Master Walk-in Closet

This closet is located just out side bedroom #4 (what we use as the Master Bedroom). With only one long 10 foot bar on one side and shelves along both walls, this closet space was not functioning to it's fullest potential when we moved in the house.  The money spent ($761) to organize this 11' x 5' closet space was well worth it (transformation completed December 2011).

BEFORE

This photo taken prior to moving our belongings in (brown door is an example of all the doors throughout the house when we purchased it)

Now that our things are moved into this space, it's utter chaos.
We have too many clothes for them all to be hung on one single bar and too many shoes to cover the floor.

Before renovated, it was hard to keep organized with no place to put our stuff; not to mention over half of it was still in boxes (in storage).  I (Teri) sat on the floor to put my make up on and fix my hair each morning.

 

AFTER 

Mission accomplished! 
Function and practicality with floor to ceiling storage.

 

Kirk has half the closet, I have the other half...
well maybe I have a little more than half.

I purposefully cut a niche in the wall to utilize space; this shelf accommodates vitamins, cologne, and some hair product.

This shelf unit WAS the kitchen peninsula.  It has been retrofit smaller to be in this space... it has been resurfaced with a porcelain tile top (to match the bathroom tile), resided, and repainted.  This "re-purposed" piece makes the perfect makeup counter and storage so the bathroom can be free for people to take showers and use the toilet while us girls get dressed and primp.

 

This stool stays in this location as a means to reach the high places; it also serves as a great landing station to stack clean laundry while it gets put away.



Hallways

There are two separate hall areas in this home, both updated to add a brighter feel and one hall area a closet added for much needed organization.

HALL #1 (opening to Bedrooms #1, 2, &3 and bathroom #2)  This hall has two closets; one as a storage/linen closet, and the other is a mechanical closet housing the air conditioner unit. The air conditioner unit closet has the old original door that has been repainted white and the only original antique door knob in the whole house.

BEFORE


All dark wood panel.  This "before photo" does not show the two white doors original state of solid brown matching the panel.  Our original thought was to simply paint the brown panel white...

...we decided after we got started painting the primer coat that it wasn't going to look very good as painted panel, so we bought bead board that replaced the brown panel.  This hall was originally carpeted with a very worn contractor grade beige.

  AFTER

Bright white and fresh.  The hall ceiling light is the original.

The only original door knob from this house- on the A/C closet door

 HALL #2 (opening to Bedroom #4, bathroom #1, and walk in closet)

BEFORE


This brown door was an awkward entrance to Bedroom #3.  We chose to eliminate this door and add a closet to this hall area space.

 AFTER


New closet.

Living Room

A five month long project... the living room renovation. As with every room in this fixer upper house, the renovation ended up being a much bigger project than we expected.

Living Room (11"2" x 17')




BEFORE
Dark and dated




AFTER
Brightly updated.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE
This hearth was out of proportion for the space, blocking the door and making it awkward to walk by.  A number of ceramic tiles were missing.

AFTER

Storage cabinet (18" wide x 24" deep x 80" tall)

(unfinished oak from Home Depot)

Two cabinets are positioned back to back,

to create ample storage.

Dimmable recessed lighting, two lights on each side.

Wonderful storage for photo albums and crafts.

The other side houses our DVD's, CD's, video games and misc. electronics items.

BEFORE

AFTER
The multi-colored slate and two cabinets put the budget over on this project, but well worth it!

The mood of a fire (year around) without the heat or fire hazard.

Flicker Electrical Lights~ I simply plug in a discrete outlet and enjoy.

IN PROGRESS...

This house had NO INSULATION in the walls and we wanted each room insulated for energy efficiency; this meant exposing the studs.  Upon taking the old brown panel down we discovered random 1/2 inch boards (looked as though they were previously (salvaged) nailed to the studs under the drywall instead of exposed studs under the wall cover. This was a good and bad situation. Good that the boards add to a stronger structure to the frame of the house, bad, that it's more time and challenge to get the walls insulated behind the boards.The solution: random boards carefully taken off (numbering where they went), install fresh insulation, then replaced the boards. (this photo below shows before we replaced the random boards- you can see the insulation behind the boards)

Hummmm? why is that tape on top of the fireplace when we bought the house?

