Our Personal House - YIKES! (Part One - Before.....)

When we first bought this home in 2015…. it was virtually uninhabitable. It was gross. The bathrooms were disgusting - tile was broken and missing, mold was in every corner, and the layouts did nothing to help our growing family. The kitchen was hilarious. I wish I could transport us back to the moment we first laid eyes on it. Let me paint a little picture for you. Upon walking in, the smell of bacon was prevalent. So, first: bacon. +1 point. Second, the renters were there. Cooking breakfast. and we WERE WALKING IN. What in the world? -5 Points. It was dark. Light outside. But so dark inside. Like a cave. We had to ask to turn on lights because it was literally pitch black everywhere except the overhead light in the kitchen being used while the mom was frying up some bacon. The whole thing was bananas. Then we walked it - and I pointed out all the features that I wanted: Open concept - now bear with me a second before you flame me - the size of the living space was TINY. There was NO room for any type of couch and there was obviously ZERO natural light. Negative natural light. So lets take out a few walls and open up the space and make the space a little more multipurpose…. let’s go ahead and let you see what I’m describing

I hope you all are enjoying my 2015 pictures and terrible lighting. I am an exceptional photographer. Okay okay. I’m gonna talk about the kitchen now. But I need you to be gentle. SO so gentle. I KNEW the second we walked in that I would be gutting the entire house for the most part. We KNEW and AGREED upon that. SO with that being said, the kitchen was by far the worst part about the house. I am assuming someone was really into Texas Tech? Its really the only explanation. Even then. It does not matter how much you love the Raiders - DO NOT BRING THAT INTO YOUR KITCHEN DESIGN. That’s all. Buckle up. No, really. Check your seat belts. Tight…….

I wish this was a joke. I forget sometimes HOW BAD it really was. OH and also we’ll live here while we Reno. BAHAHA. That fluorescent lighting. What a gem! Black PLASTIC countertops. Not linoleum. Legit plastic pieces and particle board. If you look closely above the cooktop - the entire backsplash is burned. BECAUSE PLASTIC BURNS.

Adding this really great picture here to show you the tiny walkway from kitchen to “living room”. We could barely walk in this house. But also to give you a vantage point of how tiny the living room truly was. Okay now let’s talk about how we lived like this for FAR too long. Lemme show you…..

This is basically how we lived for years. Studs. Everywhere. Tripping hazards. Wires exposed.

Hahah, this is so embarrassing. Why didn't anyone tell us “DON’T LIVE LIKE THIS"? Okay for real. I believe I justified by saying “look at all the light we have now though!!”

Onto the playroom. The place where I had a big vision and KB decided to abide.

I saw this room and thought “Builtins. Books. Toys - HIDDEN. School space.” Then we did it. But it took a min. by min I mean years. So we took out all those windows - because they weren’t quality and they were blocking my cabinet wall. What you can’t see from this pic is the stained glass window behind me, the giant steel door to the backyard. Zero insulation and full of bugs because it wasn’t sealed properly. So we pretty much demolished the exterior of this room, added Hardie Lap Siding, added a big set of French - single lite doors to the yard.

Let’s detour and talk about bathrooms. I don’t even have a picture of this bathroom truly before. It had a pedestal sink - but other than the toolbox everything was as we purchased it. This was the first thing we did before we moved in. We needed ONE working and functional bathroom. Also I wasn’t bathing my tiny babies in that shower.

Here is the 1/2 bathroom. Want to see the inside? You can’t. In order to take a picture of the inside, I’d have to be sitting on the toilet. After I figured out how to shut the door with me in there - because there was no space. Also the toilet wobbled because the subfloor was completely rotten and needed fully replaced. We pretty much decided we would start there with the Reno too since the space was unusable. I also wanted a laundry space so we made this a pseudo mud-room with a basin sink, built-ins, and new windows.

Onto my bathroom. Oh man. Who doesn’t love that tile. Especiallyyyyyyy a tiled vanity top. The 60s were wild. This view is from the hallway. Our primary bathroom was pretty much a hall bathroom. Which, hear me, lots of homes in E Dallas have that same layout - and that’s cool if you’re into that but I’m not. We ended up being blessed with four kids in 5 years - so grateful for them and the Lord seeing it possible for us. However, I do not want them in my bathroom while I’m in it. If you’re a mom, you know. That one second of privacy can really refill you.

These images. Hah. I didn’t even try.

Check this. My primary bedroom. With its tiny single closet. Killing it. I had a vision.

See stained glass window here? This is the backyard. So much potential. So much neglect. We’ll save you boo!

Our sad little exterior. No irrigation. Too many bushes. Too many termites and carpenter ants. Those trees though. Let’s save them too.

Last thing…. the bathroom was a Jack n Jill. We closed off access to both sides and added a hallway using some of the sq footage of the bedrooms. This allowed us to have a true “hall” bathroom that wasn't the primary - and didn’t force friends to walk through kids bedrooms in the middle of the night.

Next up…. the afters.