Five years ago, I bought a large, old home with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a square footage of over 3200 sq. ft.
The kitchen had appliances that belonged in the Disney World Carousel of Progress ride. It seemed like it was perfectly preserved as if it had been never used since it had been installed in the early 1960s. The former owner proudly told me that this was the first solid-surface cooktop ever made. I could well believe it. And the moment that I purchased the house, it was out in the garbage the very next day.We gutted the kitchen, leaving nothing but plumbing and electrical connections. Then we redesigned the entire kitchen, expanding it into another room, adding limestone tile counters and new appliances, new mahogany cabinets, and stone tile floor. There are still some details left to do, but it's a far cry from the original Time Warp Kitchen.
In the house, walls were ripped out, rooms expanded, and tomorrow I get french doors for my study. My son (Mr. Spock)'s room has been completely re-done and it now looks as high-tech as any SciFi geek could want it. My bedroom is converted from a garage, and is massive - with tile floors, and plenty of room for my king-sized bed (which holds me and three small dogs every night).
I'm excited, and that's why I'm writing about this. The end is in sight~! And as soon as it's finished, I'll provide pictures (in another month or so). Meanwhile, I'm just delighting in the glory of a home. At one time, I could never have afforded a house of my own. I have been blessed.
5 comments:
Wow! 3200 sq feet?
Plenty of space for me when I come to live with you. Awesome!
That is a lot of square feet. Whats the AC bill like???
You need to consider impact resistant windows. Those are nice. They leak a lot less coolness from the AC to the outside of the house.
Lazy, the AC bill's a nightmare. :P I did look into double insulated windows but WOW were they expensive!
Mr. Fabulous, ;o) And then some.
Not just double insulated windows - impact resistant windows. You can put them in yourself IF all the windows in your home are standard sizes. They are heavy, so scare up some grunts to lift stuff into place. Once lifted into place the windows are screwed into the walls using those Tap-Con things.
Once in place they are not just windows that are better insulated! They are also your hurricane shutters. And they are also security devices because a crook with a hammer will have a hell of a time breaking in through the windows.
I envy you a little, that has been the pattern of our lives almost forever. We just downsized, and I suspect that one of the things that sold Janet on the house was that there was not a wall that could be reasonably knocked out or replaced.
Of course, we have just built a Pergola outside, and I am in the process of building a 16'X 16' studio where I can go back to sculpting (with a concrete floor which will be hard on my arches, but allows me to use my welder.)
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