So I’ve been a little MIA here on the blog lately because we have just had so much going on! We closed on a new house this past Friday and it all seems sort of surreal. We had been looking for a new home for months and nothing seemed right. Either the house was just right, but the lot backed up to too many neighbors (we like our privacy)…….the lot and location were fantastic, but the house wasn’t what we wanted (too cookie cutter, too outdated, etc). We were starting to wonder if we would ever find ‘the house’.
I said from the beginning of house hunting that I wanted a ‘move-in ready’ home. We had put so much time, effort and money into renovating the cottage, which was lots of fun before having kids, but at this point in our life, I knew we couldn’t handle doing a renovation on our own. Then I got the idea in my head that maybe we could try to find a house that was below our budget and hire someone to renovate the inside and make it our own.
We had seen this foreclosure online when we started looking, but never went to visit since it looked like WAY too much work on the inside. We absolutely loved the outside, but feared the inside. So with this new idea in our head of renovating, we set up an appointment to check out this foreclosure. The house had a lot of issues, one being that it looked to have water damage down in the finished basement and was just extremely ugly and outdated. But my husband and I saw the potential, we both had a vision of what this house could be. Not to mention that the neighborhood was gorgeous, the schools were wonderful, the lot was private and the house was on almost two acres (that’s my husband in the first picture standing in the backyard)!!
We brought in a preliminary inspector to decide if we wanted to move forward, and based on his findings, we started down the path to purchasing this foreclosure. It turned out this was not an easy task. I won’t go into all the details of the purchasing process of a foreclosure (or this specific foreclosure through this weird online website), but let’s just say that unless you really, really, REALLY want that house, it’s probably not worth the headache. But we wanted it. Like, REALLY wanted it! And Friday, it became ours.
Photos via @thecottagemama Instagram
(Renovation Day 2)
We had met with several custom builders prior to closing to discuss renovations and ended up choosing the same builder that built my in-laws home. He is wonderful and, from the day we closed, he hit the ground running. I went over to the house Saturday and by Tuesday (pictures above) I barely recognized the place and by today (pictures below) was even more blown away by the amount of work that has been accomplished.
Renovation Day 4
(ps: toilets and fridge are not staying)
The house needs it all………I’m not even going to list it all, but it’s pretty much going to be a new home once all is said in done. The renovation should take about three months. And while it would be wonderful to have our current house sold, we feel blessed to have somewhere to live for the time being. I feel that God is looking out for us and will bring us a buyer so the timing will work out so we close when our new home is ready.
A handful of cabinet color samples
This is all so very exciting for us and I’m looking forward to sharing some of the before and after shots with you all and some of the in between as well. We are onto picking the exterior paint colors and meeting with the cabinet maker tomorrow.
Thanks for sticking around and reading The Cottage Mama. I don’t pop in as often as I’d like, but you know how life goes with four kids……….
Have you ever done a major home renovation? Remodeled a kitchen or bath? If you have any advice for me, I’d be so grateful for you to leave me a comment and share your wisdom.
Have a great day!
Lindsay Wilkes is the owner and designer behind The Cottage Mama. She creates timeless, vintage inspired sewing patterns for children’s clothes. She is also a fabric designer for Riley Black Designers / Penny Rose Fabrics, author of the book ‘Sew Classic Clothes for Girls’ and can be seen teaching nationwide and online in her video series ‘Lessons with Lindsay’ sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing and Embroidery machines.
Congrats Linds. I can’t wait to see the finished product AND your sewing studio.
Get a KITCHEN designer to actually plan your kitchen. They will think of all the things you never thought of,….and then more. You might pay a bit more, but the extra spent now will save you years of headache and frustration. Don’t forget you work everyday in that kitchen for the next 20 + years.
We used Tami in Home Depot by the mall to,design our kitchen. She was awesome and helped us with the overwhelming options on the new cabinets. Good luck. So exciting.
congratulations! I can’t wait to see all the reno pics! S much fun…or headaches, but it will be worth it in the end!!! 🙂 Good job.
We have built two custom homes! Loved every minute of it! We currently have a two story and are enjoying it very much. My husband is the custom builder. We do all of the finish work on the inside. In our current home he custom built all of the cabinetry and our gorgeous fireplace mantle. I so hope you. Enjoy your journey!
We compleely gutted the kitchen, living room and two bathrooms, ripped off wallpaper on the walls of 4 bedrooms, refinished all the hardwood floors, as well finished the basement in the house we raised our family in. It was a 50 year old two story that needed lots of TLC and elbow grease to bring it into the 20th century when we bougnt it 35 years ago. My advice is, 1. don’t rely on the completion date, something always comes up that was unexpected. 2. Work with a kitchen designer, even if you design your kitchen yourself, run it by a designer anyway, they will pick up some of the things you didn’t think of….like giving up one cabinet to make it so it holds a large garbage can and recycle box/composte bin, in a pull out drawer with cabinet door facing (best thing ever!) 3. Don’t lose your sense of humour or your patience. Things will go wrong, but they eventually get fixed and before you know it you will be living in your dream house.
We raised our boys in that house, lived there for 28 years and when we decided to downsize it was with saddness but also happiness that we were at a point in our lives that we could let someone else do the work on the new home!!! GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS
oh yesssss; great house !!! I’am happy for you !
Christine Danneels
Congratulations! Good decision to hire a known contractor. Great ideas about kitchen designers. Think pantry storage of BULK items; large cookware and extra appliances. Floor to ceiling shelving that you can close the door on! Nothing like pulling the crock pot off the shelf in the pantry that is waist high vs crawling inside a cabinet. A great space to store the warehouse package of paper towels & big box of chips etc from the warehouse stores. I ended up converting a hall closet into a pantry closet because I could never find a place to store those bulky items. Don’t get me started on the holiday roasting pan! Enjoy the process!
Oh your house has such a gorgeous setting, I know you will be so happy there! I can’t wait to see your sewing room when it is finished. Never loose your sense of humor no matter how bad things seem, take a deep breath and say a small prayer, all things will work out. God bless and enjoy the journey! The kids are going to enjoy all the space to play in xxx
Congrats! Looks like a WONderful place!
Ge4t a kitchen designer and then show the plans to everyone . . . I mean EVERYONE. My sister-in-law asked me why the double oven was closer to my kitchen work space than my refrigerator. Duh. I hadn’t thought of it and the designer was using the traditional triangle. What really worked was moving the refrigerator closer to the island so I had a landing pad for unloading groceries!! (And the landing pad for the oven was only about 6″ farther away.) Ask people who have remodeled kitchens. Ask people who don’t like their kitchens and ask people who do like their kitchens. And listen, listen, listen. And then put it all together. It will be wonderful!
I’m coming in late but it looks so exciting (and exhausting!) try not to stress and enjoy the process. Cant wait to see the outcomes now that i know to watch.
I am thrilled for you and your family! Such an exciting time. Love your blog and am sharing some of your ideas with a few young women in our church. They were delighted to see and read your blog and see your patterns. You’ve inspired a few new friends.