One Year Update on the Farmstead Reno
Here we are, our one year anniversary of this extraordinary adventure! We have completed the necessary renovations required to do our refinance and pay off all the debt! It feels amazing to see our dream come to completion... well sort of(you are never done working on a house built in 1961!)
I still can't believe what we accomplished. I am in no way patting ourselves on the back here! To God be all the glory! Honestly we had a desire in our hearts for a long time for a simple lifestyle and humble mortgage. Easier said than done in a rapidly growing area with rising home values and land even steeper! What God provided last summer far surpassed anything we could've imagined. Small acreage in a secluded wooded setting just minutes from Chris's work. God opened a door for us, and all we did was walk thru it. We said yes even though we knew it would be hard, like really really hard. We trusted that God provides the grace you need when you need it. And that He did. He orchestrated every aspect of our purchase and remodel and we owe Him alone all the credit for enabling this dream to come to reality.
We had a little bit of experience in renovations, but it was an incredible journey to do a full house remodel and to have it livable in under 3 weeks time. We are living proof that all things are possible with Christ. Put your trust in Him and you will never be let down. I can honestly tell you this is the only true explanation for our success because it sure isn't because we are extraordinary people, because... yeah we're so not!
So, on to the fun part! The kitchen was my most favorite to design, probably because that's where I live most of my day!
The plan to salvage cabinets and refinish existing woodwork dissolved upon discovery of lots and lots of water damage and rot. Down to the subfloor! But this actually turned into a blessing because...new kitchen! As in everything!
It was so fun to design a kitchen just the way we wanted it to function for our family! And...subway tile! I really like subway tile. So far, we are pleased with everything in here. I really can't say that there's anything we would do different. The huge island has been ideal for morning breakfasts and food prep, and the open shelving has been very functional. Those were both things we spent some time deliberating over.
Our living room gets the most traffic and although we wavered between some carpet or all laminate, I'm really glad we went for all laminate! It's been a dream to keep clean and it was ridiculously affordable! Thank you Home Depot!
I was asked allot about the light fixtures we chose in the kitchen and dining room. This was something I spent some time searching for at local lighting stores as well as online. I kept coming back to Amazon for the best quality and price. Click here for the dining room light fixture we chose, and here for the kitchen lights.
The downstairs bathroom was another complete renovation where nothing could be salvaged. It required moving drains in the concrete floor and building a shower which we had never done before. Thank you YouTube!
We decided to build a vanity after getting frustrated with the look and price of what we were finding in the stores. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and it's holding up great against 3 boys!
The shower was a little scary just because it took so many precise steps. It has worked awesome though, so I guess we got that right! And... subway tile!
After completing our refinance in March, we paid off all the debt it took to renovate the house. It was $50,000 total. With our new mortgage we have today, we have roughly $150,000 in equity. With land and home prices much higher this summer than last, we wouldn't have been able to afford to do this venture other than exactly when we did it. Amazing. God is in control and His timing is truly perfect!
Here are a few pics during the demo. For more before pics check out the Before and Happily Every After post.
We recently made a list of all the work we did to the house after we purchased it in case you're interested in how far $50,000 can go! The * are things we paid to have done or at least had help with. Cheers to another year of updates and renovations on the farmstead!
* Electrical panel relocated to garage
* Water heater relocated to garage
* Pressure tank relocated to garage
* New water lines run to kitchen and garage
* New duct work and HVAC added
* Gas lines run to house
Removed shelving in garage
Gutted kitchen
Removed all flooring and carpeting
Opened up 3 walls, added support beams
Diamond blade sanded concrete floors
Painted concrete floors
Painted whole house interior
Painted sub floor with Kilz
Added screws to sub floor
Sanded and stained/painted stairs
Relocated outlet for microwave
Added new outlet for range
Relocated garage door to dinning room
Built platform for new garage door
Replaced dining room light fixture
Installed all new kitchen cabinets
Installed all new appliances
Built kitchen island
Built open wall shelving in kitchen
Installed laminate flooring upstairs
* Carpet installed upstairs
* All new windows and patio door installed
* Excavated window wells
Installed new deeper window wells
Added French drains
Filled in wells with new rock
Scraped and painted fascia in front
Gutters added to front over windows
Replaced brick in wood stove
Built-in shelf in living room
Removed antenna and dish on roof
Added new trim upstairs * Quartz counters installed
* Drywall patching and texturing upstairs
* Replaced pressure tank
* New can lights in kitchen and living room
* Pendant light boxes and switch added
Instated pendant light fixtures
Installed kitchen tile backsplash
Added soffits downstairs
Opened up hallway
* Drywall patching and finishing downstairs
Tile flooring downstairs
* Carpet installed downstairs
Upstairs bathroom:
New floor
New faucet
New shower head
New light fixture
New toilet
Landscaping:
Removed all bushes near house
Removed dead limbs on all trees
Trimmed up all trees
Asphalt patch in driveway
Downstairs bathroom:
Gutted and opened up layout
Relocated lights and outlets
Opened up concrete floor to relocate drain
* New water lines, drains, shower valve added
* Replaced washer box
Repoured concrete floor
Built standing shower
Built vanity
Installed new light fixtures
New toilet
Drilled hole in brick siding for bathroom vent
Installed bath fan
Installed tile flooring
I still can't believe what we accomplished. I am in no way patting ourselves on the back here! To God be all the glory! Honestly we had a desire in our hearts for a long time for a simple lifestyle and humble mortgage. Easier said than done in a rapidly growing area with rising home values and land even steeper! What God provided last summer far surpassed anything we could've imagined. Small acreage in a secluded wooded setting just minutes from Chris's work. God opened a door for us, and all we did was walk thru it. We said yes even though we knew it would be hard, like really really hard. We trusted that God provides the grace you need when you need it. And that He did. He orchestrated every aspect of our purchase and remodel and we owe Him alone all the credit for enabling this dream to come to reality.
