In 2003 my husband and I decided to buy our first home. My husband suggested we buy a fixer-upper, and gain some sweat equity. After many weeks of searching and touring many houses (with crazy floor plans) we found a quaint cottage style bungalow. Despite its appearance of disrepair, we focused on the positive potential in our little "Diamond in the Rough." With its three bedrooms, all on the main floor, it was a rare novelty in the area. It was also the only home we looked at that didn't require a stroll through a bedroom to get to another bedroom. We loved the nice big porch, decent sized kitchen and abundant storage in the hallway (also a rarity in the area). The negative aspects included a musty animal odor, a basement full of rubbish, outdated tile counter tops, ugly brown paneling in every bedroom, an old window swamp cooler that no longer worked, stained burgundy carpet straight out of the late 70's, broken doors, holes in the walls, 50+ year old linoleum tiles in the kitchen, and the walls that were painted had a thick layer of smoke damage from the old fireplace (which wasn't to code). Seriously, what were we thinking when we decided this was the one! The only nice thing in the house was a newly tiled shower (but the urine stained grout on the bathroom floor distracted from that). We made a reasonable offer, and after a day or so of negotiating, we settled. As soon as we moved in the deep cleaning ritual to bring new life into this old home began. I hated all the holes in the house, so I would just put decorations everywhere trying to hide the ugliness. We knew it would take time and money to help this little home regain respect, and we started to prioritize and budget for the repairs. The slow process of fixing up the house began.
Due to money being held back at escrow by the lender, the first thing we did was work on the painting of the eaves and windows. My husband began the process of sanding the underside of the eaves. One day after several hours he determined the sanding to be in-effective. When I arrived home from work I found that he had torn all the eaves down. I was in total disbelief at the sight. Instead of painting the old rotted wood, he installed new vinyl soffit and fascia. The application added depth to the eaves that enhanced the roof line, provided better ventilation for attic space, and gave the home a new crisp and clean aesthetic.
Next we replaced 10 windows, two doors and a storm door. This left only 10 windows that still needed to be scrapped and painted. We didn't have enough in our immediate budget to replace all of the windows just yet. The front and back doors were immediately replaced because they both had large gaps around them creating drafts that could be felt from several feet away. We also replaced the front screen door with a beautiful glass "forever" door. The front picture windows had "Queen Ann" style perimeter grid included to match some of the interior details of the home and add character and "curb appeal." My husband worked tirelessly scrapping and painting the exterior of the remaining windows, giving them fresh new life. He also learned how to cut glass and replaced all the cracked basement windows and re-glazed them. The frumpy trees hiding the porch were removed, and the remainder of the garden was pruned. We then added 300 tulip bulbs as frosting to our newly decorated cake. The tall vent coming out of the right side chimney of the house was cut down to a more reasonable size. Finally the holes and cracks in the cement skirt on the house were re-stuccoed, and then painted to add contrast and depth. We installed a new porch light, hung a house number, flag mount, and hose rack, removed paint drips on the old brick, and adjusted the rain gutter down spouts. Making the home look good on the outside made it more enjoyable to pull into the drive way. Looks can be deceiving though, and mild depression set in every time we walked in the door and realized how much interior work still needed to be done.
Three Years later the white gate was added.
Here are exterior photos of the house at time of purchase...
and at time of sell...
Photos of the Tulips in full bloom (annually in March).
