It’s been a crazy fun year and I’m grateful for and proud of the project I’ve been working on!
One Year later, after a great summer season, my house looks fresh, bright and welcoming!
This poor house was so overgrown!
The new landscape is much cleaner and easier to maintain!
The Aspen Tree is still here but,
the front looks otherwise pretty different.
The side yard between my neighbor and I…
looks better with a cedar fence and gate, Breeze material and filled in grass.
It’s hard to see the cedar garden boxes on the right. And impossible to see the gate behind the volunteer tree the contractor is walking through.
Ah, there’s the gate! And a nice clean walkway under the cedar arbor.
And the front door must have been original! Weeds were growing through the concrete step under the door and into the house.
More welcoming! And interesting to look at, from the street.
The back door was also in poor shape.
The new slider is more open, let’s light into the house and is so much prettier.
This is the back porch, but this pic was taken around 2011, before the garage came down. It had plywood paneling on the bottom and screen on the top.
No more plywood! I replaced only the necessary supports with Cedar posts and opened it all up.And a new shed shares the original garage space with a courtyard seating area.
I liked the garage, which had cool original wood siding, but it was so old! The back yard was neglected and overgrown. (pic taken around 2008)
Ahhhh…. Cleaner and low maintenance! Perfect for me!
Straight view of the original back patio.
Today, an Oasis in the City!
Amazing how different it looks now!
I want to hang out here!
The far side of the back patio had 2 different types of fencing between the neighbor and I. Redwood, which turned into chainlink. My neighbor also looked right into my patio from their back door. Awkward for everyone!
I added taller Cedar fencing from the alley to the front sidewalk and everyone is happier! Plus, I hung some outdoor curtains all the way around the patio, giving both of us privacy that can be adjusted.
The back patio concrete was poured with an angle on the left side, starting at the house and ending at the tree.
I extended the concrete to square up the patio which added extra square footage.
One of the best parts of this 893 square foot house is the patio and outdoor living space. I knew this space should be the heart of the house when I first saw it in 2005. I didn’t however, think I would live here 14 years later and make it into what I imagined it could be!
This space is so comfortable and serene. The breeze flows through the patio, keeping it cool. Ceiling fans move the air and the curtains float. Mmmm.
This is what my life looked like in August 2018, 1 year ago.
This is what it looks like today! Rocco is comfortable here too!
The old garage concrete pad with weeds growing out of the cracks.
Same spot, but now it supports my shed! Clean gravel walkway, courtyard and cedar arbor overhead.
I love how organized garden boxes can make your yard. After some clean up and a new irrigation system…
First year gardens. It’s hard the 1st year trying things out and making adjustments as needed. I’ve read that gardening teaches patience and my the case, it’s true! Every year after, becomes a game of what will come back again and eventually you have a mature garden.
Walking through the side gate, this is what you’d see ahead. This is my main entrance. Lovely!
Now this looks like a place I need to explore more!
Same view, to the left, Ugh!
I even got some extra shade from the shed, making the patio more protected. And honestly, the shed is such a focal point, it makes the whole yard seem like a stage set.
I haven’t done as much in the inside, but I’ve done some things and I have plans for more.
I added A/C, fresh paint, lots of cleaning and a new front door.
The arch on the left goes into the kitchen. I replaced the kitchen windows that you see on the left, with a slider door into the courtyard.
Itreally opened up the kitchen, brought light into the house and now, I walk right onto the courtyard from the kitchen. This was a huge change that made this house feel more updated.
This fun corner of the living room gives the occupant a nice view of the front yard.
I made a cozy seating area with a thick shag rug to give it texture.
A closer view of the arched wall between the kitchen and living area, where I added a new slider door.
I’m planning to take this wall down between the living room and kitchen. This space is the main living space in the house and during the winter, where I spend most of my time.
I’ll lose the upper cabinets and keep the base cabinets. I want to open up the room so it feels bigger, brighter and warmer having the living and cooking space connected.
I’ll remove the weird soffit above the cabinets to open the room up, refinish the existing base cabinets, add rustic support beams, new tile backsplash, new countertops and I’m having a shelf cabinet built…
to match the cabinet you see here, below the windows. As you can see, I need more storage space and I’ll put the new cabinet to the right of the windows. It’s tall and fits the space between the windows and the back door.
Me, happy to be at this point of my project and enjoying my simple life.
