Thursday, June 10, 2010

Elbow Grease and Love, Part one

Part One
Justin and I weren’t married when we found our house. He had long overstayed his time at his parents’ house and our wedding day was less than a year away. I was in my last semester of college, so I’d be home soon to help make it cozy and nice in time for me to move in after the honeymoon. He began the search for a home and found out about a house one of his coworkers was selling.
Justin brought me to this small gray house in our hometown. I had seen it hundreds of times and hadn’t though twice about it. It was a fixer-upper that had a lot of potential. It was on a small lot in a semi-quiet neighborhood and was conveniently close to several restaurants and even the local grocery store (I can see it from my front porch!) The family that owned the house built it themselves and it was a great starter home for us. I think they knew we would love it and make it home.  It turns out that my man is quite talented and we (and by ‘we’ I mean mostly ‘he’) have been able to update it slowly but surely to our tastes.
I started out with the updates from our kitchen and dining room. Here are some side-by-sides. It’s still a work in progress, but we like it.  
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Notice the thin strip of wallpaper missing in the back corner? It’s okay. This room is our next project. The wallpaper was a gap filler to cover that awful, awful paneling. We have big plans to but up bead board, sheet rock, a chair rail and a new ceiling in the next year!

7 comments:

Stacey @ Chasing Cloud 9 said...

It looks great! Your kitchen reminds me so much of the first house we lived in...it was built just like that!

Anonymous said...

I saw the work in progress and it is beautiful. Great Job Sarah and Justin. You forgot to mention Justin built all the cabinets.
Daddy

Shannnon Barker said...

Like the table and chairs;) They have a lot of love marked on them...when I look at it, I see Dresden at 8 momths old sitting on the table between my arms helping us color easter eggs and getting dye all over her fingers and if you will notice some coloring dye on the table(yep,im crying)...I love what yall have done with your humble abode and Justins handy work with the cabinets. Love yall!

Em said...

It`s looking good! The kitchen is a major improvement, and I like that you covered some of the wood panelling...wood panelling is my least favorite wall covering.

Stacie, A Firefighter's Wife said...

Wow, that looks amazing!

Kate Spears said...

i love it! and i'm glad you kept some of the knotty pine in the kitchen.....i think its wonderful! so jealous!

Sarah Cook said...

Thanks, yall! Like my dad said, Justin built these and I painted them. Kate, you're going to love the shots of our living room because the walls and ceiling are the same. It is a little limiting for my decorating, though.