Chronicles of Rose: Weekly Update

Last weekend Rose and I broke out some of the fall decorations (I know the season doesn't officially start for a couple weeks, but well, I LOVE fall). This made me think of our home, so let’s have a tour…

Justin and I moved into our house 5 years ago this month! It was after our first home suffered from a fire and we really just wanted to find somewhere new to live quickly. Looking back there were positive and negative things about our decision, but we had a list of ‘must haves’ and a tight budget, so all in all, I think we made a good choice. Considering we weren't even planning on Rose, it has worked out to be within 20 minutes from both our families J

When we bought our home it was 2 rental units, one on each floor, although the house had originally be one home with a stairway, that was then blocked off. We had to keep moving the buying date back because things had to be done for our loan to go through, but eventually all the papers were signed and we moved in! We lived upstairs in 3 rooms for about a year. (During this time we also started fostering dogs and at one time had 5 dogs in this house!) With a bit of money we had my brother put in a new upstairs porch and fence in some of the yard.

The first BIG project we took on was a new kitchen. We decided to totally gut the downstairs kitchen and start from scratch: new wiring, plumbing, walls, floor, and a totally custom kitchen designed by my dad and me and installed by Justin, my dad, and me J We also turned the 1^st floor bathroom into a ½ bath and laundry room. (I LOVE not having to go to the basement to do laundry or upstairs to use a bathroom…those were things on my ‘must list’). The kitchen still needs some lighting, tile backsplash, and new countertops…but whose keeping track?

It was then onto the living room and dining room (the rest of the downstairs room). We ripped down the plaster and lath ceilings (um, still have to put ceilings back…) and painted all walls. (I need to repaint the dining room, we just used up paint we had, but I want a COLOR!)

Then Justin moved upstairs and started the two front bedrooms and creating a new bathroom for those two rooms to share (a jack-and-jill bathroom as they call it on House Hunters, even if my father who has been a contractor for over 30 years thought I was making the term up!) Poor Justin even had to dig in the yard to hook up the sewer L

During our upstairs renovations we managed to move our bed into each of the 3 upstairs bedrooms, let’s just say we are EXPERT furniture movers!

So in buying an older home, we came to realize that there was no insulation in the walls. Justin and his brother had insulated that attic previously and before we finished the two front bedrooms, Justin blew insulation in the walls to go down to the first floor walls and all the upper walls. Justin then painted and installed new hardwood floors in the two front bedrooms. (Since then we have totally decarpeted this house!!! With a husband, dog, and now a toddler I would rather clean hard surfaces (tile and wood) then try to scrub out carpet stains.)

By this time we also had discovered that I was pregnant! So the push to make our house a home for 3 was really on. We made a list of what had to be completed before bringing a baby home with having two bedrooms, the upstairs bathroom, and the living room and dining rooms floors finished. I got to spend a nice weekend at my parent’s home while Justin sanded and stained the living room and dining room.

(this is now our office, but originally was going to be Rose's room, but then we used it as our room until moving into the master..long story of how all that got switched around!)

We met our deadline and brought Rose home to our unfinished (still unfinished) home.

This is Rose's room now...let me assure you it was not this finished until the past year.

In the past two years projects have slowed a bit to allow us time with Rose and because we have to work around her naps ;) We started painting some of the outside trim and this will be a big project in the spring and summer (probably into next fall)... We have also been making progress on the master bedroom and have made the final move of our bed to that room. We changed the pitch of the ceiling and added sliding glass doors. The closet and bathroom are the biggest projects yet to finish upstairs.

The stairway is finally all in drywall and will need paint…have to pick a good color for that!

We still have projects to finish in EVERY room and A LOT of work on the outside of the home. Justin has also been suffering (not silently) about his 1-car garage (a garage was on his ‘must list’) and really wants a pole barn or to enlarge the current garage.

Anyway in another 5 years we'll see what the house looks like!