Trading Spaces

[PrincessFiona]

Nellie, really? I just can't imagine. Maybe it's because we are in our first home right now.....though if we ever get our house on the market, I DO have big plans for the house we're planning on buying :>

kris

Not so much with our first house. Oh, wait. I'm having selective memory and some of this happened 8 years ago.
Our first house had a mother in law apartment in the basement. We took out the kitchen and made that into a TV room which later became a bedroom (looked better for sale). We remodeled that lower bathroom ourselves. We remodeled the "wintergreen room" into shelved storage space. (It was the wintergreen room because it reeked of spearmint chewing tobacco. :: ). We took out flimsy walls to open up the remaining basement room into one big room -- and found a hole in a heating tube and fixed our entire upstairs heating issues! New carpet and paint for most of it and painted concrete floor for the rest. Then we did some stuff but not quite as much upstairs. Oh wait, except for taking the upstairs bathroom down to the stud walls. Otherwise, everything else was painting and cosmetic -- painted walls, cabinets and put in a tile countertop.

Since we did almost all of that by ourselves, it gave us some great equity to do the same in this house! Even though we swore we wouldn't buy a fixer upper again. We only had to take out one wall though. We did buy the house in part because it has good space to do an expansion up and out. If we stay here and can't find another house we like, we'll add on here. And then, I swear, it's the last time!!!

In our first house we...
steamed and scraped off circa 1945 wallpaper.
pulled up rugs so grody we had to wear masks and eye protection.
torn down paper thin paneling held in with 4" long nails.
tore out deteriorating plaster held up by said paneling.
removed drop ceilings due to the above.
removed mummified birds from drop ceiling.
built a doorway from dining room to laundry room (to bathroom) to avoid having to go onto the back porch to take a shower in winter.
replaced the kitchen cabinets.
installed bathroom tile floor.
installed vinyl tile floors in laundry, entry and kitchen
had carpeting installed.
had new furnace put in when flames shot out the old one.
had new chimney lining put in when old one was overpowered by new furnace
put in new toilet
installed dishwasher

moved as soon as everything was done...


Went through my TS phase....orange dining room with bronze ragging on the walls...I am amazed it sold.

[Sheherezade]

We did that with our first two houses!! (all the stuff they said ) The best was ripping out the staircase; we had to access the second floor by ladder for a week before we rebuilt it. I am a little overwhelmed with what we've bought into this time. The house here is big - 5/6 bedrooms 3.5 baths, 3 stories. All with remodelling plans. We may have bitten off more than we can chew. I recently closed off one area of the house (the west wing ) because I can't stand to think of the labor involved. At least this time we have money.

I think I've found some kindred spirits!

[PrincessFiona]

You are all my new heroes...Can you come over and refinish my wood floors. :>

Kris,
The wood floor refinishing was one of the things we did pay someone to do. Along with laying carpet, more complicated plumbing....that sort of thing. Sorry! Ask my DH -- he did replace the stairs with hardwood stairs. After the puppy "helped" us by ripping up all the carpet....

I like to paint, though.

[Sheherezade]

It is probably worth it to have someone come in to do the floors. We've done it both ways (ourselves and professionally) and I think it's worth the extra money. It's a huge inconvenience moving all your stuff out anyway; definitely do everything you're going to do at one time. I don't recall it being a budget buster. Installing new hardwood can get expensive, but refinishing isn't so bad.

Sell this House On A&E

Hi,

Just thought I would let you all know about this really cool show on A&E it's call Sell this House and the host is Mimi or Mimmi something, she's a really cool hands on kinda gal and the show is really great!

They come in renovate and stage your entire house for the least amount of money in order to help you sell it! I really enjoy it and I've got some really cool ideas from it how to maximise small spaces, cool paints and how to use the furniture I already have in really cool ways!

Just thought I would satisfy the interior decorators inside all of us!

Check it out and let me know what you think.