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Pretty much as soon as we got the keys to our house we demoed all the plaster- in every room. It was really damaged so it made sense for us to start fresh. I took particular pleasure in taking down the drop ceiling & pine paneling in my office. I will never understand the trend of lowering a ceiling to 7' (photo below). We pulled up the carpet as well to find that the previous owners had sealed the original fir floors with white paint (except the office as you see above, they were going for allllll wood everything here). This was actually amazing because it kept any stains/odors/major damage from happening. We had the floors refinished with a Swedish Finish- we chose this because they are such a soft wood, we needed an extra hard barrier. Normally I would recommend going with a water-based finish instead, it won't yellow as much over time. This is one of my favorite photos from our demo phase- the lath looks so cool! You can also see how they did the arch here too which I love- new drywall going up over that soon. We also did new windows right away because some of the existing ones were cracked and broken. We made changes to a couple of the sizes- adding a bigger window in my office to make the front of the house symmetrical, this was important to me and makes the house look much so bigger from the front. We also removed one off-center window in the living room and turned it into the focal point of the room with a fireplace, built-ins and two small windows on each side. I really wanted to restore as much of the original character to the house as we could so these details made all the difference.  You can see the white floors in this photo below as well- a part of me was sort of tempted to keep them! They were so light and bright- you will see a little nod to this later on in our remodel. :) Here is the beginnings of our bedroom- you can see the floors look pretty fun here! And look at that clean, new drywall. Paint coming up next!!

Thanks so much for following along!



Okay here it goes...my first ever blog post. If you're reading this I feel honored that you're here with me. :)

Back in 2014 my husband and I bought our first home. It was kind of a snap decision to be honest. We went out just 'casually' driving around looking at homes one Sunday and suddenly I yelled 'STOP' pullover! We HAVE to look at this one. I had seen it online and told my mom about it. She then proceeded to drive by it slowly, call me, let me know it was a dump. On an arterial street (sort of busy) and way up on a hill (we have 8 stairs). We had been in four other homes that morning- all were crowded open houses with so many people it made me nervous just being there. But they also weren't fixers. We walked up the stairs and in the door. We were the only ones in the entire place. An empty house with a realtor sitting a camping chair all alone. First off- it had great bones- the BEST bones. High ceilings, original wood floors, and big windows with natural light pouring in. I ignored the 70's wood trim, weird ceiling panels and stained carpet because I had a feeling- THIS was our house. We left with jitters (or at least I did) called my parents and told them "I want the dump!" They thought I was crazy, both being real estate agents for over thirty years, but I encouraged them to come see it in person. My Dad met us at the house and thank goodness he saw what I was talking about. From there we put in an offer that night and the dump was ours. I want to walk you guys through the entire process of renovating our home over the last three years. It has been one of the best and one of the hardest things we have done as a couple. We have done most everything ourselves, outsourcing very little which has also been invaluable for my business. Learning first hand how to DIY and get as creative as possible on a tight budget has made me into the designer I am today. So here are a few photos of the start of our first adventure into the world of fixer uppers (these are listing photos so they make things look reallllyyyy good).

I am excited to have you follow along with us as we make this house our home!

xo, Jess