Living In And Through A Long Remodel — A Look Back
I’ve been posting a lot of photos on my Facebook page lately of our house over the years — what it looked like when we bought it thirteen years ago and what it looks like now.
On one post, I showed the progression of our hallway over the years, from this original hallway on the day we bought the house…
To this first iteration where I widened the cased opening between the music room and the hallway, installed new doors and trim, built a new cabinet, and painted stripes on the walls…
To this after we had that wall moved forward about three feet to square up the room behind that wall for the new bathroom and closed up the doorway that led into the hallway.
To what it looks like today as the foyer inside our bedroom suite…
I mentioned in my description of that post that this transformation from that first image to the last image evolved over the 13 years that we’ve lived here, but I know that a lot of people don’t like to read descriptions. They just want to see pictures. I get that. So one person commented and said, “I’m wondering how long it was between buying this house and moving in?”
I know that so many of you have been with me through this entire process, from the day we closed on our house in 2013 until now. And you know that the only thing I did before we moved in was remove all of the carpeting, remove the large closet in the hallway, and refinish the floors. Other than that, every bit of the work that has been done on this house has been done with us living here.
That sent me on a trip down memory lane over the weekend. It was a holiday weekend, so I spent a lot of time sitting at my desk in my beautiful, colorful, finished studio while I looked at pictures of our house in various stages of remodel from the past 13 years. And I have to tell you, there were a few stages that I had completely forgotten about.
I remembered most of them, though. But the main question that went through my mind as I was scrolling back through these memories was, “How in the world did we live in this house while this was going on?” The first remodel I did in this house was the kitchen, and it was very extensive. My brother and I took down the wall that used to separate the kitchen from the breakfast room. It was a complete mess, and we were without a kitchen for at least two months, but probably longer.
As I did the demolition of the kitchen, there’s no way any of this space was usable — neither the kitchen, nor the breakfast area. And I’m sure the mess from this remodel spilled over into the music room as well.
And in every single room, we’ve torn down the drywall, including the ceiling drywall, which was so messy with all of that old insulation.
Here’s the same thing in the music room…
And the same thing in the living room and the entryway. And yet, not once have we ever moved out while any of this work was happening.
I had actually completely forgotten about the living room looking like this with the drywall removed.
It’s so wild seeing and remembering the music room and living room looking like this. And that’s when I put the cased opening in the wall between the living room and kitchen. You can see it in progress on the right in the photo below.
And then there was the whole hallway remodel that included the floor and subfloor being taken up. When this was happening, all of the bedrooms and our hallway bathroom were inaccessible. But we were still living here!
These last 13 years have been a wild ride. When I read that person’s comment/question, I thought to myself how amazing it would have been had we been able to purchase this house, get all of the remodeling done, and then move into a completely finished house. Part of me envies people who can do that.
But this has been a 13-year process so far, and we’ve lived here every step of the way. I don’t know how, but we managed. And you know what? I’m glad we did. I think it has taught me perseverance. It’s made me more resilient. And it definitely makes me appreciate our almost-finished* home even more.
As I sit here at my studio desk, I look around at my amazing, colorful, finished studio and remember that it used to be a dark, dirty garage. I can see into my colorful studio bathroom that didn’t even exist when we bought the house, but that was once a storage room at the back of the garage that housed the large furnace. As I sit here, I can see into the breakfast room that used to be so dark with a low, dark plywood ceiling. I can see into the kitchen that now feels so open, but that used to feel like a small box of a room with virtually no natural light because it was walled off from the breakfast room and the living room. And I can see all the way through to the music room. which was so plain but is now filled with color and pattern. And I can sit at my desk and look out the back French doors that now allow so much natural light into my studio, and I can see the carport that didn’t exist when we bought the house. It has been a long process, but it has been so worth it! And in hindsight, I’m actually glad that we’ve lived here every step of the way.
*When I say our home is almost finished, I’m not counting the sunroom since that has never been living space for us in the first place. That will be the cherry on top. Once the storage room remodel is finished and the dining area makeover is finished, I will basically consider the interior of our home finished. I will still refinish the floors, and there will be other projects that come along, but I want to live with my “finished” home for a while before I tackle those projects.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
It is amazing how much work you have done to your house! Can you please tell me what date you recently posted the blog with links to posts dating years back? I intended to read them and must have deleted that post by mistake. Thank you!
I think this is the one you’re referring to: https://www.addicted2decorating.com/an-impromptu-house-tour-in-photos.html
I am so glad that I have followed through it all. Your blog is so unique and inspiring, with each iteration so much fun to follow. Many thanks.
We actually had the means in which we could have remodeled the home, in your basic beige, and then move in. I am so glad that we decided that we would live in the house, and the farm and work from there. You really don’t get a feeling for how you are going to live in a house until you are actually doing it. That is priceless. As my husband will wake up on Friday, his last day, and go in, clear out his office, and turn in his badges, we cannot believe our second chapter is coming to an end, and starting next Monday, our third chapter and “Someday” will start. His 27 years in the Army, all those move around the world, the National Laboratory for the last 15, and now full-time at the farm, I can say that we are excited, and positively giddy. Now we have to find our reserves of strength to power through some of it and start the journey of just working for us. You are an inspiration to our dreams, thank you.
Cheers to you, Matt, and the Fur Babies!
What a trip down memory lane. I did the same thing with my house in Ohio, taking photos of my improvements every step of the way. I left that album with the buyer who I thought would appreciate them, but alas, I fear she tossed them😳😢. There’s a tiny chance she left them with her buyer.
Whenever I see your floors torn up and the dirt there I get a little twitchy thinking there will be bugs and rodents! But I also think of putting a time capsule there to be discovered by the next person.
I’ve watched you since the condo days, I think I’ve even watched some of the work you did for others. I find what you do to be fantasizing, however, I found your descriptions and your explanations and instructions to be so insightful, I wished you wrote all guides on how to use or do something…like for my Roborock mop and vac that are so miserable to read and follow, I wish I had never bought it! No matter what you do whether or not anyone likes your decorating style, your work stands out as beautiful…you attention to detail is amazing. Thank you for years of watching a woman with “moxey” to make me a fan!
Been with you from nearly the beginning. Im truly amazed and impressed with all you’ve done. Kudos to you and Matt, for living in and thru it. 🤩
Remember you said you wanted to live with a finished house before you start the floors and those “other” projects. You are so good at thinking up “other” projects! You make me think of things too, but I love your blog and have been with you since you got the landscape plans for your birthday, I think. Matt got them for you.
Have a good week and I’m glad to hear you are resting some.
We have lived here 11 years, and we have totally redone our floors with tile and wood; we have repainted the entire house; we have put in 22 new windows and 2 French doors; we have new granite counter tops in the kitchen; we have built a closed in barn, so I guess we have finished some projects. But mostly we have pieced and quilted quilts!
I still miss the colonnade between the living room and the music room. I was so sad when you tore that out.
Hi Kristi: Thanks for the post today showing your tear outs of various rooms. I have been following daily since your initial bathroom redo and love to watch the process and learn about why you do certain things.
I own an old home that is a major fixer upper but I do not live in it. It is old and has an unfinished (not encapsulated) crawl space underneath the house. It has a distinct odor once you enter the home that I can’t identify and I am contemplating various projects. I am curious as to why you took down the drywall in so many of the rooms? I don’t remember that discussion in prior posts and I am wondering if that is something I should consider. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Did you and Matt have to wear masks 24/7 until the initial tearouts were done in each room? That dust would have been horrible living through. I can’t imagine trying to breathe while it was happening.
It is so nice to see most of work is done and what a beautiful home you now have.