This little house now belongs to us! It looks like a cute little house from the outside but don't let that fool you! It's going to be a major fixer upper! In fact the first time I saw the house I thought, "It's older, ugly brick but hey we got this. It doesn't look to bad". And then we walked around it, and then through it. By the time we got out to the car I was close to tears. It doesn't look to bad from the outside but the inside was not what I was expecting at all. I didn't want the house but I knew it was meant for us, as ugly and beat up as it was. At the moment it is a 4 bedroom, 2 bath no car garage.
I can't wait to compare these first pictures of the existing house to the final product when the remodel is all done. We've got big plans!
Covered sagging front porch.
This is the front of the house. The porch is just to the right. I hate that the electrical box and gas meter is attached to the front of the house.
Walking around the house this is the back corner. When we first moved in this little patio pad was covered but the beams holding it up wasn't even touching the cement anymore. Knowing it would come down way to easy like the next wind storm we took it out before it fell on somebody.
The back of the house. Kind of shows the different additions that have been made.
Talking about additions. We know there's been about 3. Because the house is made from brick inside and out there's a lot of unfinished ends. The red cord is attached to the outside light that just hangs around and swings up against the house when it's windy.
When you open my front door this is what you see. A unfinished coat closet.
Inside the door you can turn R for the living room which we use as an office or a "don't know where to put that? Throw it in the office!" kind of room. Most of the time when we walk in we turn L as that takes us to the kitchen the quickest or down the hall to the 3 bedrooms and kids bath. But it can be a real pain to carry in groceries or when your's arms are full. The front door can not open all the way due to the wall behind it, thus cutting my hallway space in half!
Here is what the hallway looks like. The kitchen is just to the right. I captured part of the counter top in the picture. But I'd like to show you the bedroom and bath first!
1st door on the L is the "boys" room. Nice broken bedroom door!
Isn't it ugly!!
Looks like the brick interior wall started to shift and crack so they "tried" patching the cracks and never finished painting the room. This is to the R of the window.
To the L of the window.
We often wonder what color where they painting the room brown or white?
The closet was never finished. In fact it didn't have a clothing rack. Kory made this one when we were living in Alton to dry clothes by the fire. It's sure come in handy letting the boys use it.
Ceiling is just sheet rock and a little plaster. Was never finished.
Next up is door on the L #2. The laundry room! It actually has it's own interior, unfinished window!
What a beautiful 1st sight. You just can't help but notice that the ceiling is literally falling down!
Remember in the boys room where the wall was "patched" here it is on the other side of that wall! Patched it is white too.
Water heater and once again several shades of paint!
Moving on down the hall we come to the first door on the R. They kids bathroom. We joke it's the best room in the house!
The cabinet above the toilet was not there. It's one of the screw ups at the shop that Kory brought home for us. Cause seriously..... where the heck do you keep the extra toilet paper or tooth brushes or towels?? Very few of the light fixtures in the house actually has the cover on them. In all the rooms down the hall they have a open duct with no cover. It started to get a little chilly and we covered them up hoping to keep our warm air from the fireplace from escaping!
The best part about the bathroom is the light switch.
It's behind the bathroom door. And it's motion censored meaning every time the kids get in the shower or bath for more than 5 min the light shuts off on them. It's great!
Moving down the hallway we come to a door on the L and R.
The door on the R is currently Madelyn's room. The smallest room in the house so she gets it to herself.
There's another vent above the door.
Here is her closet. Unfinished of course. The "2 boxes" above the closet is just open space. It actually leads into the younger girls room. If you stand on a ladder you can see right into their room. It drives the girls crazy that they can hear each other so well.
Last door on the L in the hallway, right across from Madelyn's room is the younger girls room.
Another unfinished closet.
Her wall also has some cracks in it. On the other side of that wall is the laundry room. Definitely had a settling issue in that area.
She's got a major crack in the cement in that corner.
So none of our bedrooms have carpet in them. After we bought the house we paid a carpet cleaning company to clean them. They guy warned us that the carpets were quite gross. (The previous owners had multiple inside dogs and cats and it was quite obvious that there had been a constant accident problem.) He told us that the urine had probably soaked through the carpet and into and possibly beneath the pad. If he cleaned them it would just be the carpet. He obviously couldn't get to the pad or underneath it. He warned us that it could cause a stinky smell. We decided to try it anyways as there was no way we were going to live with the current carpet.
