Near The Beginning

So, once again I don't know how to properly post.

Please go to the very end of this post, read what I wanted to say at the beginning and then scroll back up to the below pictures. Sorry. Tired and I should have posted the pictures first. I know how to move pictures but not the type. Always something more to learn. Is alright. I am not going to keep my lack of knowledge from pursuing sharing!

Not the beginning but close. This shows the windows

already replaced.This shows the windows replaced and a new door outside of the new master bath.

This is the living area, with the sub flooring already replaced. In the beginning, there was nasty, nasty carpet, which smelled like critter urine many times over. I know it is gross. So gross the sub flooring even had to be replaced. But, after this most recent trip here, we now understand why the house was in such disrepair. The husband died of brain cancer about a year before we purchased the house. His wife, it seems, turned to alcohol in her loneliness. They were elderly and she was tender hearted. Seems she fed ALL the critters around. She was unable to tend to the many pets she had and so the story goes. We learned this from a neighbor we had not previously met.

Upstairs bathroom. Wall paper was on the walls. Kept the tub. Unfortunately the toilet broke when removed for flooring replacement. I refinished an antique buffet to match the tub. It is now used to house the sink. This is the bathroom for which I made the shower curtain from the vintage quilt posted in an earlier blog.

Looking down the stairs from the upstairs. Notice the hanging light fixture. Please, oh please, notice the ugly paneling half way down the wall and the uneven dry wall on the other half.

View from behind the stairs. Even in this picture you can see we have already had plumbing work done. Might I add the large black item on the left of the picture was moved to the right. It is for a new toilet, in a new powder room, downstairs. Of course I changed my mind about it's location. You will eventually see a darling vintage door leading to the under stairs space, for a storage area. I tried to use just about every inch of space I could muster.

Again, walls removed, sub flooring replaced. You can see the original kitchen wallpaper and stove.

The room at the back started as two very small bedrooms. We turned the two rooms into a master bedroom with two walk in closets. The area to the left of the stove was a large much wasted hallway. You will understand more later, with future pictures.

One of the bedrooms upstairs before we painted. We left the paneling that was oh so ugly but with oh so much cottage potential. Paint made it lovable.

Another kitchen view. The door out of the kitchen is now gone, as the kitchen was totally redesigned. Actually, the entire downstairs was gutted and reclaimed.

This is a picture of the living area in the very beginning. Well, almost. The carpet had been removed.You can see the stains on the sub flooring. You can see the wall heater that has been removed, along with the old gas fireplace. Also, the old stone has been covered with drywall and painted and tile installed on the hearth.I used the same tile as the back splash in the kitchen. The rooms are open to each other now. There will be an antique mantle installed on the fireplace, which is being removed from our present home in Gilbert. We are installing a pellet stove. It will be capable of heating the house in the winter and save on the gas bill and be better for the environment. I love the old fashioned wood burning fireplaces. It was our intent to restore this fireplace to wood burning. After listening to our daughter and countless others tell us how much more efficient it would be to go "green" we changed our minds and decided to be practical.

This is the section I wanted at the beginning!

Can I believe it? Yes. Found my camera and now my battery is dead. Do I have the charger with me? No, of course not .Am I happy about this? No, of course not. Is there anything I can do about it, at the moment? No, of course not. Will I live? Yes, of course! Going back to valley tomorrow for delivery of corporate packaging items and the all important hair appointment. Also, need to pack up another load of furniture, etc. to bring back to these cool pines. We have so many more things completed, to take pictures of to share, but----since I cannot do this, at the moment, I decided to post some pictures of the project beginnings. This should help you see the daunting task we took on over a year ago. Having said that, let me urge you to back up your photos and anything else of importance to you. My daughter's computer crashed.Our very beginning original pictures, of the entire house, are gone. Talk about bummed! Anyway, there are enough sort of originals saved to see what we faced in the restoration of this home. Happy rest of the weekend and in about a week I hope to be posting more of the after pictures-- smile.