The Little House on the Hill... Before

After months of work and constant stress, I'm finally lifting the curtain on our second home renovation. Since the house is now livable, I'm feeling a bit more confident in our progress. But I'm getting ahead of myself... Let's go back a moment, shall we?

This is what the house looked like on the day we purchased it: (ETA: I removed this picture when I shared the name of my site publicly. Privacy and security and all that... trust me when I say it was looking pretty grim.)

She's a beauty, right? Well, maybe not. But this languishing foreclosure on a historic tree-lined street in the Tri-Cities area won our hearts. Was it the vinyl siding? The washed-away front yard? The obvious water damage? Oh yes, baby. You know what we like.

Anyway, some legal signatures and this sweet old house (circa 1945) was ours. Someday I will tell you about the hell that is a renovation loan with Wells Fargo. That, my friends, is one heck of a story. I might have to have a few beers to summon up the courage to revisit that dark, dark place in my personal history.

Anyhow, back to the house in all its glory. Did I mention that the home had the original kitchen? Original cabinets, countertops, sink, and dishwasher. A plaster arch on the ceiling cut the room in half. A floating floor covered several generations of linoleum. I was charmed.

The other rooms needed plenty of TLC as well. The walls in these photos are not covered in mold, by the way. It's dirt. Yes, dirt.

Here's the living room:

The bedrooms:

Our "vintage" bathroom:

 And the attic complete with a half-bath:

Yes, those are bug bombs in the house. I think that might've been what scared off the other buyers. Well, that and the fleas that still riddled the shred of carpet covering the hallway. As "parents" of four dogs, though, a few fleas don't scare us. We just sprayed on the OFF and went about our business.

So here's a little preview of our kitchen renovation to entice you:

Are you feeling enticed?

ETA: I just wanted to point out that this house was vacant for several months, per neighbors' comments. I did not see the house when the last tenants lived here, and I do not mean any comment on them personally or the house when they lived here. I can only show the home as it was when we started renovations, and these pictures are accurate portrayals of the condition of the home when we bought it. We appreciate all the neighborhood support!