The Grand Tour

I've had many requests for pictures of The House, but I've been so busy being unemployed that I just haven't gotten around to it (seriously). These are definitely just-moved-in yet-to-unpack Befores, but that will make our After pictures all the more impressive when we're done painting and renovating. And once we get some furniture.

The below picture could be titled "Ignorant Bliss." Little did I know that at this exact moment, I'd already locked myself out of the house. (I clearly didn't learn my lesson.) Thus, the Great Lockout of 2010 had me at the library just two blocks away, reading until Alan could come save me. Thank goodness they let me use email to alert Alan to my plight. Also, you'll note that the painted tire marks on the driveway are not our fault; the removal of the dumpster left by the previous homeowners caused a spilled bucket of paint on our street so that we could mar our house on Day 1.


The living room, just as you walk in the door. It's now being used as a store-all facility. There are boxes, decorations, and our office, as our real office is still in reno stage. You probably can't tell that the living room is pink, but it is. There is also a fireplace beyond that mess, as well as a pug. Can you find Marti in the mess?


Now onto the dining room. Yes, that is ripped out carpet that we're throwing out. And yes, those are boxes to be recycled in the middle of the floor. And yes, that is quite the makeshift window treatment. And you're right, that IS the box spring that wouldn't fit up the stairs, necessitating that we get a split box spring. We may not be doing any formal dining for a few months.


Our den, off the dining room, which can only be described as "cozy." It's small, but it manages to fit our TV, so that means it's big enough.


The eat-in kitchen portion of the kitchen. The brown door that you see is a half bath and then to the left of that is another door leading upstairs. But I'll get to that in a second.


Off the backdoor is the backyard and deck: Perfect for Marti; perfect for grilling; perfect size for mowing. Perfectly rickety back fence.


I won't show the half bath because there's really nothing to see besides painted wallpaper and a missing mirror, but here is the view upstairs from our second staircase. It almost looks a little creepy from this angle.

And more of the kitchen. We're taking votes on the wallpaper. Yes or no?

The upstairs. Here is the master bedroom. Calling it a master really makes me laugh because it's about the same size as all of the other tiny bedrooms. I think it beats one of them by like a foot? But it does have a pretty good walk-in closet, so I think we can work with it. Once we get rid of the yellow.


The pastel pink has to go. The beginnings of painting project 2.

Seriously, the closets rock in this house, even if they are currently seafoam green in this room.

The bathroom, which will probably be home improvement project No. 163. Note the blue bathtub. Retro!

From behind where I'm standing in the bathroom, a door goes to the stairs and this "storage space." Fantasy is knocking out the wall and expanding the bathroom while putting a laundry room off the kitchen, but that's thinking majorly long term. We're still in the painting stage.


The office, our first project. It was major, too, because it involved spackling, sanding and painting everything from the ceiling to the trim to the baseboards to the doors. And with four windows, a massive set of shelves, and a closet, it was no quick and simple task. Once it's not a storage facility, it will be an office and guest room fit for a queen!

Want to go downstairs? Sure you do! We're planning to use this bar to throw lots of rockin' Jersey parties, dudes.

And this is more space we don't have anything to do with yet. I envision a TV room once that paneling is outie 5,000.



Also? Laundry! Whee!

And a dedicated workroom and storage area. Marti warily eyes the boiler.


And there you have it. Now I know why I was putting this off: It took forever. But now you've seen it all.

It definitely needs some major love. Every time we start a project, we wonder what the previous owners (or the ones before them) were thinking. Why tape over a light switch when you can just paint it? Why do two coats of paint when you can just have one see-through coat? Why have doors that shut or knobs that work? But we are having so much fun being new homeowners. We're at Home Depot like twice a weekend. This weekend, tackling the pink room!