From Fixer-Upper to Refined Farmhouse

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20678046,00.html

I am in love with this article in "This Old House."  I resignate with so much this homeowner feels and appreciates.  My favorite quote I take from this article is this:

"A house can be such a metaphor for a life," she notes. "It's interesting how the health of a house can telegraph your own health, physically and psychologically."

Simply Beautiful. 

The Never Ending Basement Project... Part 1

The BEFORE!

Storage Space?

Walking through with the Realtor of the "Basement Bedroom"

Towards the right of the above picture you can slightly see the half-way finished walls that were added to partition the basement off. It made for very narrow and awkward space. 

The Basement had been converted with partition walls to form two bedrooms downstairs and a walk-in closet/Storage Closet.

Problem No. 1: Small, awkward and cramped spaces

Problem No. 2: Due to the fact the previous owner had put a wall up at the bottom of the stairs you could not fit anything larger than a chair down the stairs.  - I don't know about you but lining up small chairs makes for awkward conversations :-)

Original Photo's from the Realtor

I imagined a built-in once covered this wall.

We Love Our New Home!!! Our House is an early Craftsman; permits recorded in 1910 for Mrs. Grimm but recorded as-built by the Auditor with the City of Tacoma in 1916.  We love the space and the layout but unfortunately most of the original charm has been stripped over the years that were filled from gang violence until restoration within our neighborhood.  Our Goal is to give this beautiful home back some of its "original" Character and Grace.  
The moment we stepped in the front-door we knew we had finally found the house we could grow as a family in.  We were not sure with the small budget we had if that was ever going to happen.  

The house had been lived in by a long time owner for many years.  When she passed the house was transferred to family and eventually went into foreclosure and left empty.  



Thankfully this home wasn't left empty like many of the other homes in the Tacoma area.  In 2011 it was bought by the Home Again program who put knew Fiber Cement Siding, new wiring, roof and blow-in insulation in the walls.  

While the Interior details where not much to our taste the outside was sound and given life again to this 100 year home.