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.

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. 

The First Photos of Our House / Before Any Work

I realized it may be helpful to post together all of the photos we have of the house before we start renovations.  Since all the rooms need some sort of renovation, some rooms more than others-- all the "before" photos will be all together here.

Living Room

Big window in living room

One corner of the coved ceiling in the living room 

Front door and front hall closet

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen, looking into hall and living room

Kitchen wall

Kitchen floor

Kitchen ceiling

Kitchen ceiling and cupbaords

Kitchen cupboards and counters -- Guessing all the cupboards looked like this once

Kitchen into hallway to basement & mudroom

Above kitchen doorway into mudroom

Main floor bathroom

Main floor bathroom

Hall closet

Bedroom 1 on main floor

Bedroom 1 on main floor -- closet doors

Bedroom 1 ceiling

Paint in bedroom 1

Paint in bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Mudroom

Hallway to mudroom and basement

Basement stairs

Basement family room

Fireplace in basement

Basement bedroom

Basement bedroom

Basement bathroom

Laundry room

Basement storage room 1

Basement storage room 2

Stairs to second floor

Stairs to second floor

Second floor

Second floor

Front yard

Front yard

Back yard

Back yard

Back of the house

Front of the house

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!