This was the house before we bought it. The exterior remained unchanged for the most part. We took the shutters off and replaced all the double-hung windows with more efficient Marvin Signature Series windows.
Where once sat a single door into the closed-off kitchen, we blew the wall out (cut off mechanical and had to add new structure), allowing us to move the refrigerator and add an island with wine cooler, slide-out spice racks and a slide-out dual can trash door. Cabinets are from Cabinets.com. Light fixtures are from Alloway Lighting. Quartzite counter by Silestone. Encaustic floor tile and hand made wall tile from The Masonry Center. Appliances are KitchenAid, from Ferguson.
The stove location remained unchanged. New everything else. Hand-made tile backsplash, new engineered quartz solid surface counter, cabinets by Cabinets.com, all KitchenAid appliances.
Where once sat a breakfast nook, we moved the refrigerator and added a pantry and espresso bar. Cabinets are from Cabinets.com. Light fixtures are from Alloway Lighting. Quartzite counter by Silestone. Encaustic floor tile and hand made wall tile from The Masonry Center. Appliances are KitchenAid, from Ferguson. Plumbing installation by Paige Mechanical. Lighting and electrical installation by Rocky Mountain Electric.
A door separated the kitchen from the carpeted dining room. There was a beautiful built-in hutch that we tried so hard to save, but unfortunately couldn’t.
If we had just simply redecorated the house, this view would not be much different.
Where there was once a prison-like bath chamber, arose a new full-bathroom and vanity.
Where there once sat a scary toilet and sink, we expanded out to a corner shower bathroom. Swapping the toilet location with the shower, the sink location with the toilet (under the stair), and expanded the room out for maneuvering space and a new vanity. All to complement the adjacent guest room and provide a decent toilet room for entertainment room users.
The existing toilet was in a tiny, tiny room in the basement, with a boarded up window and a single light-bulb. The rock wall had a thin coat of concrete over it.
All the windows and doors had a fairly ornate frieze. We couldn’t refinish the old wood without splintering it. So, we replaced it with the best match we could find from Franklin Supply.
The original tile in front of the fireplace was well weathered and easily fell apart during the renovation. The embossed style of the existing tile is what motivated us to find similarly embossed tiles to replace.
The original house only had one bathtub. This master bathroom area was captured by combining a bedroom and sun-room together to form a bedroom.
For the new master bath shower. This tile was fun to design and source!
The kitchen was originally divided into a kitchen and breakfast nook.
Original walls were 1” thick lath & plaster, with no exterior wall insulation. The house was carpeted throughout. All the windows were double-hung, mostly non-functioning, inefficient single-panes.
The house sat on an original sandstone foundation. While the exterior of the foundation had been kept up, once we uncovered it on the inside, we found that it was pouring sand like an hourglass. Repointing of the grout & mortar was in order.
Under all the carpet and linoleum, were some softwood floor planks. Softwood doesn’t stand up to wear and tear like hardwood. And it also doesn’t have the varied grain so sought after. Even so, we chose to expose and refinish it. And we have no qualms about that.