F A M I L Y P H O T O S |
A hug between sisters |
Again with the pink |
Lindsey models Barney clothes. |
Lindsey in a bunny suite |
Taylor models Barney clothes. |
Give us this day our daily bread |
The girls watching ducks in the distance |
Again with the bunnies |
I said "cheese", not "cheesy" |
Lindsey thinks she's in a shampoo commercial |
Lindsey admiring Grampa's watch |
The flower girls wait patiently for their turn with the wedding photographer |
Taylor on some rocks |
Lindsey playing bashful |
Flower girls |
A recent picture of me with my dad and younger brother Warning: Do not stare directly at our shirts |
Lindsey in the wild flowers |
Artwork courtesy of Lindsey |
The Fixer-Upper Project |
The Fixer-Upper Project |
In May of 98 we bought our first house. It was a late 50's fixer-upper in need of a lot of work. Many of the finishes were original and the space was pretty chopped up. We began by removing two walls (indicated with red on the plan) that divided two separate living areas and a dining area. Doing this created a larger dining area and a much larger living area. I was disappointed when an architect friend told me that I had to have a support column at the corner where the two demolished walls met but it was still worth it to have a more open space. Below are some before and after pictures of all the work we had to do. We couldn't have done it all without the help of friends and family. My dad replaced every single light fixture in the house, my father-in-law took care of all our plumbing needs, we had lots of painters, and several friends took out their aggressions on an old bathroom counter. Thank you everyone. <Click on the room labels to see the pictures for that area. |
Slow and fat |
Lindsey takes the car for a spin |
We began by tearing out the two walls above to open up the space. Unfortunately we had to leave a support column. Something about holding roof or something like that. Removing the walls really opened up the space and made it more useable. |
This is the entry way. We removed the gross floor tile and replaced it with ceramic tile. We put trim on the blah flat front door (open on the right) to dress it up. At the far left of the after picture you can see a half wall with a ledge cap. This is framing in a window seat that we put in. |
The kitchen was a mess with 70's wallpaper, a very darkgreeny-brown floor and pink counter tops. We had the counter tops and floor replaced and we re-wallpapered. We also added a lunch counter (seen in the foreground). My dad replace the old light fixture with recessed halogen lights. |
When we bought the house there was no dishwasher and the washing machine was in the kitchen. My father-in-law re-plumbed the washer hook up to take a dishwasher. |
There was a tiny oven that didn't work. We tore it out with the cabinets and replaced it with a pantry since we were putting in a stove/oven unit on the other side of the kitchen. |
The pink counter tops alone were enough to qualify this house for fixer-upper status. The new counter tops made a huge difference. We had to cut an opening in the cabinets to accommodate the new stove/oven unit. A little black spray paint on the range hood also helped. |
This is the corner of the two walls which we removed. On the right, only a column remains from these two walls. What was the old dining room is now more space in the living room |
The other side of corner. The door into the kitchen was no longer needed so we closed it up. The dining room is now in front of the window. The kitchen is on the other side of the purple wall at the far right. |
OK, the pink tile was unacceptable. We had it sprayed with a special epoxy paint. Some friends helped us tear out the old counter and cabinet. We also replaced the hideous brown wallpaper. |
The master bathroom also got a complete overhall. |
We had no place to do laundry so we closed in a portion of the back porch to create laundry room. This also enabled us to go back and forth to and from the garage without going outside. The old garage door is on the far left of the before picture. You can tell from the picture on the right that we raised the floor of the new laundry room so it would be level with the existing floor of the house. |
New flower beds, shutters, and some homemade lights dress up the front yard. |
In the study, we built in plenty of book shelves and a drawing table. We also removed the closet doors and built in a desk and more shelves. |