Part of what made last year so busy was that in addition to all of our trips and homeschooling, we were fixing up a duplex that we bought in May. We were paying a contractor but it was still a busy and stressful process and of course, it took much longer than we thought.
So the end of last year was focused on moving in and celebrating Christmas, two things that were joyful and busy. We lived through most of last year on the third floor of the Berends' house, which was very close to apartment living. They were gracious to host us for so long and it was a blessing to have their support through all the craziness! Nonetheless, we were very happy to finally be in our own place and even though there were still boxes throughout most of the house, we were happy to have a full kitchen and our own bedrooms!
Now that we are here, we love it and even though we have tenants on the other side of one wall, we feel pretty secluded.
I tried to capture the renovation process, so here's a look at the transformation:
Here's the front of the house. It's a duplex and while many people in this area remodel the doubles into singles, we decided to leave this one a double (for the rental property) and finish the whole attic so that we would have more space on our side. So our side is the only one with attic access and we love playing in our cozy attic! Also, we live on the side on the right with the bay window on the second floor!
Sadly, I haven't been able to locate any "before" pictures of the outside. It was in pretty bad shape. We added a new roof, lots of other new structural things and paint. It was a faint blue color and we decided to make it a bolder blue house.
As you can see, there's an empty lot next to our side of the house. It's not ours, but we pray for it daily and hope to buy it some day. Our kids love to run and play in it and it has been a huge blessing so far to have so much out door space in the city!
Here's the kitchen before...
...and here it is after! When we realized that we were going to be in this house long term, we decided to bring the stairs into the kitchen and open up the wall to add a banister so that we could open up the space more. I cannot imagine what the kitchen would be like if we hadn't done this. It's so much more open and we really love it!
The kitchen is really the hub of our house and we love it that way. The island is where we have all of our meals, usually because the dining room table is covered with homeschool stuff. It's a great room for hanging out, hosting friends, cooking and baking, and much more. The Berends' kitchen is similar and their kitchen layout inspired us to put the stove/oven in the island. Again, we love this room. When we first moved in, the living room and dining room were filled with boxes and we were so happy to have a kitchen that we felt that we could just live with a kitchen and bedrooms and be happy. Of course, in order to do homeschool and host friends, we eventually set up the other rooms.
Before, the living room had dark wood paneling on all of the walls. When we pulled the paneling down, we saw that there was brick and a non-working fireplace behind it. We also pulled the wacky door frame out and left the original wood work around the door.
After...
Here's the new back porch that will someday be screened-in and have a tin roof. For now, we love hanging out back here!
From this messy attic space...
...to a cozy third floor play room!
Our bedroom is another of our favorite rooms. It is the front room on the second floor, where the bay windows are. We love those windows and their light and every morning, look forward to opening the curtains!
While we worked on our house, we lived on the third floor of the Berends' house. They were gracious to extend the original plan from a 3 month residency to an 11 month stay! It was a huge blessing, not only to have such a comfortable place to wait out the work, but also to get to see them every day. Most days it was just for a few minutes and for the most part, I tried to help our kids give them space, but still, there were many great conversations and fun nights after the kids went to bed. It was definitely a special time and space and we are very thankful for their care and generosity!
Flannery especially loved seeing Julie and Ellis every day. She formed a special bond with those two!
Here are some pictures of our third floor "apartment"...
Here's a wide shot of the kitchen area. The bathroom is behind the wall with the fridge. Our bed is on the floor to the right of the french doors. The kids' room is through the french doors...
Amos and Flannery shared the queen and Levi slept in the closet in a pack n play. They got used to being in the same room so much so that Flannery is back in with the boys now, sleeping on the bottom bunk!
Here's a shot from standing next to the fridge. It's of the "man cave" portion of the third floor. Poor Mike didn't get to watch his big screen tv very much, but we definitely enjoyed it!
Here's our "kitchen" area. There was no stove but we made do with a microwave and an electric skillet. We also used the table for homeschooling and many days, you could barely eat at the table with all the stuff piled on! I got really good at managing clutter, as you can imagine!
Here's our "bedroom" in the Lego corner!
Whew! It's hard to believe that the last year is over and that we are in our house. While it was sad to leave the Berends' and their fellowship and community, it was a huge relief to be in our own space, and to be reunited with all of our stuff. We finally moved into our house on Friday, December 11, and prepared to celebrate the Christmas season!
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