Our New Old Home....

Here we go....

Move #10 is in the works.

Only, this time we plan to stay for a while. We are so excited to be buying the beautiful home of a relative of mine, in a really cool old area of Fort Worth. It is the neighborhood my dad grew up in, actually. We have always loved the area and can't wait to live there. It came about at the perfect time. Right when we were needing to get settled into a new place before Baby Missildine #2's arrival this summer.

First things first, though. This house has had the same owner since the mid 60's. It needs some work, but it has some beautiful old charactar and really great features. I decided to blog about the process as we work on making it our own. I love reading about renovations and I hope someone else out there enjoys the process, as well.

So here is the Before....
You saw the front elevation at the beginning of the post. I love the trees and the wide street. The houses all around this one have already been fixed up, which adds to the appeal.

Here is the living room. This is where you come in front door.

(Notice the little peeper watching for her daddy to come inside and run around with her.)

This is the view as you actually walk in the front door. The arch takes you into the dining room. I LOVE the dark wood trim and the arch itself. My lens isn't broken, the foundation is definately the first order of business. That is to be expected of a house this old, but it's a little like walking through the crazy house at Disneyland.

Another view into the dining

This is a cool breakfast area/butler's pantry area that is between the Dining Room and Kitchen. I think we may turn this into a built in desk/office area.
Door into the Kitchen.

This is one side of the Kitchen. Beautiful Water heater!
Other Kitchen wall. The picture doesn't show it very well, but it has really cool old White Subway Tile backsplash that we hope to salvage. We are trying to figure out how to reconfigure the kitchen and add the necessities (more cabinets, dishwasher, microwave, oven etc). This will be one of the biggest projects. I can't imagine how people used to cook in a kitchen with this little counter space and NO dishwasher.

This is the front bedroom. It has a door off of the Living Room.

Another view of the same room.

Hall Bath. I love the old tile and hardware, but it will need some fixing up. At least it isn't peach or something worse, like in other old houses I have seen. I like the blue/green.

I especially love the black and white tile on the floor.

Middle bedroom.

The other view of the middle bedroom.

This is the back bedroom. It is the smallest of the three. Can you believe how many big beautiful windows are in this house. I love all of the natural light.

This is another big project. It is a little bath off of the back bedroom. Obviously has had a plumbing leak of some kind.

I like the arched shower with white subway tile. I am hoping we can save this.

Meg hopes we don't move any furniture in. She likes to slide across the wood floors and hid in all of the closets.

So here is goes. In the (almost) eight years we have been married, we have built new homes and renovated a few old ones. Everytime, we knew we were doing it to sell. I am so excited to make this house OUR home. We probably won't stay forever, but we are planning this house for us...not for the masses. I can't wait to get started. I love to see things change and improve. I just hope we can get finished and moved before I am too pregnant to enjoy the process. I wouldn't mind missing out on the moving part, but I will want everything in it's place and looking perfect before baby arrives. I hope you enjoy the process with me.