Our 1976 Fixer Upper
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Buying our fixer upper was one of the best decisions we could have every made for our family.
Buying this house means that we are now walking distance from my family and a much faster drive to my husband’s family. This was huge, given the timing of the move coinciding with the death of my mother. It has been great to be closer to our support system while grieving. We are also closer to school, friends, and the dance studio that our girls attend frequently. Once we got majority of the work finished, we made a huge return on our investment and were able to refinance our home to get a lower mortgage payment. But most importantly, we got to make it OUR OWN.
When I say this house needed a face lift, I mean pretty much the whole entire house! This project was a MAJOR undertaking. There was a mix of orange, yellow, and brown carpet, complemented with 3 inch ceramic tiles containing groovy splotches of brown and dirty yellow. Also, the master shower was soooo tiny. After knocking down some walls and A LOT of hard work, we were able to bring it to the 21st century (literally…it had not been touched since 1976).
Below are some general before and after photos of what we have accomplished in our first year of owning our fixer upper.
We opened up the kitchen to the dining and living room areas.
We love our cabinet pulls! We actually ordered and tried many different cabinet pulls before settling on these. So many cabinet pulls are cheaply made these days. The Amerock Cabinet Pulls that we picked out are a heavier, nicer quality that feel like they will hold up pretty well. We were also thrilled to find matching Amerock Cup Cabinet Pulls, as well!
We love that the kids are able to eat at the breakfast bar and then immediately place their dirty dishes into the sink!
One of our biggest splurges was the faucet. It is a central focal point to this space, so we went with a unique design in polished nickel. I like polished nickel because it is warmer than chrome, and pairs nicely with the matte black and brushed champagne finishes that we have throughout the space. I really had my heart set on this unique design, and hubby wanted one with a spring. We ended up settling on this beautiful Moen Kitchen Faucet, and we absolutely LOVE it!
This was a tough one for me. I originally had my heart set on a classic farmhouse sink, but our cabinet and countertop guy talked me out of it. Farmhouse sinks are neat but heavy and require special installation. They also don’t come with many of the convenient features that make this momma’s life a heck of a lot easier when it comes to working in the kitchen. Once we found this undermount sink by Kraus, all bets were off! This sink has so many amazing features. There is a removable cutting board and drying rack. Like a farmhouse sink, it is one wide basin, which is nice if you have a large dish, pot, or pan to clean. Also, the disposal is in the corner, which just makes way more sense when you think about it.
Farmhouse sink? What farmhouse sink?
We love these swivel stools at our new breakfast bar! I know what you might be thinking…'Why on Earth would you put fabric stools at the breakfast bar with kids?' Hear me out-The fabric on these stools is durable and hides a lot! The stools are super comfortable, and the swivel feature is not for those moments where I’d rather my kids eat at the breakfast bar to watch TV instead of on the couch. These stools are super easy to clean, but I’ll be honest…I haven’t really had to clean them much since we got them. I also love how most of the reviews were from families who have also stated that these stools are very kid-friendly. The only think I would change is that they are a little wide for the space.
We took our master bathroom down to the studs. There was NO WAY my husband was going to fit in the original shower! We took out some walls, expanded the shower, and added a new medicine cabinet, toilet, and vanity.
Second bathroom quick facelift using Rust-Oleum Tub and Tile Epoxy Kit. I was SHOCKED at how good this turned out! There will be a post on this bathroom update soon!
The basement was a pretty easy DIY! We removed the drop ceiling and old carpet. Then, we primed and painted the wood paneling. We also painted the ceiling matte black, which we LOVE, and installed string lights. Lowe’s installed the carpet. Easy peasy!
Kitchen/Dining Room Update
If you are interested in any of the products you see, check out the links below…
We loved the idea of having a settee at our dining room table, as this is a more comfortable yet still semi-formal dining area. We wanted one with a higher weight capacity so that we could seat multiple people. After hours of searching for what we wanted in our price range, we settled with this Rosevera Celino loveseat. We have gotten many compliments on it, and my girls love sitting on it to eat or do homework.
We replaced our old dining chairs with new French Country style chairs, and we love the new look! For being an inexpensive Amazon find, these chairs have held up pretty well and clean nicely.
We found our sofa and loveseat set on Facebook Marketplace for $700 total! You can find them brand new on Amazon for a little bit more, or even mix and match different sets. After researching reviews, designs, and options; I would recommend the Morden Fort Sofa Set if you want the same Chesterfield tufted look.
We love the new curtains that we put up on the big windows in this space. We used a matte black double curtain rod that we found on Amazon. The nice thing about having a double curtains is that you can choose how much light you want to let in at different parts of the day. If you are interested in a double curtain rod, click here to see the same ones we used.
2nd Bedroom Update
3rd Bedroom Update
Master Bedroom Update
