Month: December 2018

My first consideration is clean up!

I had my landscaper scrape away all the weeds and debris in the walkways.
They lined the walkways with weed barrier fabric.
I used a decomposed granite material called Breeze. I love this product! It comes in several colors, I used natural. Once it’s spread out over the weed barrier, you water it down and it forms a crust. It’s clean and super low maintenance.

So much cleaner with the breeze down!
Moving from 2000 sf to 893 sf is tricky! And with no garage, everything lands on the back porch.
With the new garden shed, I have a place for all my stuff!
All my stuff landed and then gets sorted out between storage and my new smaller bungalow.
The tiny kitchen was remodeled in 2012. I plan to replace the back door with a patio slider.

Starting is actually scary and wonderfully intimidating…

I’ve done 20+ remodels and each time I get excited and nervous as I plan and schedule. What is my goal? What style do I want? How much money can I spend?… the list of considerations is long!

Built in 1934, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 893 finished square feet upstairs, 310 unfinished square feet basement.  There is an original carriage house on the back part of the lot.

This house has always been in need of some TLC, and I picked away at the upgrades while I had tenants living here. In 2012, I remodeled some of the interior and took down the garage. I removed the dead juniper trees, planted an Aspen tree and threw down some grass seed in the front yard.

The garage (on the left) was in poor shape and I had it taken down in 2012, leaving just a concrete slab.

It wasn’t until recently I really thought about what I could do with this house. Once I decided to move in and work on this gem, I began the process of deciding how to proceed. Considering my lifestyle, the neighborhood and budget, I settled on a modern Farmhouse style home.

Dead Juniper trees in the front yard.
Original garage.

You see me convert this awesome bungalow into a charming home this year!

I bought this house in 2005 with long term tenants living here ever since. When the tenants moved out, I got the opportunity to move into this house August 2018 and started the process of renovation, beginning with the exterior. My plan is to create a perfect retirement house!

Its time to update this vintage bungalow.
View from the street. The Aspen tree was planted in 2012.

This is what you see as you park in the driveway and walk to the front door.
Old front door.
North side looking toward the walkway. Chain link fence between me and the neighbors.
South side driveway and garden boxes.
Overgrown garden boxes, volunteer trees and weeds.
Covered back porch with iron scroll and white painted 2×4 posts.
Original concrete slab once had a garage sitting on top.
Overgrown garden boxes and weeds.
Sprinkler system was installed in 2017.
North view of back yard.
North side of house walkway.
I like the tongue and groove cedar paneling on the ceiling, the florescent light fixtures
not so much.
Back porch looking South.
South view of the back porch.
The original back door with utilities mounted in full view!