Her Home: Living Room Remodel

This is taking me much longer than I thought so for the next 2 months, I will be writing a series on how my Sister, Heather and I managed to turn an abandoned 1910 Victorian into the beautiful home of her dreams. See how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds.

Her Home: Living Room Remodel

The fireplace is usually a selling point in a home, right? This one? Not so much, with it's huge cast iron fireplace insert, complete with bright orange tile inserts on the sides. It stuck out so far that the previous owner had to add that second layer of brick to the hearth, making it stick out into the room about 3 feet. The mustard yellow bricks are the same color as the dining room trim.

This wall was painted mint green to go with the indoor/outdoor carpet... we assume.

First night, no heat, no overhead lighting, middle of February with 3 feet of snow on the ground, Heather, Reece and I decided to tear out the carpet. We were hoping for a paint-able or refinish-able hardwood but found that the entire first floor of the house consisted of this MDF sub-floor.

No problem! The new blackened maple flooring is making such a huge impact. The living room was painted the same "Grey Beard" as the dining room, with the exception of the fireplace wall which was painted a darker silver called "High Oh Silver".

Soph brought a ton of cars with her to try out on the floor. She says it's pretty awesome. We think it looks pretty awesome too.

Heather purchased this lamp from Pier One Imports and had the electricians direct wire it. It's huge drum shade works perfectly with the 12 foot ceiling height. Notice the reflection of that mustard yellow brick fireplace in the light fixture's diffuser? Yeah, that had to go...

Heather painted it the same color as all of the wood trim, "Snowy White".  It really is starting to look like a brand new home. Notice the kids took out that extra foot of brick on the hearth? And the Heating and Cooling guy took the insert out and hauled it away, no charge. Now to finish painting and then load in furniture.

We are so excited about how it's taking shape.

Her Home: Dining Room Remodel

This month I will be writing a series on how my Sister, Heather and I managed to turn an abandoned 1910 Victorian into the beautiful home of her dreams. See how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds.

Her Home: Dining Room Remodel

The dining room was painted white with mustard colored trim and green indoor/outdoor carpet. The first thing we did when we started the house remodel was tear out the carpet in this room. It was a challenge because it was glued down.

This room only needed paint, a new light fixture and flooring. It really didn't require major construction.

Except for when the "contractor" put the old bath tub in the room and filled it with trash for Heather and her kids to haul away. Renovation reality check here. It was a ton of work to get this room done. We thought it would be an easy job, paint, flooring, call the electrician. But things like this took up a lot of time, energy and spirit. (Okay, moving on...)

The blackened maple floors run from the living room straight through to the kitchen. It was quiet a feat to accomplish and without the help of a some amazing friends, it would have never gotten done. The color change in this room is amazing. It was so dreary and dark before. The trim color is called Snowy Mist, the lower paint color is Silver Dollar and the upper is called Silver Gray Beard all in Olympic 2 and 1 semi-gloss paint.

We are so close to finishing this room. We just need to finish painting over that mustard colored trim at the top and finish the floors then it will be ready for furniture.

This is the beautiful light fixture Heather chose for the dining room. It, like most of the lighting in the house, was purchased off the shelf at Lowe's. The ceiling medallion really adds to it, doesn't it?

Here is a sneak peak of the final room. We broke it in by having pizza one night while finishing the bathroom tile. The bathroom vanity is there in the doorway of the kitchen waiting to be installed. But there is furniture in it now and it's starting to really take shape.

Next room up is the living room. Hope you will come back for more.

Her Home: Kitchen Remodel

This month I will be writing a series on how my Sister, Heather and I managed to turn an abandoned 1910 Victorian into the beautiful home of her dreams. See how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds.

 Her Home: Kitchen Progress

This is the kitchen before we tore out the cabinets, floor and appliances. That tile back splash was the hardest thing to remove. Heather's son Reese meticulously removed the linoleum flooring.  Heather, her 3 sons and I pulled out all of the lower cabinets. It was exhausting but exciting.

In the interest of preserving the ceiling and saving time, Heather decided it best if we save the upper cabinetry. Once they were scrubbed and painted they blended in to the new cabinetry well. 

Here is some of the progress. That roll of linoleum on the counter is for the bathroom. We worked on most of the rooms simultaneously. So we had tools and supplies all over the house.

The cabinets are oak and unfinished, purchased right off the shelf at Lowe's. Heather chose to paint them because, well... because we all love white, don't we? It took 7 banks of cabinets for the lower half of the kitchen; we hauled them in my mini van and little Dodge Dakota truck. It was a tight squeeze and a fun shopping day.