We had a little bit of experience in renovations, but it was an incredible journey to do a full house remodel and to have it livable in under 3 weeks time. We are living proof that all things are possible with Christ. Put your trust in Him and you will never be let down. I can honestly tell you this is the only true explanation for our success because it sure isn't because we are extraordinary people, because... yeah we're so not!
So, on to the fun part! The kitchen was my most favorite to design, probably because that's where I live most of my day!
The plan to salvage cabinets and refinish existing woodwork dissolved upon discovery of lots and lots of water damage and rot. Down to the subfloor! But this actually turned into a blessing because...new kitchen! As in everything!
It was so fun to design a kitchen just the way we wanted it to function for our family! And...subway tile! I really like subway tile. So far, we are pleased with everything in here. I really can't say that there's anything we would do different. The huge island has been ideal for morning breakfasts and food prep, and the open shelving has been very functional. Those were both things we spent some time deliberating over.
Our living room gets the most traffic and although we wavered between some carpet or all laminate, I'm really glad we went for all laminate! It's been a dream to keep clean and it was ridiculously affordable! Thank you Home Depot!
I was asked allot about the light fixtures we chose in the kitchen and dining room. This was something I spent some time searching for at local lighting stores as well as online. I kept coming back to Amazon for the best quality and price. Click here for the dining room light fixture we chose, and here for the kitchen lights.
The downstairs bathroom was another complete renovation where nothing could be salvaged. It required moving drains in the concrete floor and building a shower which we had never done before. Thank you YouTube!
We decided to build a vanity after getting frustrated with the look and price of what we were finding in the stores. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and it's holding up great against 3 boys!
The shower was a little scary just because it took so many precise steps. It has worked awesome though, so I guess we got that right! And... subway tile!
After completing our refinance in March, we paid off all the debt it took to renovate the house. It was $50,000 total. With our new mortgage we have today, we have roughly $150,000 in equity. With land and home prices much higher this summer than last, we wouldn't have been able to afford to do this venture other than exactly when we did it. Amazing. God is in control and His timing is truly perfect!
Here are a few pics during the demo. For more before pics check out the Before and Happily Every After post.
We recently made a list of all the work we did to the house after we purchased it in case you're interested in how far $50,000 can go! The * are things we paid to have done or at least had help with. Cheers to another year of updates and renovations on the farmstead!
* Electrical panel relocated to garage
* Water heater relocated to garage
* Pressure tank relocated to garage
* New water lines run to kitchen and garage
* New duct work and HVAC added
* Gas lines run to house
Removed shelving in garage
Gutted kitchen
Removed all flooring and carpeting
Opened up 3 walls, added support beams
Diamond blade sanded concrete floors
Painted concrete floors
Painted whole house interior
Painted sub floor with Kilz
Added screws to sub floor
Sanded and stained/painted stairs
Relocated outlet for microwave
Added new outlet for range
Relocated garage door to dinning room
Built platform for new garage door
Replaced dining room light fixture
Installed all new kitchen cabinets
Installed all new appliances
Built kitchen island
Built open wall shelving in kitchen
Installed laminate flooring upstairs
* Carpet installed upstairs
* All new windows and patio door installed
* Excavated window wells
Installed new deeper window wells
Added French drains
Filled in wells with new rock
Scraped and painted fascia in front
Gutters added to front over windows
Replaced brick in wood stove
Built-in shelf in living room
Removed antenna and dish on roof
Added new trim upstairs * Quartz counters installed
* Drywall patching and texturing upstairs
* Replaced pressure tank
* New can lights in kitchen and living room
* Pendant light boxes and switch added
Instated pendant light fixtures
Installed kitchen tile backsplash
Added soffits downstairs
Opened up hallway
* Drywall patching and finishing downstairs
Tile flooring downstairs
* Carpet installed downstairs
Upstairs bathroom:
New floor
New faucet
New shower head
New light fixture
New toilet
Landscaping:
Removed all bushes near house
Removed dead limbs on all trees
Trimmed up all trees
Asphalt patch in driveway
Downstairs bathroom:
Gutted and opened up layout
Relocated lights and outlets
Opened up concrete floor to relocate drain
* New water lines, drains, shower valve added
* Replaced washer box
Repoured concrete floor
Built standing shower
Built vanity
Installed new light fixtures
New toilet
Drilled hole in brick siding for bathroom vent
Installed bath fan
Installed tile flooring
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