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| looking into room from doorway |
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| looking at doorway from back corner |
What appears to be an uninspiring, empty rectangle of a room is actually the super-exciting, sure-to-be fantastic, future home of Odd Bird Studio!
Yep, the Hubbers and I are officially home owners. This house has horrendous not to my taste cosmetics, but what appear to be good bones underneath. We are prepped and ready for the ultimate DIY challenge; transforming a 2,000 square foot house into our favorite place in the world without breaking the bank. (We've been spending a lot of time shaking our heads and wondering "what were they thinking." Even the Hubbers used the word "fugly" to describe the kitchen light fixtures. Folks, I don't believe he has ever uttered that word before in his life.)
When all is said and done, no room will remain untouched. First though, we need exterior masonry repaired, plumbing work, extensive electrical fixes to the below-code mess left by previous owners, and purchase kitchen and laundry appliances. I'm in sticker shock already. The plumbing estimate included $120 for repairing the spraying toilet tank in the master bath. I purchased the parts yesterday for $26. Wish me luck fixing it myself. If it goes well that'll be $94 saved. After which I'll be giving my roller derby knee pads a workout while pulling all the carpet padding staples out of the subfloor in the future studio. Boy, they were thorough with the staples.
This past weekend between ripping up carpet, removing half a dozen hardwired headphone jacks (in one room alone), and visiting every home improvement store in a 30 mile radius (we now have a brand spanking new 10" miter saw! excited happy dance), I've been spending every spare minute reading Young House Love. They've convinced me it's OK to paint our dark fireplace that sucks all the light out of the room and that we can gut and rebuild our kitchen ourselves - hopefully before we have to move in.
Just removing the dark carpet makes the room appear brighter & sunnier.
we have a "fugly" light still and yet in our kitchen.....16 years later.....if I could change it out I so would - good luck - good bones is everything - we saw potential in our home as well and is still a work in progress - altho its closer to done that to started......GOOD LUCK and welcome to the happy land of homeownership.....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well wishes!
DeleteGood luck Laurie, sweat-equity and DIY mean a lot. 2,000 sq.feet is a LOT of space to work with. You can dance around in that much space. Ripping out the dark carpet will be good and gazillion staples will be the challenge. Fugly. . . I'll have to remember that as description. I agree, do as much of the work before you move in, it'll be easier on you. I've been enjoying your FB posts with pics even if I never comment. We've done some mask making and costuming for tomorrow's MardiGras parading and gathering, Durham style.
ReplyDeleteGood night, e
Thanks, Eleanor. I'll be imagining your Mardi Gras fun today. I look forward to seeing pictures of your masks and merry-making. Hope you have a blast.
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