Progress!

Well it has been a month since my last post and a lot has happened!  Gone are the popcorn ceilings, see-through stud walls, old electrical, single-paned windows, 3 layers of wall paper, textured walls, original plumbing, and probably so much more that I don't even know about.  We have since installed all new electrical as well as placement for the can lights and fixtures, drywall has gone up in the needed areas as well as all walls mudded and sanded to make the walls smooth, wood floor in the kitchen and other small spots and all new windows!

Here are some pictures!

During the demo/framing going up.

3 layers of wallpaper OFF!

New windows give so much more light!

Windows + Drywall + Floor

Why Kensington...?

Hey all!  A lot has been accomplished at the house and it is super fun seeing the transformation!  Don't get me wrong, there is A LOT more to do but for it only being two weeks (and the holidays and snow slowing things for a bit), I see a lot of change and I am loving it!

FUN FACT:  You may wonder why I am calling this Kensington Lane...?

The neighborhood our home is in is fairly old.  Our house was originally built in 1942.  After closing on the house, we learned that each home in the neighborhood is named after the original owner of the home!  So our home was built and owned by the Kensington family in 1942 and now our home is called The Kensington home!  I love it!

Here are a couple pictures!

One thing that had to be fixed were the stairs.  The left is the before picture.  I'm horrible at pictures and thus the picture doe not do it justice of how horrible they were.  Each step was about 4" deep so I was able to get about half my foot on each step (and I have VERY small feet).  The after picture now shows the stairs are normal!  Thank goodness!  No more hobbit stairs and now it will be safe for kids to go up and down one day as well.

Next step was to get the walls down.  Old homes have small rooms, we wanted an open concept to make the place a little larger (or I guess just look larger).  

Well, we're on our way!!

More updates coming soon.

Closing Time...

WE FINALLY CLOSED ON OUR HOME!

Let me give you the history...

June:  We moved to Kansas City.  We decided to live with my sister-in-law and hopefully buy/close on a house within a month...

August:  2.5 months later.  No home.  No offers made.  So we move into an apartment to get out of their space.  Still constantly looking for a house. 

September:  I found a home!  Called the day it was posted but wasn't able to look at it because it was a short sale.  After two weeks of trying to set up an appointment to look at the house we were able to get in and it was a disaster.  The home was disgusting, smelly, messy, rooms without floors, ceilings with holes, windows cracked...and we fell in love with it!  Jonathan and I have have always loved the idea of buying an old home and then gutting it but with our budget that was highly unlikely of it happening.  Until this home.  We got in the house.  Offered on the house (in addition to other offers).  And our offer was accepted!  Due to it being a short sale we knew it could take a while.  

October:  Waiting...(patiently)

November:  Waiting...(not so patiently)

December:  After lots of paperwork, phone calls, good news and bad news, annoying our realtor like crazy...three months later we closed on our first home!  Thanks to our realtor, Jason Allwood, we are now getting to do what we always hoped to do!

Follow along and watch our house become our home!

Here are the pictures from the listing.

I will do my best to post a lot of the progress because everything will be changing!

(Front)

(Walk to front door)

(Kitchen...no floors! ha)

(Living room...lovely shelving, huh?)

(Standing in the living room looking at the dining room (left), hallway (straight), front door entry (right))

(This is what they called the 4th bedroom/office)

(Bedroom)

(Upstairs attic/master)

(Upstairs attic/master bathroom...again, no floor)

(Back of home...don't worry, it will look completely different come spring)