This week we mark one year since became owners of our second home. We bought it knowing it was a foreclosure, knowing it would take some work, but also seeing the potential. Admittedly there are moments when I feel like we aren’t making any progress. But we are. Tiny, baby steps at times, but progress nonetheless. Here’s a brief look at changes that have occurred in the last 12 months and are helping us turn our foreclosure into home.
Exterior – cleaning up of existing landscaping including removal of an overgrown ornamental tree and an evergreen shrub too close to the garage; planting of 2 new shrubs on northeast side of house and flowers around the mailbox; hired a local company to replace the entire HVAC system; mulched around playset, planted catsmint and added sandbox complete with lid/benches; hired a local company to fix the front porch slab that had settled toward the house; hired a local company to power wash entire house and clean gutters; placed new vapor barrier in crawl space.
Garage – added storage throughout with additional shelf, rearrangement of existing peg board and addition of Gladiator system; added hardware to the garage door.
Kitchen – replacement of moldy fridge, rusting dishwasher and sink faucet; repaired broken oven door handle; caulked around vinyl flooring.
Family room – hung curtains; fixed squeaky ceiling fan.
Playroom – decorated including new furniture (Ikea Expedit to house all those toys & games!), new light fixture, new floor rug (clearance find at Target just before we moved), “new to us” train table (consignment score), and DIY framed mirror and ruler growth chart. See the full room details here
Half bath – replaced toilet tank parts and bolts; complete revamp from spray painting old hardware, mirror & light fixture to painting the walls and hanging new DIY shelves. See full before & after here
Laundry room – painted and added beadboard wallpaper plus new wood trim & hooks. See full before & after here
Master bath – replaced toilet tank parts and bolts; replaced shower head; shower caulk stripped out and replaced (the company the bank hired caulked over the old moldy caulk – oh the mess! ugh); replaced hardware and faucets.
Hall bath – replaced toilet tank parts and bolts (see a trend here? Trent did all 3 within hours of us owning the house. So grateful for a handy husband!); replaced shower head; added a robe hook to the door.
Dylan’s room – installed curtain rods and hung new curtains; replaced existing light fixture with new ceiling fan/light fixture combo. Started out with toddler furniture & decor from our old house and have changed it into the “big boy” room.
Guest room – hung curtains (the only set we brought from our last house); replaced existing light fixture with new ceiling fan/light fixture combo (used same fixture we put in Dylan’s room), and upcycled a Craigslist dresser into a new beautiful yellow dresser.
Craft room – hung Pottery Barn wallboards & shelves on wall, moved in the storage cubes (they were temporarily in guest room until we got the dresser), and am still sorting & organizing. It’s the “catch all” still housing the few boxes we haven’t unpacked.
Other … replaced smoke detectors on both floors with new smoke/carbon monoxide detectors; repaired/replaced a number of outlets, outlet plates and screws (handy tip here – did you know you can buy packs of just the screws?).
The entire process has been a full family affair – even Dylan has been involved …
Some days it feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface, but looking at this list it’s clear we’ve come a long way in the last 12 months. Can’t wait to see what progress we make in the next 12!
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