Maison de Mariage
It was a Saturday when my husband and I first saw the new house. It had just hit the market the day before and had showings scheduled all day. We were on the books to see another house with our agent that morning, and I just happened to mention that maybe we could swing by this one as well. He said it would probably go to contract that day because of the price point, so if we liked it we needed to put in an offer.
There are at least 5 or 6 houses with this exact floor plan and elevation on the same street as our house. I remember the listing mentioned that it wasn't "cookie cutter", so I was curious to know what was so unique about it. From the outside, it looked like a lot of other houses in this area (even the ones with a different floor plan). This particular neighborhood is a lot of small mid-century ranch style houses. Originally, this was the only photo on the listing.
Cute enough, big oak tree, nice fence, corner lot. The first impression from the outside was that I really didn't like the color of the brick (orange red) or the siding (BEIGE). But, those kinds of things can be changed. You can't really tell from the other exterior photos below (because of the giant bushes), but there is a really large picture window that takes up one entire side of the living room on the front of the house. We will be removing the bushes because: they block the window, they are all diseased with sooty mold and scale insects, and the flower bed they are in is covering one of the vents to the crawl space (there is literally mud down the wall on the inside of the crawl which is definitely a no no - the vents are there for a reason).
I am pretty sure we will also be adding some sort of deck with a screened in area where the back door is located. This side of the house faces directly west and the kitchen is unpleasantly warm in the afternoon. It is also really important to me and my husband to have an outdoor space we can enjoy without mosquitoes.
We walked through the house and left there knowing that we were buying a house that day. We originally thought it would be the other one we were scheduled to see after this one, but we liked this one so much (and it was so close to my job) that it was questionable which one would win. We went directly to the other house, and made the decision standing in it's front yard. We put in an offer that day and the next, we had an accepted offer! We completed all of the home inspections and negotiations and then just had to wait 6 weeks to close. The sellers wanted the long timeline (I guess because they weren't thinking their house would sell on day 1).
This is the living room photo from the listing. You can sort of see the big picture window (hidden by those gross drapes) and the super cool wood carved front door. The house has chair rail (white trim behind the couch) throughout and (we found out) has had all of the plaster walls replaced by sheetrock at some point (bonus!). The second photo shows off the picture window a little better (and my husband's legs). We are getting new windows throughout the house everywhere except this window. I didn't want to lose the charm of the deep inset because it's so mid-century cute. I just couldn't do it.
The plans for this room are less intense (compared to the other rooms) but will be a fairly significant change. We are going to remove the gross drapes as well as the built in cornice boards at the top (above the drapes) because it makes the room look smaller (there is one on each end of the room). The color plan is pretty intense: purple below the chair rail, black trim, and turquoise above the chair rail. The front door is going to be black on the inside and dark turquoise on the outside. We decided we will probably spend most of our time in this room and we wanted to make it as "us" as possible.
The door to the kitchen is to the right of the couch in the first photo. The next few photos were the listing photos for the kitchen. This was a galley kitchen in the original floor plan with the room ending after the washer and the dryer on the opposite side. At some point, they took in a storage room and part of the carport, as well as extended the end of the kitchen by a few feet. This created enough room for the dryer to go on the same wall with the washer and added the breakfast nook. In the third photo below, you can see that there is a section of the ceiling that is lower. That is where the roof to the carport starts (since this was an addition). There is also a little pantry behind the refrigerator and stove.
So, the things we like about this kitchen are that it has been expanded to include a breakfast nook, it's slightly larger than most in this neighborhood, and it includes a pantry. We like the charm of the original wood paneling (this is 1 inch thick wood tongue and groove, not the cheap stuff from the 70s). We like the look of the white cabinets and the original copper Vent-A-Hood. The floor is updated and although it is not a tile I would choose, it isn't terrible. Here is the hood since you only see a hint of it in the listing photos. I would have put this as a main selling point, but that's just me I guess. It was one of the main things we LOVED about this house.
So, there are things we don't like about this kitchen and we have some big plans to fix them. The green paint has got to go (easy enough fix). The cabinets (although white and have the 50's charm) have about 70 years of paint on them. The doors wouldn't stay shut and the drawers wouldn't open without some sort of winch hitched to a pick up truck. They are 30 inch cabinets with 12 inches of fur down above them (wasted space that could be used for storage - HELLO?). Our plan is to take out the cabinets and the fur down and put in Ikea cabinetry that goes up to the ceiling.