I love my newly remodeled space! This project has been so fun because I get to do what works for my lifestyle today. It’s customized for me. And I’m so happy living here. Happy Anniversary, house!
This was the first property I bought when I moved to Denver in 2004. I lived in this carriage house for a year and half while I worked on it. It is about 500 square feet, 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom.Original windows were charming, but super inefficient. I love it anyway and spent my days off cleaning and fixing it up.There were some huge flagstone pieces in the yard, wire fence between the two houses and many volunteer Elm trees surrouding the house.At some point, a sunroom was added onto the house giving it much needed light, but the original windows didn’t work well for heat retention. You can see the door on the right side of the pic which was between the sunroom and the original house, now used on my new garden shed.A cool built in cabinet in the tiny dining area.The original kitchen with a farmhouse sink. I wish I had kept that sink now. Also 2 architectural arches in the house and a small opening phone nook in the wall between the ktchen and living room.This door leads from the kitchen and opens to the driveway outside. The cabinets and counter top on the right were later removed. The original kitchen.
This poor kitchen was so outdated when I bought the place and moved in. See the short refrigerator on the far right. Right after I moved in, my sister came to stay and help and we had a new refrigerator delivered.
Looking through the living room toward the bathroom. And the storage cabinets built into the wall on the left. Also notice the opening on the right where a window was at some point. It had shelves built in in between the added on sunroom and living room.Chain link fence between the alley parking space and yard. Lovely scalloped covered entry and stucco chimney stack against the house. Original wood siding.After I moved in, I cleaned it up and once spring came, the garden started to fill in with wonderful perennial flowers.I added more flagstone to make a wider walkway, added some short fencing to make a border to the garden. Still rustic, but more welcoming anyway.A rickety white picket fence gate between the houses and hanging planters.Shabby chic? Maybe, but I was so happy to have this little place to work on.I added gravel to make my parking space cleaner.You can see how adding flowers and potted plants made it cozy. I hung roman shades inside for privacy and to make it more efficient.Outside the bedroom window, a little garden.My little sitting area. You can see the washing machine through the window in the sunroom.All these tress were suckers and were growing under the foundation. I loved the shade, but had to have them removed later.I painted, installed parquet floors and fixed it up while living there.Looking from the living room into the sunroom. The floor in the sunroom was very uneven. See the vinyl flooring in the kitchen? I replaced the appliances, sanded and painted the original cabinets.Cool arches in the house. I think it was built in the early 1930’s.I had the cabinet doors off to paint them. The original farmhouse sink and dish drainer. Metal tiles on the backsplash.The bedroom is large enough for a king sized bed.Looking from the kitchen through the dining area toward the bedroom. Phone nook on the left.Tiny dining area.Nice sized cedar lined closet.
In 2016, I did a full remodel and converted this long term rental into a short term rental.
See how uneven the floor is. Original exterior siding on the left wall where the sunroom was added on.I took this wall out, had the floor leveled and moved one of the sunroom windows to the wall on the left side above where the washer and dryer will go.The interior walls in the sunroom were finished with very cheap cardboard “wood”.These projects are always worse before they get better.My contractor, assessing the situation!The original exterior wall between the sunroom and living room.The finished product! So bright and cheery!Now it’s a pleasure to do laundry. Still tiny, but more charming. I took the cabinet doors off and painted the inside a fresh Green.Galley kitchen flows nicely.Walking through the kitchen from the entry door, by the driveway, into the house.Breakfast nook.King sized bed.Comfortable living area.Electric fireplace with the now famous phone nook on the left.Small, but cute bathroom.Tiled bathroom with iron details.Outdoor courtyard with gardens, flagstone walkway and sitting areas.I kept the original wood siding, but scraped and painted it, added the shutters and exposed the brick on the chimney stack.I exposed much of the original chimney and sealed it for a rustic old world look. Added a wood door and replaced the scalloped entry cover with a cedar arbor with iron brackets. I also added Cornflower Blue shutters for extra charm.I found vinyl flooring that matched the original pine flooring in the bedroom and replaced the parquet flooring.
This little house has come a long way in the time I’ve owned it. It has a special place in my heart as it was the first of my houses I lived in when moving back to Denver in 2004. Although it looks so cute now, I loved it when I lived here so long ago. Now it’s available to rent through VRBO.com, listing # 795289.
Smart Girl Ideas 