Fixer Upper... Finito!

This may bore you to tears. But I am proud of my husband, and his dad, for all their hard work, so I'm posting about the fixer upper house we bought back in August. Plus, when my mom was here, she helped me clean bathrooms, but didn't get to see it finished. Here it is, mom. It's now on the market.

But first... I'm also proud of my kids, because between Bruce finishing his masters (which took 18 months) and then immediately going to work on this house, they've missed their daddy many evenings and Saturdays in the last two years. And they've done it mostly without complaint. Which is more than I can say for their mother!

I've always thought my father-in-law can do pretty much whatever he puts his mind to. Bruce follows very closely in his footsteps. (It's a trait that I both admire and take advantage of. But I don't take it for granted.)

Here's the front of the house. Before Bruce and Roy got their hands on it.





And, after.



The back of the house. Before.



And, after.



From the other side of the house, in the back, this shows the lovely block wall and overgrown brush at the back of the house. Before.



After.



The living room. Before.



And, after.





The kitchen. Before.





And, after.



The dining area. Before.



And, after.



Utility room. Before.



And, after.



Den (or maybe a playroom). Before.



After.





Master bath, which is just a half bath. Before.



After.



Hall bathroom. Before.



After.





Here's Bruce wearing his work attire for his second job for the past six months. He missed a lot of meals at home, or ate them on the fly, like here.



Bruce and his dad did the bulk of this house. Not exactly what we had planned, but between sick kids and school cancellations because of weather, I've been less available than we thought I'd be.

There's not a square inch of that house that hasn't been painted, including ceilings, walls, kitchen cabinets and all the trim on windows, doors and baseboards.

The counter tops in the kitchen were replaced, along with the sink. All appliances were replaced, except the fridge.

All the wood flooring was refinished. Carpet in the den was replaced. All vinyl or carpet in the kitchen, bathrooms and utility room was replaced with tile.

The kitchen got a gorgeous tile back splash that I'm pretty jealous of. I might be able to convince Bruce to do that in our home one day!

The medicine cabinets in the bathrooms were replaced with flat mirrors. And the pedestal sinks were replaced with vanities.

The front and one side of the house got new landscaping.

Then there's all kinds of less obvious things that were done. All lighting was replaced, except the ceiling fan light in the den. One wallpapered surface in the dining area was stripped and then painted. They did extensive tree trimming in the area behind and to the side of the house. Some cinder blocks were knocked out on the wall behind the house to open up the area a bit, and then that whole eyesore was painted. A new mail box was put up. All exterior doors were replaced. The fireplace stone was deep cleaned. Run-off issues were fixed outside the house to prevent the basement from pooling with water when it rained. Loose stones were stabilized on the front porch.

Bruce even reversed the way the door to the hallway bathroom opened because it crowded the room beforehand. My engineer hubby just had to right the wrong of poor engineering!

We have considered putting our house on the market and, once it sold, moving into this house while we look for another one. It would be tight, and it would require a longer drive to get the kids to school each morning. But I love the view from this house, and it's in a nice neighborhood. The clincher now is that our home, because we do actually live there with three kids, isn't in as good shape as this one!

We've also considered keeping the house as rental property. I'm less enthused about this idea than Bruce, because he's all about the income potential in years to come. But we've all really missed Bruce the many evenings he's been at that house working. I don't particularly want to share him with renters. Still, I'm trying to keep an open mind and just see what God's plans are.

So there you have it. The masterpiece.