The floor is coming along and the cabinets look pretty good. We added another cabinet there by the bank of drawers in the above photo. The stove will sit next to that. Range hood plans are still up in the air, but coming along.

Yet another lovely light fixture purchased at Lowe's. Not your typical kitchen fixture but this is HER Home, after all.

This is the upper cabinets to the left of the kitchen, she opted to toss the cabinet doors and paint the inside for display of dishes, cook books and other lovely kitchen accessories. Can you see it taking shape? We added the beadboard backsplash and all new wiring was installed.

Most of the flooring is installed in this photo and the kitchen sink has been set into place. Temporary plywood kitchen counters will serve until a counter top decision is made.

Here is "Big Bertha" the mammoth refrigerator that Heather purchased also from Lowe's. She is a space hog but efficient, attractive and necessary.

Here is the gas stove waiting to be installed, those tools to the right have to go! The progress at first was very slow but it is really starting to take shape.

Next up will be the dining room which is completely finished now. The transformation is amazing. I hope you'll come back for it.

Her Home: Bathroom Remodel

This month I will be writing a series on how my Sister, Heather and I managed to turn an abandoned 1910 Victorian into the beautiful home of her dreams. See how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds. 

 Her Home: Bathroom Progress

I hesitate to post before pictures of this bathroom. We tore it apart the first day we got into the house because it was just plain gross.  Heather and I took a reciprocating saw to the bathroom vanity and a hammer to the tile and had it gutted down to the studs in about 4 hours.

That black plastic and duck tape were covering the pipes as all of the tile had fallen off in that area. They had tiled directly on the sheet rock and it took just minutes to knock it all down.

Let me just say that the air freshener in this photo did nothing to help with the odor.

The first half of this picture is after day one demolition and the second half is after the "Contractor" had added insulation, new plumbing, concrete backer board, new sub-floor and a new tub. Heather and I tackled the tile job ourselves.

This is Heather working on getting the heater vent to fit into place. Little things like this cause major delays.

We also had to level the floor because the "Contractor" only added new sub-floor under the tub and didn't bother to make it level with the rest of the bathroom floor. The side of the tub near the wall is 1/2 inch lower than the other side. This caused us a ton of extra work and got the "Contractor" fired.

Getting the tile level was our biggest challenge.

Here is the vanity waiting to get installed. The marble counter top is stunning.

You will see that Heather picked the most feminine light fixtures she could find. This one is all about the bling. The room has been painted a bright, crisp white by our friend Joyce. She, Erica and Jennifer spent a few days painting at the house to help out.

The transformation is astounding. I can't wait to show you the finished room. I hope you will stay tuned. You can follow more progress on my Instagram and follow this series by clicking on the Her Home button in the sidebar.

If you were going to paint your bathroom what color would it be? I am curious what color bathrooms "should" be, mine is a light aqua but I gravitate towards white because it just looks so fresh and clean.

Her Home: Whole house remodel in 2 months

This month I will be writing a series on how my Sister, Heather and I managed to turn an abandoned 1910 Victorian into the beautiful home of her dreams. See how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds. 

Her Home: The Beginning

What would you do to own your dream home? Would you be willing to take on whole house makeover? Could you DIY it and get it done in 2 months?

Would you consider buying a house with this kitchen?

Or walls with this many... well, let's call it "stains"?

Ratty indoor/outdoor carpet in bedrooms, living and dining room that was thick cat hair? What if it had no heat, running water and really old wiring? You'd run wouldn't you? I think I would but...

what if in the midst of the mess, you see charm? 1910 original Victorian charm?

What if the rooms were huge and full of potential? And the price was, well... to put it mildly affordable.

And what if it gave you that feeling in your gut that said, "This is HOME"? Would you risk it?

That's just what my sister, a single Mom with 4 kids and a full time job did.

Who would you call to help? How about your sister who happens to be a DIY Blogger? {Yep, she called me. That's what big sisters are for right? To help you remodel your home? LOL!} She also called on an amazing group of friends who came in and painted, leveled floors, installed cabinets, hardwood flooring and carpet all out of the goodness of their hearts. There were electricians and a heating and cooling guy who played a huge part in the renovation too. Also a really bad contractor played a role in it, we will share that story too.

I hope you will walk with me through this renovation and enjoy seeing how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds. 

You can also follow the series in photos that I posted on Instagram along the way or follow the hashtag #herhome on Twitter. Or click on the Her Home button in the sidebar.