These are pictures of yesterday's scary house from before and after we moved in. I'll be quiet now so you can just look.
Miss the tub but not the stairs (3 flights total!) Shhh!! Oh yeah, sorry.
That's probably enough pictures, huh? When we finished, it was a two and a half story plus a basement (four floors) with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. What a job it was! It's located in an historic district and when Jeff finished it, he won an award for best remodel from the city. Can my man deliver or what?? We were blessed to live their for a year and a half and experience down town living at it's best. As much as we enjoyed it we're still looking forward to country living.
I was going to show you one of the houses he built from scratch and maybe I still will but not today. Stick a fork in me 'cause I'm done!
I'd like to show you a couple of our past homes that Jeff built. Well, one was actually a remodel but it was an amazing transformation! I didn't take any before pictures (or maybe I lost them!!!) so I got a few from my mom. Don't you love before and afters? I do. They're instant gratification! This house was very ghostly when we found it. It had even been condemned by the city. scaaaarry!
It was built in 1912 and in the sixties was converted into three or four apartments then a family moved into the whole thing pretty much like it was. No one was living in it when we found it. Well, not people anyway. It had plenty of nasty little pests in it though. It was awful! I wish I had a picture of the kitchen on the 1st floor. You'd have to see it to believe it. When Jeff and I walked in the door I was thinking AIN'T.NO.WAY! Jeff however, fell in love with it! He has more vision than anyone I know and he's always so sweet to me I can't ever tell the man no so naturally we went for it.
This might be why I don't have any before pictures of my own. I was too busy trying to figure out how we were going to turn this nasty money pit into a house someone might actually want to live in. (See the pencil and paper in front of me? And I have to admit it was a LOT of fun for me.) That and I was, as usual, pregnant. So maybe I was a little distracted from my camera for a while.
The pictures with specs floating around give testament to how dirty a job it was. There was always dust in the air. Actually anywhere Jeff is there is usually dust in the air. The man never quits working! And it's not unusual for my dad to be right there next to him making just as much dust fly. He's always been Jeff's "go to guy" as Jeff puts it. (My dad's name also happens to be Guy, but no pun is intended. ;) )
Even my mom and sister got in on this huge undertaking. That's norm for them though. I'm always pregnant and they're always working on my houses! Am I blessed or what??
Now, let me show you where all this dust is coming from and why they're wearing masks around their necks... (Insert scary movie screeching noises here.)
This, believe it or not, would eventually become the master suite. But first there was a little work to do, some of which resulted in this..
Barrels of toxic waste (asbestos, which was appropriately disposed of.) The kids and I weren't around for that part but all those who were there, always laugh as they reminisce about all the dangerous fun they had...like they enjoyed it or something!
One thing I heard more than once on this project was "It has a really good foundation." You know what that means, right? Nothing else was any good. Jeff tore that house up getting it ship-shape!
Oh, the humanity! I can almost hear you cries, begging me to stop. Okay, out of compassion for you I'll wave my magic mouse and present to you, the after....
Maybe you've seen this sweet looking little cottage before. It's a Katrina cottage. They were designed and built to replace the yucky FEMA trailers some folks on the gulf have had to live in. I want one! They are so cute, like a life size doll house! Wouldn't it be fun to have one as a retreat by the lake?
This one has some similarities to what we're wanting for our cottage home...a galvanized metal roof with a very small overhang and exposed rafter tales. That and all the pure cuteness!
Take a look at the adorable little kitchen. It's small but efficient and still has style. This one might be a little small for our growing family but it's definitely inspiring. They say that men never really grow up but the same could probably be said for those of us ladies who would love to spend a weekend "playing house" in these tiny little cottages. Could you imagine living in one? It actually sounds kind of fun to me.
Downsizing can be so freeing. Letting go of all that "stuff" that has such a strong, controlling hold on us. Finding out just how little we really need to live and still be happy. Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot of stuff that I love and I'm convinced I can't live without but sometimes it all has a way of bossing me around, telling me what I can and can't do. It's going to be hard to get rid of some of it when the time comes but we've done it before and lived to tell about.
It's almost the weekend again and you know what that means. A little more progress. This time we'll finish the electrical, set the piers and do some tree trimming so the big trucks delivering our lumber can make down the drive. It's supposed to be almost 100 degrees tomorrow and we're all still singing the chigger blues. I'm not sure I'm up for it again but the show must go on. Now I'm going to leave you with a song...
look.
That's probably enough pictures, huh? When we finished, it was a two and a half story plus a basement (four floors) with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. What a job it was! It's located in an historic district and when Jeff finished it, he won an award for best remodel from the city. Can my man deliver or what?? We were blessed to live their for a year and a half and experience down town living at it's best. As much as we enjoyed it we're still looking forward to country living. 
