First Home

Way back in April we purchased our first home.  It is Dallin's aunts' home in Bountiful.  They were super kind and gracious and made the process seamless, it worked well both ways.  They moved out in May and we took to fixing some things up.

Master before

Zoey's room after

Zoey's room before

Master after

Front of house before

Front of house after - with new door!

Hallway before - during demo

The biggest complaint the inspector had was that it was outdated.  That may have been an understatement.  As we got into the process of "fixing" things, we found most things weren't up to code and potential fire dangers, etc.  Our initial plan was to remove the popcorn ceilings in the two bedrooms (they had asbestos) and remove wallpaper and paint.  Then my family got involved.  Let's just say the ENTIRE upstairs has been completely renovated, not one square inch has been left untouched.  Here is a list of what we have done.  It's mainly for my own records but just in case you're wondering what we've been up to the last six months and why it has taken us that long:

-Brand new windows in the whole home (to replace the original steel ones)

-Repainted all the outer railings

-Had a company drill a hole in the foundation so we could vent the dryer out normally instead of through a brand-new window

-Set up dryer vent and accompanying duct work

-Moved water and electricity in laundry room so the washer and dryer are next to each other instead of across the room from each other

Hallway after

-Removed popcorn ceilings

-Removed wallpaper

-Removed and replaced all baseboards and door moldings

-Painted entire upstairs, including closets, window sills and door jams

-New front door

-New light fixtures and smoke detectors

-Put chimney cover on

-New light switches, outlet covers and vent covers

-Replumbed the ENTIRE house (except from the house to the meter at the street) - I'm really happy/excited about this even though it was an unexpected thing added.

-Ran new main power into the house

-Consolidated the two power panels into one large breaker box in the laundry room

-Ran new electricity in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room, grounding everything and adding necessary GFI outlets and unburying boxes and wires in walls

-Put new hardware on hallway closet

-Took bathroom floor down to the subfloor (2 layers) and tiled.

-Replaced toilet and vanity (I'll have to tell the vanity drama another time) and all hardware in the upstairs bathroom

-Walled off hallway closet and put door in kitchen making it a pantry

-Removed soffit boxes in kitchen (raining insulation from the attic that needed to be fixed)

-Replaced all kitchen cabinets, countertops, sink and garbage disposal

-Moved disposal switch and light switch into outer wall which meant grinding a trench through wall

- Removed pocket door and widened entryway and back exitway of kitchen

- Moved range gas line for new layout of kitchen (also wired for electrical range)
-Added new wood to the kitchen floor for the new cabinets and pantry

-Put plantation shutters in the whole upstairs and blinds in the downstairs

- I let Dallin paint these 2 hidden doors into the utility room BYU blue (moment of weakness?  It's behind a door)

-Pulled up all carpet upstairs and tack board

-Laid all new wood floors upstairs and carpet in Zoey's room

-Ran water into the kitchen to add a dishwasher (hooray!) and ice for the fridge

-All new interior doors (drilled for existing hinges)

-Carpets downstairs cleaned and ducts cleaned

-Sprayed for spiders

Kitchen before

Kitchen during demo- with insulation

Kitchen after - ahh!

Kitchen after - with work tools

Whew!  I'm sure I missed some stuff but that's it in a nutshell, or giant nutshell.  That doesn't include all the small stuff like touchup paint, trips to the dump, cleaning, etc.  We are best friends with Home Depot and Lowe's.  I have to say I'm partial to HD but we got a killer deal on quality kitchen cabinets at Lowe's and they were great to work with.  We won't be renovating the basement for a few years while we all recover physically and financially.  Next summer we may hit up the forest of a yard and level out the grass and tear out the garden and re-sod.  Hmmmm, we'll see.

Main bathroom before

Bathroom during demo

Living room before

Bathroom after

I have to give a huge shout-out to my amazing husband and all the hard work he's put in (sometimes by himself) while I was on baby duty.  He'd get home from work, eat real quick and run over to the house, sometimes until midnight or 1 a.m., making the house a legit second full-time job.  My dad has been there a majority of the way too.  They have transformed "Dallin's aunts' house" into "our home;" one I was legitimately excited to move in to.  It feels like mine and it feels like HOME.  Can't wait to spend many years there.  Come visit us!

Living room after