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Entryway and the First Glimpse

1/29/2018

First impressions matter, right?

I like to think so.

Aside from the exterior of your home, the entryway is the first thing your guests will see. Drew and I wanted our friends and family to experience a lot in the first 16 feet of our house. Since our home was originally built in 1920, we wanted to showcase some of the original features like the hardwoods, staircase, and exposed brick. It was quite the process getting there though.

Meanwhile... in October 2016, this was our first impression of the inside of our future home.

Umm... yikes, right? It was a hallway to nowhere. We have no idea what this space was used for or why it was closed off there. Also... those. red. walls. Yeah... the day we primed was a good day! So needless to say we didn't want this to be our guests' first impression!

Here's the progress:

First thing's first... see ya later hallway to nowhere! Once the kitchen was gutted, Drew knocked down the barrier wall to turn it into a real hallway... eventually leading into the future kitchen.

This is the view when entering our home. The living room is to the left. The office is to the right.

This is the view facing the front door. The living room is to the right and the office is to the left.

The photos aren't the best of quality because of the dust but I can still see a huge difference here already. Drew also opened up the entryway space near the front door to make it even with the rest of the entryway. The original hardwoods are in decent shape despite needing a major refresh.

The exposed brick in our hallway was discovered by total accident! Drew found it while knocking down a wall to open the kitchen into the living room. As it turns out, the exposed brick is actually the back of the fireplace in the living room. Instead of covering it up with sheetrock, we decided to frame around it and use it as an added texture in our home. We ended up doing this same thing in our bedroom too. Both of us love the look of exposed brick so it was an easy decision.

Priming made this space look 10 times better.
The neutral wall color made it look 15 times better.
The refinished hardwood floors made it look 20 times better.
The black light fixture really brought it all together.

By the way, did you notice the tiny closet under the stairs?
That's where Harry Potter lives.
... and by Harry Potter... I mean our Dyson vacuum.

It's magic, y'all!

Do you see that gallery wall? That's my favorite decor project in this entire house. I have a feeling that will be my next blog post. Every home deserves a gallery wall!

(Views, opinions, products and designs are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.)

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It All Started Here...

1/27/2018

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I remember the day quite well. The first time I laid eyes on the disastrous foreclosure Drew just purchased. I finished up with my workout early that afternoon and drove over to see it. I was actually afraid to walk inside. It was disgusting. It was sooooo dirty. It also smelled TERRIBLE.

All I could think was, "this poor house." It was obviously once loved, being built in 1920 with a few additions over the decades. For the past few years though, it was a cheap college rental and then low-cost family rental. Then, it was vacated... with a lot of belongings, furniture, and trash left behind. I thought Drew was crazy... but he had a vision. A good one, at that. He showed me the walls he was knocking down, how he was restructuring and opening the kitchen, where his office would be, and how he was turning a fourth bedroom into a master closet. Yeah, a bedroom turned into a master closet. Hello, dream home! So.... despite my concerns when I arrived... I left excited!

Below are some of my favorite... or not-so-favorite... before photos.