Fixer-Upper Blues

Saturday cleaning, like many weekends.  And today I'm just...  over it.

Over trying to clean a fridge and walls with 10 years of caked-on yuckiness.  Seriously, the front of the fridge has a layer of something resembling rubber cement.  Very weird and won't come off!

Every room that we clean still looks dirty.  Because the floor is stained... because the walls aren't painted one solid color.  Because the ceilings are unfinished in various ways.

I'm over looking around the living room, and seeing it's in the same state as it was last December.  Only slightly more cluttered.

I need some more movement on this place.  This static mid-renovation state that we're in is not my favorite.  Even when we start and finish a little project, that still feels good.  But next up is a big project, and when it's done it will help us accomplish every other project.

Our summer was taken over by trees.  First the elm in May and then the other elm in August.  Those are finally complete.  The garage project has been pushed out and postponed, but now it's next in line.

Just wanted to vent.  I'm excited about everything this house will be, but sometimes my patience runs short.

Peach Siding - Another Spotting

Yesterday evening, when we were working on taking down the other elm, I noticed some more peach paint peeking through on our siding!

The electric meter is there on the side of the house, but at some point, the meter was changed--  the meter that is there now is smaller and a different shape than what was there previously.

More peach!

Peach Siding?

On Friday, when K was building our new flower beds in the front of the house, we had to re-pin down the drain pipe in that corner of the house.  The bracket that holds it on has been broken since before we got the house.  So, right now the drain pipe is held in place with a couple of mini bungee cords--  K's secret weapon for everything.

While crouching at the corner of the house, helping K, I noticed this peach/beige-colored shadow from behind where the pipe used to be/should be attached:

I pointed this out to K (who was busy and distracted), and she's like, "I don't know, looks like that's the color the house used to be?"

And looking back on those MLS photos, I realize that in the 1997 photo the house looks like this peachy-beige color.  And in the 1999 photo the house is clearly yellow. 

1997

 

1999

It's Been 1 Year!

One year ago today, we got this house!  After a couple months of working on loans and wishing, and things came together on the morning of June 8th, 2012.


After our final walk-through, just before our closing.  Taken by our fantastic realtor, Brian Amiot.

Reflections on our first year as owners of a fixer-upper...
#1  --  Nothing will go as quickly as you imagined.  K and I both knew that, in theory, when we started all this.  But I think that we still expected to be further along by now than we actually are.  We don't even have ONE room complete.

#2  --  Yardwork is pretty fun in the first year!  It's the only immediate gratification that we've had so far, and it's been a great feeling to see the yard improve and see our curb appeal change.  Yardwork will probably become a drudgery, eventually.  But for now, it's been a great way to spend sunny evenings and weekends together.

#3  --  This house is going to be cute again someday.  I still believe that, and it still gets me excited to think about it.  All our big plans, and our little plans, will happen with time. 

MLS Photos

Since I've been wanting to research our home's history, I asked our realtor if he could find any additional information about its previous sales or owners.
He sent me all the listings for the house on the MLS system.  There were a total of 5 listings, including the one that was included in our house search this past spring. 
And there were 2 pictures of the house that I had never seen before.  One from 2003, with the house clean, the yard maintained, and the roof unstained.

2003 Sale Listing

And the other was from 1997.  The roof looks similar to how it does now, a bit rust-stained, so it must've been replaced between 1997 and 2003.  But the landscaping is adorable!  Lush green grass, bright rose bushes, white stone edging and lights along the path to the door.  Now I know why we found so many rocks buried under the layers of dead grass in the front yard!

1997 Sale Listing

It's inspiring to see this little house all dressed up with a fancy yard.  That's our hope for the yard next year, to brighten it up and give it a lot more curb appeal.  We were so overwhelmed with the moving this summer, and then it was so hot, that all we could manage was ripping out one of the giant, overgrown bushes, and putting two potted hibiscus next to the front door!

I wonder if it would be annoying to do that rock border again...

We Got The House!

After 3 years of stop-and-start house shopping, being outbid on 4 homes, a bidding war on this house, a screw-up by our credit union that set us back a month, and a whirlwind process with our mortgage broker, we finally have a house!

Since we looked at SO many houses, it actually enabled us to confirm what we really wanted in a house, and what we wouldn't compromise on.  This house fulfilled all those requirements, except for one--  It doesn't have a garage.  Yet.  There is a lot of yard in the back of the house, and my partner will definitely be building a garage in the near future.

Photo from the MLS Listing

This house is definitely a fixer-upper.  We're pretty sure that probably scared off a lot of potential buyers.  Which is fine with us!  The house is structurally fine, the heat and appliances all work great, but it does need a LOT of cosmetic work.  Luckily for us, my partner is a carpenter and I'm a very willing student.  We looked at so many 1900s houses here in Minneapolis that needed structural work, were missing floors or walls, etc.  The good thing about this house is that it's completely liveable-- it's just really ugly.

Why is it really ugly?  It's been a rental for the last 10 years or so, and we get the feeling that no one ever checked up on how the renters were treating the house.  Just about every wall and surface on the main floor and the basement is painted with murals and bright colors, crayons and puffy paint.  It's going to take a bit of work to repair all the walls, but once they're all painted it will make a huge difference.

This house was built in 1952.  There's a little bit of character here and there, but it's mostly just a blank slate.  Our plan is to go mid-century modern with most of it.  There are a ton of resources in Minneapolis for mid-century furniture, so we'll see what we can find!  How quickly this all gets done is certainly going to depend on our budget, as well as working our projects around our full-time jobs.  So, this is where we'll document our progress!



K and me, the morning of our closing.  The lawn hasn't been mowed in 2 months!