We’d be entirely remiss if we did not go back in time and revisit our home renovation that took place from July 2010 to July 2011. It was a massive labor of love that involved one general contractor (Summer’s dad), 19 subcontractors, 8 major projects and dozens of small projects. You would think with that much help that we wouldn’t have to get our hands dirty, but this couldn’t be further from the truth! We worked on the house every evening after work and every weekend, Brandon even worked part time during the renovation and moonlighted as our architect drafting plans from thin air.
But let me back up to the beginning. We purchased this bank-owned home at a “deal” seeing the vision of the 1/3 acre yard, huge pool and guest house with an “idea” on what our budget would be. Plug your ears if you’re planning on buying your own fixer upper and want to walk into it in denial, but this bad boy took about 3 times as much budget as we planned for and 3 times as long as we thought. BUT, in the end we couldn’t be happier and have the perfect little house just for us and our future baby boy. With that, we’ll post some before and afters going over what we did in each project.
First up is the exterior and front of the home. As you can see, it was a sight for sore eyes. Here’s what we did –
- Took out the two palm trees that did not go with the rest of the landscaping and were oddly placed in the front yard
- Demolished the concrete steps and walkway to make room for our new paver path and walled in front patio
- Built, not without some serious battles with the Historic Preservation Office, a pitched gable above our door. We felt this was crucial for our curb appeal and stepped up the entrance of our home in a big way.
- New driveway and carport (old carport was actually located in the backyard…what???)
- Paint, everything
- New windows, again, not without some major battles with the HPO
- New landscaping in front and back yards – our water bill is a doozy but well worth it
- A new front door