Because as we took the fireplace apart, we discovered this "gaping crack" in the ceiling that was taped where the fireplace met the ceiling.  This crack opened directly into the attic.  Was the tape there to prevent critters from coming in the house or the cold/hot air from coming in? Probably both! Easy fix.

Another project that took extra time with this living room remodel was getting all the old electrical updated.  Old wiring in the walls were replaced, several new outlets were added, and recessed ceiling lights in several places were also added since there was no overhead lighting in the living room what so ever; a common situation in older home living rooms.

Dimmable recessed lighting... above both TV cabinets and two separate pot lights in main living area.

The fireplace took a chunk of time as it was a major fire hazard! We considered replacing the old firebox that was broken in three places, but decided it wasn't worth the monetary investment especially since we live in south Texas and only have a couple weeks worth of winter that the fireplace is actually used in any given year. We decided to eliminate the hazardous area and reconstruct the space for the "look" of a fireplace with more function and purpose.  This "candle place" has an electrical outlet in it for mood lighting and also boasts of abundant storage (in cabinets) on each side.

This is after the demo.

Notice the burn spots on the wall?

YES... a fire waiting to happen!  The firebox had been installed improperly with no heat barrier to protect the drywall. 

Amazing what a new coat of fresh paint can do.

Original ceiling pattern with visual appeal.

Kitchen

This space was a big project. We started the Kitchen Renovation mid July 2011 and were completely finished in October 2011.

PROJECT INFORMATION:

• Kitchen is a "U" shaped kitchen that is approximately 13' x 12' 
• We had a new dishwasher given to us from our Home Purchase Electrical Inspection (Budd Electric) when one of the workers accidently blew out the old dishwasher. They are a company in Corpus Christi of high integrity; thank you Budd Electric- you all are top rate!
• We also had a fairly new refrigerator, so we didn't need to replace that either.
• New double oven/stove with a matching mounted microwave was purchased. The oven/stove is in the "before" photos because the previous home owners took their old oven.
• The room was stripped down to studs so proper R-13 insulation could be installed.
• All outdated electrical and plumbing was updated.
• Wood Laminate Floors~ Lumber Liquidators
• Solid Maple Cabinets~ Kitchenpro.com (dove tailed, anti slam drawer feature, euro hinges, raised panel)
• Granite Counter Tops~ Corpus Christi Solid Surfaces
• Tumbled Travertine Stone Backsplash

Before and After Video

Bedroom on South Side of House

This bedroom is on the opposite side of the house from the others.  It has a large walk in closet that has also completely redone from top to bottom.

Bedroom #4 (11' x 12.5')
(currently used as the Master Bedroom)

Notice the window air conditioner unit? The previous owners used this to help cool this room on top of the regular central air that worked for the entire house. Three of the four walls in this room are hit directly by the south Texas sun most of the day and like the whole house, this room did not have any insulation in the walls, not to mention the single pan windows with poor caulking; it got VERY HOT & STUFFY in the summer.

DEMO

Demo was a fun job for the kids! All drywall in this room had to be removed.

... a place where there at one time used to be a window! We found two other previous window openings that had once existed on the opposite wall. This room once had 5 different windows (three now covered by wall)! I wonder if it used to be a sun room at one time years ago?

R13 insulation in the whole room! ...and the brown door? It's replaced!

AFTER of this particular corner.  All white walls to help it feel crisp and fresh. And notice the new door!

MORE DEMO and repair... from another angle.

AFTER~

After adding insulation, the walls were finished with 1/2" drywall covered in "bead board" panels. To trim off the room, crown moulding was added in addition to 5 1/2" baseboards.

New bedroom carpet (professionally installed) meets up with the laminate wood floor from the hall area outside this bedroom.

Close-up showing the bead board and crown. This room originally did not have any trim around the ceiling, so this crown and corner pieces are a nice added detail. The windows are new energy efficient double paned windows with 2" Bali (faux wood) mini blind.