Thursday, September 09, 2010

home sweet home (part 1: the children's bathroom)

So, the reason that I haven't posted pictures in the last week, isn't just because I couldn't find a USB cable. It was also because:

1) The hard drive on Charlie's Mac was fried and has been in the shop for the past six days so I couldn't upload pictures to his computer (also, I lost ~950 photos that I'd uploaded over the past month when his hard drive expired); and 2) I couldn't upload pictures to our desk computer because that was still packed away and even if it had been available; 3) We had no internet access to our home and even if we had that wouldn't have mattered because; 4) My USB cables were buried in some random box with a few bars of soap and a picture frame.

Tuesday night, Charlie's computer was restored. Yesterday, internet was hooked up. Today, we found our USB cables. And now, I proudly present the first photos of our new home.

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"New" being a relative term, because this house - while new to us - isn't really "new" at all. But that's what makes us love it so much. It's dripping with character.

Notice the wall paper?

We call that "DRIPPING."

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Yep. I know! I know! I can hear you saying, "Ohh!" and "Ahh!"

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Did I mention it hasn't had any upgrades in half a century?

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I wasn't kidding.

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These pictures were taken tonight as I was giving Henry a bath.

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Please pardon our moving-in disaster, which simply means that everything is out of a box while we ponder where it should go. And once we decide where it will go, it will be moved at least four more times until we find the place where it will really fit.

This is the children's bathroom. It is small. It is outdated. And believe it or not, it looks 10 times better now that Charlie's removed the frosted glass doors from the shower.

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Because there are so many things to do and unfortunately, we don't have an unlimited supply of money to throw at everything that we want to do (and oh! the car that I drive every day to work broke down yesterday and we had to have it towed to a local dealer and I'm guessing it will be at least four significant figures to fix it), we are pacing ourselves on home improvement activities.

In so far as this bathroom, as for now, we're planning to replace the faucet with something that is more conducive to little hands turning it on and off, replace the ceiling fan and repair the dry wall, strip the wall paper, and paint the walls a lovely gold to match the flecks in the ceramic tile.

Er. Maybe not gold.

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WARNING: This blog is about to turn in to a big documentary as we complete one home renovation project after another after another after another (after another after another after another after another OH MY HEAVENS after another after another after another, get the drift?) So if you get squeamish or bored stiff watching shows like HGTV, my apologies in advance. But for those of you with any sense of style, please don't leave. We really need help picking out carpet to replace the orange shag that has resided in our basement for the past 50 years.

Pictures on that to follow, tomorrow.

25 comments:

  1. I cannot WAIT to see more pictures of your house, and I'm for SURE staying tuned for the renovation projects!

    Take care, and CONGRATS!
    Elizabeth

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  2. Congrats. Henry looks right at home in that tub and the wallpaper will wait til you are ready to deal with it. Really happy that you have Landed !~!

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  3. I am super excited to see the transformation of your "new" home! Congrats and hope you settle in quick!

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  4. Oh....my.....God. Why in the heck did you move so far away? Greg would have a FIELD DAY OVER THERE.

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  5. May I suggest these sites just in case you need some inspiration or to ask questions:

    http://www.younghouselove.com/

    http://bowerpowerblog.com/

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  6. I'm actually excited to see/hear about your remodeling/updating adventures. We also live in a very old house, dripping with character. And also? WALLPAPER. I'm not sure I'll EVER (evah, evah!) be able to hang (or even, appreciate) wall paper after all we have removed from our home in the past 5 years. AND THERE'S STILL MORE. Oh, yes.

    But I love our old house, the creaky floors and character and full-grown trees and... well, I think old houses just FEEL like "life happens here". And I'm honored to add our families adventures to the history of this old building.

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  7. At least it'll be easy to peel that wallpaper off, seeing that it's almost coming off itself! Thinking about you guys often! ;)

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  8. Exciting! I can't wait! Actually, I'm being serious, I love home makeovers. The floor and bathtub tile look really nice in the pictures. Hopefully, they look halfway decent in real life because that would save you a lot of money right there.
    Can't wait for tomorrow's tour!

