Where we've been

OK so sorry its been quite a bit since my last post. I have been putting every spare minute toward working on the house. We've lived here for a little under 4 months now and the progress is incredible! I am so pleased with what we've been able to get accomplished. I think we could have probably gotten more done, but we're trying to take breaks and stay relatively sane. Two people with OCD living in a construction zone does not equal harmony! We have not hired out any work, but we are really thankful for our family because they've really come up and helped out a ton! Our main focus right now is the main floor! We've gotten a lot done but none of the rooms are fully complete so these are sort of "in progress photos". And so sorry about the poor quality I was too impatient for my camera to charge so I've taken all of these with my phone.

The first major project was the walls. Most of the walls on the main floor were covered in "stucco". Really it was just joint compound that had been textured out. Some of the spikes were 3 inches deep. I dont know how the family lived here with 4 children, 3 boys. These things were dangerous and painful! It took us a whole month to remove it from the walls. We had to soak the walls, scrape it all by hand, skim coat every inch of drywall, sand the skim coat, seal the drywall, prime the walls, and finally they were ready for paint. We had a company come in for an estimate and the lowest they would have done it for was 3000.00 CRAZY! So of course I spent the first month here learning how to dry wall and I am so proud we did it ourselves!

The flooring was the next challenge. From the store to the sub-floor we did it all ourselves.
Before: The flooring was a mix of linoleum (3 layers), shag carpet, berber, and ceramic tile. Well the linoleum, shag, and berber have been replaced with our new laminate floors. We had quite the decision to make when picking out floors, having 1288 sq ft. of flooring to replace on the main level. A thick hardwood was out of the question for our budget, but we could get an engineered hardwood. So we are standing in the store and we decide to try and scratch the floor model with a key. Well the hardwood scratched instantly and deeply while a high quality laminate was soo durable. We had to decide if we sell the house are people gonna wanna have scratched up thin hardwoods or gleaming high-gloss laminate. We actually spent more per square foot on a high quality laminate than the hardwood, but having a great dane I think its worth it!
Layers of linoleum straight from the 70's-

After: Beautiful laminate floors! We still have to do the foyer and formal living room, but some are done!

Laundry room: Before 70's linoleum and dark wood trim

After: I painted the walls a pink salmon color and salvaged a bank of cabinets from the kitchen. Picked up some green glass knobs from Hobby Lobby for the doors.They work out perfectly over the washer and dryer. I also got some bins from Home Goods, and they fit inside the cabinet so I simply left the door off, and a matching ironing board cover. I love all the storage and the happy color scheme.

Dining room Before: Brown silk curtains, DARK woodwork (were painting throughout the whole house), stucco below the chair rail, and sculpted shag carpet.
After: We scraped the stucco off, finished the walls and added picture frame wainscoting below the chair rail. I painted the walls a green gray color called French Gray Linen. I love it. The chandelier is beautiful so it stays. We are still adding crown and a ceiling medallion.

With furniture! No curtains yet. Cant decide on a material! Help!

Kitchen Before: AHHH nightmare! Dark and heavy!

Kitchen In progress: (I cant believe im sharing these!) Scaling back is the name of the game. We've removed the hood & all the lights, the cooktop and Jenn Air grill from the island, and the built in oven and microwave. We then moved things around saving space with a range, moving a a side by side refrigerator into its place. We painted the cabinet frames white and added an IKEA butcher block. We are still working on the soffit, adding the trim and bead board, painting the cabinet doors, building in the fridge, and then when that is all finished we are having granite put in. I cant pick a color. Dark or Light?? HELP!

Next to the fridge we are adding open shelving with all our glass wear. And over the island we are adding some glass globe pendants. The crown molding on the soffit is still in a pile in the garage, but itll be beautiful! Ohh and we built the microwave into the island! LOVE IT!

TV Room Before: Just dark with bad carpet.

After: Just some paint, crown molding and flooring.