The refrigerator right next to the stove is not really very functional because you really need a work surface next to your cooktop. Also, having the laundry in the kitchen is not my favorite thing because it would be better to have more countertop in such a small space. So we plan to relocate the laundry out of the kitchen altogether, move the fridge to where the dryer sits, extend the cabinets to the fridge (where the washer is now), add upper and lower cabinets with a worktop next to the stove, and relocate the dishwasher to the other side of the sink. I think it will make this kitchen much more functional. No biggie. lol
The bedrooms are mostly just cosmetic fixes that include removing all of the drapery (why!), replacing the blinds, and re-painting everything. We were also going to remove the carpet in the two extra bedrooms but have since discovered the hard wood underneath is FUCKED. Like there is paint all over it and that's just what we could see around the edges in the corners. I am not sure what we are going to do about that in the future since refinishing floors basically requires an empty house. But for now, we plan to clean the carpet, throw a couple of rugs over it (have I mentioned I HATE BEIGE?), and live with it for the present. These are all photos from the listing.
We plan to use Behr Eon in the shit brown room as well as the master bedroom. We all know I love colors other than gray, but I do also love a calming color in the sleeping quarters. For now, we are leaving my husband's music room the present color. He decided he is going to plaster his posters all over the walls anyhow, so no point in painting.
The following photos are of a MASSIVE cedar closet in the hallway. I guess it was just added storage because of course all of the bedrooms have tiny little 1950's closets (think maybe 4 feet wide). But to me, it looked like the perfect spot to relocate the laundry, and that is exactly what we plan to do. Stackable front load washer and dryer on the right, folding table with shelving (or cabinets) above it on the left.
The cedar closet is on the right side of the hallway below (first door barely in the photo). I will probably convert the door to some cute ass barn door because currently it opens out into the hallway (like most closets do). The attic pull down stairs need a slight adjustment (so they don't look cock-eyed). But the only other thing this hallway needs is a change in paint (FUCKING BEIGE AGAIN). Not to sound like a broken record, but it will probably end up Behr Eon gray. That, or some insane wallpaper that makes you think you are entering another dimension. We're kind of all or nothing like that.
Lastly, we come to the bathrooms. There is a half bath in the master bedroom that is ALL ORIGINAL and in really good condition for the most part. It has a missing piece of trim tile (to the left of the window) and one broken piece next to the sink (you can't see it from this angle). The toilet even has matching blue bolt covers on the bottom! It doesn't even have shut off valves on the wall (you can sort of see this on the water lines to the sink). There is an iron shut off valve in the master closet. I love the original American Standard sink and the blue pinwheel pattern flooring. I do not love the awful periwinkle color on the wall that clashes with the rest of the bathroom, but matches the master bedroom.
We plan to clean this beauty up, cover up that periwinkle (maybe with some funky wallpaper), replace the missing and broken tiles, and remove the wood storage thing over the toilet. You can't see it in this photo, but that wood shelf is massive and made this bathroom look even smaller than it is. White open shelves (or glass for that matter) would work way better in this space.
The other bathroom is the main bath in the hallway. It has original black 4 inch tile (WOW!). I have NEVER seen a black original bathroom from the 50s. If they include black tile, it is usually just as a border (like in the blue bathroom above). Along with the original hood in the kitchen, this bathroom was a major selling point for us.
We plan to change the upper walls in this bath, either with a different paint color or another funky wallpaper. I definitely want to remove the vanity because it is absolutely not what would have originally been there. I managed to find something at Habitat for Humanity ReStore that is a perfect replacement (but you'll have to wait for that bit). We also plan to replace the flooring. The white hex tile is original, but it is also in terrible condition and there was a piece missing behind the toilet. You can't see it in this photo, but the black tile around the tub has some pretty significant cracks from the house settling over the years that I am going to try my best to repair and keep intact. It will be tedious work, but worth it to keep this mostly original.
