This Whole House

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SUMMER NIGHTS & BACKYARD BBQS

It’s finally warming up here in Charleston! Looks like 80 degree days are here to stay! That means we can get outside and away from the confines of our tiny rental house. We’ve already been to the beach a few times, and it’s been magical!

 

We’re definitely in transition mode while we live in our (tiny) rental house and renovate our new house. We’re waiting on a permit while we do other little piddly things around the house. We were hoping to have our pool ready, but we will have to get a new liner because the old one tore. Just a little setback! But that hasn’t stopped us from enjoying the huge backyard! We got all of the trees trimmed and bought an outdoor dining table from Target so we could go there and barbecue at night when we’re feeling claustrophobic in our rental (which is daily). The rental is right down the street. So, we prep our food and bring it over. Then we just grill up the meat and play in the backyard! It’s like going out to eat without the restaurant!

The renovation is coming along! Everything is demoed. We have new sub-floors down upstairs and a few walls removed. The crawl space is cleared out and we have new HVAC duct-work going in Monday.

It’s slow and steady! I’m just ready to have walls and floors down so I can get to my part of the process!! Have the best weekend!

MAKING PROGRESS!

Week one of demo is down at the house! HERE are some photos of the progress. I feel like this is happening quicker than I thought! The good news is the house is a lot better than we expected once all of the walls and floors were removed. I was expecting a ton of wood rot since it’s been sitting so long! We did find some active termites, but that wall can just be removed to eliminate them. Then we’ll treat the ground!

Now that we’re not adding on to the house, I’ve had more trouble thinking through the rooms. When we bought the house, it was with the intention of building an addition. My mental block had me pretty discouraged. Our contractor, Al, is amazing and has been coming up with tons of ideas. I vetoed all of them except one. We FINALLY know what the layout will be which is SO exciting! He had the idea of extending the second floor on the front of the house since the foundation is already there, which got my creative juices flowing! We’ll flip flop the master bedroom and bathroom so that we can create a bigger space there as well! Downstairs, we’re knocking down a wall that separated the kitchen and dining room and creating one huge kitchen! Then, what was going to be the sun room, will be a casual dining area surround by windows and french doors opening to an outside deck. I realize you don’t see what I’m explaining, but just trust me! It’s going to be amazing!

My favorite part of this process is going to the house every day to see the progress. The kids look so forward to going to “The Pool House” and playing in the giant yard! I can’t wait the make this house our home!

Don’t forget to Follow Me On Instagram for up to date progress!

THE “NEW” HOUSE

A lot has happened in the past few weeks! We moved into our rental, closed on our old house, and closed on The Dump! You can read all about that process HERE. But basically, we found a foreclosure that is in horrific shape and decided to renovate and move there! Why, you ask? Because Mount Pleasant is the type of place that proves very difficult to find a great house with a great yard unless you spend a million dollars! I don’t know when this happened, but it’s been the trend here over the past 10 years. You’re either in a great house where you can see everything your neighbor does through their windows, or you’re in a not-so-great house on a nice piece of land. And the closer you are to Charleston, forget it! SO, we went for the not-so-great house on an acre with a pool! It’s super close to downtown so we couldn’t beat the location! Besides, we love a good house project. So here we are, in the beginning phase of our “good house project”. Here are some before pictures to refresh your memory!

We closed on the house Wednesday and started demoing Thursday morning. We are doing a lot of the work ourselves. We have a contractor friend who is helping us out as well. Stew will be spending a lot of time balancing his regular job and working on the house. Luckily he makes his own hours, so that’s flexible! I’ll do all of the room planning and decorating. Initially, we were going to build an addition, but our tax bill has us needing to rethink that! So, we will work with the footprint we have! So here are some photos after day one of demo!

We made a ton of progress just after one day! I already feel better seeing the walls come down. Follow me on Instagram to watch the progress!

 

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY

We have been BUSY. We’re working a ton, packing up boxes for storage, and getting things organized to move into our rental house and start our major renovation project! So if you missed the news, we sold our house, bought a foreclosure (aka The Dump) and will be renting while we renovate, and eventually, move in! HERE is the story.

We don’t close until April, so between now and then, we’ve been making our plans. We’ve measured, met with contractors, planned, and budgeted. The kids thoroughly enjoy going to “the new house” to play in the giant yard! Watching them makes me feel so good about this decision!

We’ve got A LOT of work ahead of us. Take a look at these before photos!

There’s not a surface of this place that won’t be touched, demoed, or painted. Now to share my vision, here is some inspiration!

We’re so excited for things to come! Can’t wait to share the journey with you. Happy Monday!

THE NEW HOUSE

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Guess what! We bought a house!!! We didn’t get the first foreclosure we were looking at HERE. But we found one that was in even worse condition, if you can believe it! It’s a total dump. But the bones and the yard are a dream! My mind (and pinterest board) is exploding with ideas. I hesitate to even share photos because you’re totally going to judge me. Just trust me when I say, this is a GOOD move! The house is on an acre, which is impossible to find in our town, AND has a pool (which currently is acting as an alligator pond). But just think, pool — outdoor kitchen — barn. Just, trust me! Ok, so here are the photos I snapped today….

Dump with a capital D, RIGHT?! I’m so excited. Only thing is, we need to sell our house because our offer on this home is contingent upon the sale of our current home! We like to live on the edge. Wish us luck on this journey! Can’t WAIT to share updates with you all!

EXCITING THINGS HAPPENING!

We have some exciting news to share! As some of you know, we are suckers for good house projects. Our first house that we bought in 2011 was a foreclosure of the worst kind. We bought that house after the market crashed, so it was WELL within budget. We lived there for 5 years and made beautiful renovations. We brought both of our babies home to that house. Those years were some of the best to date! HERE is a link to the before and after pictures of that home.

Selling that house allowed us to buy our next home which was a dream come true! A 4000 square foot, marsh view, Charleston style home with a huge yard! It has meticulous attention to detail, wood-work, gorgeous upgrades, and is in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Mount Pleasant!

So, why am I writing this post? Because, we’re SELLING OUR HOUSE! We got the itch to buy another foreclosure! I know, we’re crazy. But we love finding a blank slate and making it our own! We found the perfect foreclosure and put an offer in contingent upon the sale of this house. It’s quite possible we won’t get it as there were multiple offers. BUT, we are trusting that God has a great plan for us whether we move into that house or not. But this is officially the beginning of our house hunt! Can’t wait to keep you updated on exciting things to come!

EXCITING THINGS HAPPENING!

We have some exciting news to share! As some of you know, we are suckers for good house projects. Our first house that we bought in 2011 was a foreclosure of the worst kind. We bought that house after the market crashed, so it was WELL within budget. We lived there for 5 years and made beautiful renovations. We brought both of our babies home to that house. Those years were some of the best to date! HERE is a link to the before and after pictures of that home.

Selling that house allowed us to buy our next home which was a dream come true! A 4000 square foot, marsh view, Charleston style home with a huge yard! It has meticulous attention to detail, wood-work, gorgeous upgrades, and is in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Mount Pleasant!

So, why am I writing this post? Because, we’re SELLING OUR HOUSE! We got the itch to buy another foreclosure! I know, we’re crazy. But we love finding a blank slate and making it our own! We found the perfect foreclosure and put an offer in contingent upon the sale of this house. It’s quite possible we won’t get it as there were multiple offers. BUT, we are trusting that God has a great plan for us whether we move into that house or not. But this is officially the beginning of our house hunt! Can’t wait to keep you updated on exciting things to come!