? Glad you asked. It’s the wallpaper. Oh, the endless wallpaper. And the wallpaper borders. And the paint colors. And the light fixtures. All of it. So there's a lot to do!
Here’s the house ... I apologize for my lack of photo quality.
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