Well he was right. The smell was actually so bad that it kept setting off the smoke alarms. Weird right? The amonia smell was so strong that when we walked into the house your eyes would start to water immediately. So before moving in we ripped all the carpet and pad out! It was so NASTY!!!
Back down the hallway we go. Once you get around the front door to the R is the kitchen.
A small counter, nice stainless fridge.
The other side of the fridge!
The sink!
Here is one of those "I don't know what to do so I'll just leave it". Apparently they added this island like spot. The walls are brick remember so, they just left them between the brick walls and the header they put up to get to our family room.
The cabinets are interesting. Some has crown, some has doors, while others do not. We were told the last owner were able to get these cabinets for "free" and installed them themselves. Apparently the person they got them from bought them from someone remodeling their kitchen. So these cabinets have now been used in 3 different homes.
This shows the wiring for the electrical cook top. Being the wall is once again brick they didn't have anywhere to put it so left it inside the cabinet!
The door you see is the boys room. Not having a garage we put our fridge and freezer on a short wall in the kitchen.
Here they are. The door leads into a very small pantry but hey, its a pantry!
The opening you see on the L of the above picture leads you into our office or the room you walk into when you come through our front door. The kids love being able to run circles through these rooms.
So let's go back to the front door. Instead of going L and down the hall let's go R into our "office".
That door you see is the front door.
The fireplace on the R hasn't been used in years. This room is also the only room with a phone jack or internet wiring. That's why we put our computer in here. But with those huge windows on opposite sides of the room plus the fireplace and kitchen entryway on the 3rd wall there really was no room for our couches or tv. And..... in the room we use as our "family room" it has a slanted roof. The tallest part of the room is 7 1/2 ft. Making the curio cabinet Kory made me "on the R in the picture not fit anywhere but here! So this has become our every thing goes room.
Close up of the fire place.
There are 2 well technically 3 I guess types of flooring in this room. Most of it is this zebra stripe wood floors.
and then they ran out so they did a few feet of a solid whole different color and type of wood for a few feet. And then they ran out AGAIN. so they just left the cement showing! This is also the entrance into the kitchen from this room.
Just to the R is a step up into our family room.
Or if your already in the kitchen you take that step up into the family room.
The family room/dining room isn't all that big but its sufficient for now.
Beside the fireplace is a door that leads you up to the attic.
This is another door that leads from our front room to the back yard. Can you see how crooked the door frame is? Technically its not crooked. The roof is sloped so it appears that way.
Bottom of the door.
In some spots our family room has white base board, just a plain unfinished different look baseboard or none at all.
At one time maybe someone has surround sound? Or maybe someone thought they would begin the process of installing a surround sound? Who knows??
We just have random wires sticking out of the ceiling.
Between the back of the sink and our kitchen table is another entryway. This one leads to the Master Bath but before you actually get into our room there is another door on the R that leads you to the under ground fruit room.
It's actually under the stairs that leads up to the attic.
It's a big hole in the ground. Up against the wall there is a ladder that is nailed to the wall that can take you down.
Shut the fruit room door and take a step into our master suite!
Someone thought it was a great idea to put an interior french door as an exterior door in our room that leads you outside. The problem is that the door no longer closes and stays closed. When it's windy outside the door blows open. And during the spring when all the cock roaches came out. Oh ya! Straight into our room! So Kory foamed the door shut to keep the insects out and the door from blowing open during the night.!
Someone installed a nice gas fireplace in the corner of our room. To bad they never finished the job!
When you walk into our room there is a small door entrance that leads to the bathroom and closet.
Hang a R and you see our closet!
Hang a L and you are in the bathroom.
Right next to the toilet is a full length mirror! Kory hates it. He says who in the world wants to see themselves wipe their behinds or see themselves when they get out of the shower. Hmmmmm?
There must have been something glued to the wall behind the sink! Part of the glue is still there.
A cracked ceiling.
Once again a unfinished wall. This time its around the shower.
And that folks wraps up our house! I can't wait to get started on our remodel!
Isn't it going to be fun and so, so needed!!!