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  9. That tub was the color of one I had at my previous house. Now we are the proud owners of Harvest Gold tub, stool, and sink! That ranks right up there with your pink. Enjoy. KO in IL

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  10. Well, at the very least, it looks as though that wall paper will be easy to remove!

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  11. Nice! Can't wait to see pictures of the front of the house... and the creek... and the back of the house... and other rooms in the house...

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  12. Welcome to your-NEW HOME! I can't wait to see what all you tackle in home improvements. I love doing that sort of thing. Sadly, I have the same lack of money issues coupled with-Oh wait, we have move every 4 years. Ah well, one day. Happy, handy thoughts heading your way.

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  13. Oh, I will be here EVERY SINGLE DAY to see the house, the demolition, the renovation, the restoration!
    This bathroom SO reminds me of mine, pre-update, but we had subway tiles instead of the square tiles. But those beautiful flecks in the sink? Ah, home sweet home!

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  14. Orange shag? Oh dear. Looks like you've got your hands full!

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  15. Yay! So happy to see pictures!!! We just moved in June and now that we're settled in (with our soon to be 3 year old) I am dreaming of all the interior changes that I'd like to make. Except, our house is less than 20 years old - so Dh is not nearly as movtivated as I am; not to mention much more aware of that whole not having endless supplies of money.

    As I learned the hard way, you may want to keep an eye on the kids' lead levels while you're doing renovations . . . especially the big paint disturbing ones. We gutted our bathroom to the studs and then replaced all the downstairs carpet in our old house, right around the time Dd was turning one. Sure enough, her lead level came back elevated.

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  16. I LOVE home renovations! I could look at before, during, and after pictures of home projects all day! Bring 'em on :0)

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  17. I am so excited that we are going to be seeing pictures of your new home and watch as it goes through the changes that make it yours. I am just so happy for you guys, period. Your family makes me smile.

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  18. We are on year 10 of renovating our 105 yr old home and it is so great having a solid house to work with. Sounds like that's what your house is underneath~ solid. I'm so excited to see more of your new house! The kids' bathroom isn't bad at all and it really won't take much to strip the paper and paint. Taking off the frosted doors (we had them growing up!) makes perfect sense. I would recommend one of the curved shower curtain rods, too (if you're needing one yet). The floor can wait... if you really can't stand the vanity, Home Depot and Lowes have great, inexpensive modern sinks and bases. A little work will make a huge difference!
    Wishing you the best!!

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  19. Yeah we get to watch YEAH!!!

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  20. This reminds me of the bathroom in the house where I grew up. My parents bought their 4-room house new in 1950 and when their 4th child was born in 1956 it was time to raise the roof and add 2 bedrooms and a bath. It took until the early '60's to complete; we had the exact same bathroom sink (in white) in a pink marbleized formica vanity. It was still there in 2009 when the house was sold.

    Have you ever looked at Houseblogs.net? People chronicle restorations and renovations, also a good source for ideas and help.

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  21. Congratulations on the new/old house! The good news is that scraping paper and paint is free and a gallon of paint relatively cheap...One thing's for sure...you won't be bored!

    Enjoy making the place your own.

    Marie

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  22. One word - IKEA. Some people might scuff but they have some quality stuff and this sink http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bathroom might be helpful with 4 children.

    I can't wait to see before during and after pics!

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  23. Well it's been quite a week! Hope they were able to recover your pictures from Charlie's fried HD.

    The bathroom ... words fail me LOL. But I could see a nice sea green, some fishes decals and the walls and voila

    re- the car when it rains it pours.

    I personally cannot wait to watch the house step by step become yours.

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  24. tackle the most pressing needs first... the cosmetics? those will come when they come. I personally loved our 70's orange shag that we could finally replace in 2000... and the avacado green apliances? well they were character. Enjoy being together in your own place, the rest will come, I promise

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