We have a lot of work cut out for us and a pretty short timeline to get the majority of it completed (35 days from start to move-in). Obviously, the blog posts will be forthcoming, but almost entirely after the fact. I already know that there will be a lot of detail work (like hanging wallpaper) that will happen after we move in for sure. I am super excited for all of the plans we have in the works and can't wait to get the ball rolling on another project.
I know, I am a crazy person.
There are at least 5 or 6 houses with this exact floor plan and elevation on the same street as our house. I remember the listing mentioned that it wasn't "cookie cutter", so I was curious to know what was so unique about it. From the outside, it looked like a lot of other houses in this area (even the ones with a different floor plan). This particular neighborhood is a lot of small mid-century ranch style houses. Originally, this was the only photo on the listing.
Cute enough, big oak tree, nice fence, corner lot. The first impression from the outside was that I really didn't like the color of the brick (orange red) or the siding (BEIGE). But, those kinds of things can be changed. You can't really tell from the other exterior photos below (because of the giant bushes), but there is a really large picture window that takes up one entire side of the living room on the front of the house. We will be removing the bushes because: they block the window, they are all diseased with sooty mold and scale insects, and the flower bed they are in is covering one of the vents to the crawl space (there is literally mud down the wall on the inside of the crawl which is definitely a no no - the vents are there for a reason).
I am pretty sure we will also be adding some sort of deck with a screened in area where the back door is located. This side of the house faces directly west and the kitchen is unpleasantly warm in the afternoon. It is also really important to me and my husband to have an outdoor space we can enjoy without mosquitoes.
This is the living room photo from the listing. You can sort of see the big picture window (hidden by those gross drapes) and the super cool wood carved front door. The house has chair rail (white trim behind the couch) throughout and (we found out) has had all of the plaster walls replaced by sheetrock at some point (bonus!). The second photo shows off the picture window a little better (and my husband's legs). We are getting new windows throughout the house everywhere except this window. I didn't want to lose the charm of the deep inset because it's so mid-century cute. I just couldn't do it.
The plans for this room are less intense (compared to the other rooms) but will be a fairly significant change. We are going to remove the gross drapes as well as the built in cornice boards at the top (above the drapes) because it makes the room look smaller (there is one on each end of the room). The color plan is pretty intense: purple below the chair rail, black trim, and turquoise above the chair rail. The front door is going to be black on the inside and dark turquoise on the outside. We decided we will probably spend most of our time in this room and we wanted to make it as "us" as possible.
The door to the kitchen is to the right of the couch in the first photo. The next few photos were the listing photos for the kitchen. This was a galley kitchen in the original floor plan with the room ending after the washer and the dryer on the opposite side. At some point, they took in a storage room and part of the carport, as well as extended the end of the kitchen by a few feet. This created enough room for the dryer to go on the same wall with the washer and added the breakfast nook. In the third photo below, you can see that there is a section of the ceiling that is lower. That is where the roof to the carport starts (since this was an addition). There is also a little pantry behind the refrigerator and stove.
So, the things we like about this kitchen are that it has been expanded to include a breakfast nook, it's slightly larger than most in this neighborhood, and it includes a pantry. We like the charm of the original wood paneling (this is 1 inch thick wood tongue and groove, not the cheap stuff from the 70s). We like the look of the white cabinets and the original copper Vent-A-Hood. The floor is updated and although it is not a tile I would choose, it isn't terrible. Here is the hood since you only see a hint of it in the listing photos. I would have put this as a main selling point, but that's just me I guess. It was one of the main things we LOVED about this house.
So, there are things we don't like about this kitchen and we have some big plans to fix them. The green paint has got to go (easy enough fix). The cabinets (although white and have the 50's charm) have about 70 years of paint on them. The doors wouldn't stay shut and the drawers wouldn't open without some sort of winch hitched to a pick up truck. They are 30 inch cabinets with 12 inches of fur down above them (wasted space that could be used for storage - HELLO?). Our plan is to take out the cabinets and the fur down and put in Ikea cabinetry that goes up to the ceiling.
