The day my dreams came true were on a hot summer day in June of 2014. We had been looking for a house while I was very pregnant. We were on the hunt for our “forever home” with not a very large budget.
For some reason when I watch showss on HGTV like House Hunters, I’m forever stunned at the budget people our age have. “Our all in budget is $800,00,” they’ll say. “Oh and you showed us a house that’s above that budget? no problem. We can swing it.” Yea definitely not the case for us. Were average people with average incomes with BIG giant dreams of beautiful things that usually cost a massive amount of money.So what else would we do to make this happen?
Purchase the home of our dreams that needed massive help. I’m talking massive. Every single room needed a facelift. Maybe a tummy tuck is a better analogy. Boob job? Whatever the comparison it needed SERIOUS help. Every room, closet, hallway, and ceiling. All 14 rooms…..yikes
Some call it lucky…..lucky for me my husband is a jack of all trades and we had been through this before, but on a much smaller scale. Why wouldn’t we fix up our first home for 3 straight years with many tests of life? Job changes, financial struggles……and then sell that beautiful 1925 craftsman style bungalow with a every girls dream come true custom walk in closet complete with a chandelier,shoe cubbies, loads of space, and little window bench. (because we all obviously sit on a bench in our closets and need that.)
We initially walked away from the victorian saying it was way to much work and just didn’t have it in us to do it again. I was 6 months pregnant for Goodness sake… We drove home, which was about 30 minutes away and talked the whole way about it. By the time we were pulling in our driveway, Travis and I were calling our realtor to tell her we wanted to go for it. (were a tad impulsive i’d say) I think at this time she wasn’t that surprised considering we did the exact same thing with the first house. We walked away, said we “didn’t want the headache” and yep the story is consistent….We told her the next day we wanted to go for it…. (But that’s another story, and another massive redo fixer upper foreclosed on sat empty 3 years before we got our hands on it….)
So In the summer of 2014, We decided to purchase our dream home. A 1892, Queen Anne Victorian farmhouse. It sits on a hill. Its surrounded by trees and a farm field. It has grape vines and fruit trees and raspberry and mulberry bushes. It has a dreamy wrap around porch and two other porches. It has pocket doors and massive woodwork and a fireplace and a GIANT open staircase. All the things that make my heart flutter. Did I mention stained glass? Every single wish list item was met for me. For Travis It was the same. A three car garage and a separate one car garage connected to that for a motorcycle shop. It has yet another single car garage perfect for the John Deere and yard tools. (we have big plans for that space but thats also another story) It has a giant basement for his wood working shop with 9 foot ceilings complete with Wizard of Oz Dorothy in a tornado cellar doors. ( also includes massive centipedes ) It has an unimaginable amount of trees to climb for our boys. It sits on an acre of land. (this seems like a lot considering we had a teeny tiny city yard previously.) It has 6 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, a parlor, a dining room, a living room, kitchen, laundry room, and more. Every single thing we were looking for…..With a ton of work. Lets not forget the work part.
I am starting this blog as a outlet for my mind. My passion in life is making our spaces beautiful. I’ve been wanting to document and write about our experiences and adventures. I have a serious amount of passion for historic restoration and decorating. I love mixing old and new. I love simple and classic beauty. I hate clutter. I love before and after progress.
This process is not easy, and can be so draining on our lives and on our marriage. But the finishing results are worth it. The headaches disappear and the happiness comes back when we see how far we’ve come and what we’re capable of.
Follow along in the restoration of our home, our adventures, and us trying to figure out this thing called life.
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