I love the built-ins and all we had to do was re work them. It only cost 12.00 for crown molding and half a gallon of paint. Ohh and four 2.00 knobs from hobby lobby!

We got another white IKEA couch and above I got to do a large grouping of mirrors. I got most of them at thrift store and sprayed them a satin black! Pat hates them but I love them.

We've also been working on the outside, but that's another post! We put up a six foot privacy fence and fully landscaped the back yard. Ill definitely start posting more often and keep everyone updated.
We are going out of town this weekend to see a very good friend get married! I cant wait to see everyone in Kentucky!
Please leave comments and suggestions I need all the help I can get!
Cassie Rice

That 70's House

So much has gone one since the last blog post... almost a month ago. We've gone through a lot of really personal stuff I hope to be able to share soon, but on a more exciting note we bought a house in Decatur!!
When we started looking at homes in Decatur we noticed several things, TAXES, Illinois has some of the highest property taxes in the entire country.We will literally be paying over 5 x's the amount of property taxes with out new house. The second thing we noticed was that there seemed to be a housing boom in the 70's and then one again in the 90's but nothing in between and finding a renovated house is like finding a needle in a haystack, and if you did find one it was sold in days.
Pat and I had a really hard time finding a house. I looked at so many they were all starting to look alike. We were finding homes at the tip-top of our price range, but still I wanted to change lots of stuff, and homes that were comfortably in our price range and I still wanted to change a lot. So in the end we decided that finding a structurally sound fixer upper was the right move for us! Anyone who knows me knows how badly I have always wanted to buy and renovate a house and here I get the chance to do it. I could not be more excited! We found an amazing home built in 1977. When it was built it was like the top of the line home, no expense spared, were talking custom fixtures galore! The only bad part is that it has not been renovated cosmetically since it was built. Hence... That 70's House, our charming nickname for our new purchase!
I have decided to include some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

This is our new guest bath, what you cannot see is the custom gold toilet and shower which match all the tile and the lovely counter top.

The powder room with custom made low black toilet. This toilet is sure to be the new thorn in my side because my husband thinks it is the absolute coolest thing on the planet and swears we are not getting rid of it...

Foyer, complete with lovely wallpaper, yellow and orange stained glass, and dont forget to look at the doorbell above the stairs. It lights up when the doorbell rings.

Our luxurious new master bath... blue toilet included.

The living room complete with stucco walls. They actually hurt if you run into them!

The kitchen. Big plans for this room!

Sink, chandeliers, hood, and appliance are all up for grabs! Any takers?

The paneled family room. This room offends me the least of all. I dont know why. I kinda like it!

The beautiful outside! It may sound like I am ungrateful or dumb for buying this house, but I really do love it. The square footage and floor plan are exactly what we wanted and the neighborhood is awesome! I cannot wait to throw myself into updating. This could not have come at a better time for us! Way more pictures to come...

Last night in our house

I'm being really sentimental this morning I woke up to what might be our last night in this house. Today Pat and I are moving to Decatur... kind of. We don't have a place to live yet so for the next week while I am frantically searching for a house or an apartment I will be calling a suite at the Country Inn home.
We have to leave the dogs for a week (maybe longer) at my in laws house. God Bless them for taking on the challenge. It's not easy to watch my gang of mutts, but my mother in law seems to be up for it. I am going to miss them terribly.
I feel as though my life has been turned upside down. We have a home here but now it is on the market, which means we cant live in it anymore. Its suppose to look like "anyone's" house so people can see themselves and their families living here. This is really hard for me because as much as I wanted out of Jasper I am going to cherish the memories of the home and the friends we've made here. Pat and I started our marriage here, and our little family. I have made a best friend that I will have for life and now that the time is come to leave I realize how truly sad that I am.
So wish us luck and pray for a speedy sale our our house! This is the first of many moves in our future so I guess I better get used to it now!
Cassie R