The refrigerator right next to the stove is not really very functional because you really need a work surface next to your cooktop. Also, having the laundry in the kitchen is not my favorite thing because it would be better to have more countertop in such a small space. So we plan to relocate the laundry out of the kitchen altogether, move the fridge to where the dryer sits, extend the cabinets to the fridge (where the washer is now), add upper and lower cabinets with a worktop next to the stove, and relocate the dishwasher to the other side of the sink. I think it will make this kitchen much more functional. No biggie. lol
The bedrooms are mostly just cosmetic fixes that include removing all of the drapery (why!), replacing the blinds, and re-painting everything. We were also going to remove the carpet in the two extra bedrooms but have since discovered the hard wood underneath is FUCKED. Like there is paint all over it and that's just what we could see around the edges in the corners. I am not sure what we are going to do about that in the future since refinishing floors basically requires an empty house. But for now, we plan to clean the carpet, throw a couple of rugs over it (have I mentioned I HATE BEIGE?), and live with it for the present. These are all photos from the listing.
 |
| This is the shit brown room... future home of my sewing room |
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| This is going to be my husband's music room |
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| This is the master bedroom that is an AWFUL periwinkle color with BEIGE trim (curses) |
We plan to use Behr Eon in the shit brown room as well as the master bedroom. We all know I love colors other than gray, but I do also love a calming color in the sleeping quarters. For now, we are leaving my husband's music room the present color. He decided he is going to plaster his posters all over the walls anyhow, so no point in painting.
The following photos are of a MASSIVE cedar closet in the hallway. I guess it was just added storage because of course all of the bedrooms have tiny little 1950's closets (think maybe 4 feet wide). But to me, it looked like the perfect spot to relocate the laundry, and that is exactly what we plan to do. Stackable front load washer and dryer on the right, folding table with shelving (or cabinets) above it on the left.
The cedar closet is on the right side of the hallway below (first door barely in the photo). I will probably convert the door to some cute ass barn door because currently it opens out into the hallway (like most closets do). The attic pull down stairs need a slight adjustment (so they don't look cock-eyed). But the only other thing this hallway needs is a change in paint (FUCKING BEIGE AGAIN). Not to sound like a broken record, but it will probably end up Behr Eon gray. That, or some insane wallpaper that makes you think you are entering another dimension. We're kind of all or nothing like that.
Lastly, we come to the bathrooms. There is a half bath in the master bedroom that is ALL ORIGINAL and in really good condition for the most part. It has a missing piece of trim tile (to the left of the window) and one broken piece next to the sink (you can't see it from this angle). The toilet even has matching blue bolt covers on the bottom! It doesn't even have shut off valves on the wall (you can sort of see this on the water lines to the sink). There is an iron shut off valve in the master closet. I love the original American Standard sink and the blue pinwheel pattern flooring. I do not love the awful periwinkle color on the wall that clashes with the rest of the bathroom, but matches the master bedroom.
We plan to clean this beauty up, cover up that periwinkle (maybe with some funky wallpaper), replace the missing and broken tiles, and remove the wood storage thing over the toilet. You can't see it in this photo, but that wood shelf is massive and made this bathroom look even smaller than it is. White open shelves (or glass for that matter) would work way better in this space.
The other bathroom is the main bath in the hallway. It has original black 4 inch tile (WOW!). I have NEVER seen a black original bathroom from the 50s. If they include black tile, it is usually just as a border (like in the blue bathroom above). Along with the original hood in the kitchen, this bathroom was a major selling point for us.
We plan to change the upper walls in this bath, either with a different paint color or another funky wallpaper. I definitely want to remove the vanity because it is absolutely not what would have originally been there. I managed to find something at Habitat for Humanity ReStore that is a perfect replacement (but you'll have to wait for that bit). We also plan to replace the flooring. The white hex tile is original, but it is also in terrible condition and there was a piece missing behind the toilet. You can't see it in this photo, but the black tile around the tub has some pretty significant cracks from the house settling over the years that I am going to try my best to repair and keep intact. It will be tedious work, but worth it to keep this mostly original.
We have a lot of work cut out for us and a pretty short timeline to get the majority of it completed (35 days from start to move-in). Obviously, the blog posts will be forthcoming, but almost entirely after the fact. I already know that there will be a lot of detail work (like hanging wallpaper) that will happen after we move in for sure. I am super excited for all of the plans we have in the works and can't wait to get the ball rolling on another project.
I know, I am a crazy person.
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