Brown Beauty - Inside our dream house.

Okay, Brown Beauty isn't necessarily our dream  house yet, but with some elbow grease she's going to become our dream house.  Here are some pictures of the inside and some insight into the plans we have to make Brown Beauty the house of our 10-year-dreams.

 Formal Dining Room - Check!   We host an annual J's Giving Celebration and this dining room is perfect for that event!   With some new wall sconces and our killer hardwood floor, this room is going to be perfect.

 This is the room right off the kitchen and the only room with a fire place.  We are removing those cabinets to the right, painting/updating the bookcases and adding hardwood.  This will technically be my "reading room" with loads of natural light and books galore!

 Hall Bathroom.  Brown Brown Brown.  This room is in for a total redo.   I can't wait to tear out that brown tile. 

 Kitchen.  That large box on the ceiling is a skylight, not separate ceiling fridge. That laminate flooring is leaving the building very soon after move in.  And the kitchen is getting a full makeover.  The deets aren't totally decided yet - so stay tuned.

 This is the living room and front door entry.  We likely will come in through the garage.  But this room just needs some fun paint and flooring to become the room where we will likely spend most of our time.

 This is the master bath.  It is totally wretched.  You can't tell but there is carpeting below that vanity.  carpet. in. a. bathroom.  Gag. This is my pet project.  Envision double vanity, an expanded rain shower and lots of spa tile.  I can't wait to demo this bath.

 Unfinished basement.  Eventually the man-cave/bar area.  But, not for several years.

 Guest bedroom.  This is decent with only small fixes needed like flooring, a new closet door, and some better drapes.

 Third bedroom that is ironically the largest of the three bedrooms at 20x13.  We could house a whole other family in this room!  The house used to be a four bedroom and we are very likely converting it back.  So we just need a wall an extra door and maybe a closet to make this into a third bedroom and an office.

 This is the view from the dining room from the living area.  See that sweet white chair in the corner - that's going to be my upholstery project as soon as I find time this summer.

Last but not least is the laundry room.  I am probably second most excited about this room.  There is an entry off the garage and we intend to build one of those sweet Pinterest-inspired mudroom benches.  Plus, I have lived without laundry services for five years.   I cannot wait to have a place to wash my clothes that does not involve leaving my house or getting dressed.  Amazing.

Our HGTV Experience

No no, we weren't actually on House Hunters, but we recently bought our first house!  Actually, I suppose we could have been on HGTV's My First Place too - but I feel that we don't need granite countertops as much as those people. 

Here's the experience that went along with it:

Our Must-Haves:

Redfin (our version of HGTV) and our extremely talented and patient real estate agent  took us on tours of three twenty houses.  We bought one but it turned out to be the wrong house for us after the inspection took place.

So, we started our house search again.  After touring another three twenty houses and narrowing it down to three this is what we ended up with:

The Cheap Fixer-Upper

The Estate Sale in need of a new kitchen:

And, Brown Beauty:

Which one will they choose?

Obviously, Brown Beauty!    The Cheap Fixer-Upper was probably haunted and really needed a LOT of fixing.  Not just updating, we would have had to tear down at least five walls.  So, that house, although a great value and close to the train, was off the list.  The Estate Sale was a real contender, but it had a funky kitchen, was only one-story and generally seemed small even though it was in a great neighborhood with a decent backyard.

But, then, Brown Beauty!  It is huge, 2000 above-grade square feet, a fairly big yard, a two car garage, walking distance to parks, three bedrooms, and brown. There is so much dark brown in this house - it  is a product of its era, the 1970s.

But, we have great plans to update.  In fact, we bought all of our hardwood flooing on Sunday in preparation of tearing out all of the wretched white carpet and various other laminate flooring.  Plus we have big plans to renovate the bathrooms and kitchen.

We can't wait to keep you updated with this blog!  Follow us!

by Jill