I don’t write a lot about where we live, except to say that sometimes I truly think I hate Rhode Island. It’s not the state’s fault- it is beautiful here. Really. But the expense can turn things ugly, and when unrelated circumstances, like faulty health insurance come to light, it’s not hard to lose sight of those things that we have come to love about a place.
One of these things is our home.
Upon its purchase, the ceiling collapsed and the plumbing burst. The wiring was cloth. The stair stringer detached (slightly) from the wall. The walls were plastered in wood paneling that we could not afford to replace and the kitchen looked like something out of Little House on the Prairie. So, two months before we were married, Dave and I embarked on the biggest undertaking of our lives: foreclosure home ownership.
First, let me show you everything we looked at- which came to over 30 homes. Yes, these are real places we thought about buying…
Through a series of blogs, I will show you one of the truest tests of love: owning a home. We are not carpenters, painters, plumber, electricians, architects or renovators… or are we? There were nights that we thought were mornings, whole weekends we stayed up, and days without electricity at all (I call it The Bride’s Successful Diet). We are so happy with the house, and though living on a busy street has its drawbacks, our home is something we built- the inside houses the love we work so hard to cultivate and the baby we created through that pairing. Sure, we’d love to build a home from scratch, but the character and warmth that comes from a 1929 craftsman is one that can’t be beat… enjoy the ride- it’s gonna shock you!
I always have to admire couples who can do work like this together, because my ex and I would have been exes a LOT sooner if we had ever attempted something like this! 😉
Can’t wait to see more!!
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My husband and I bought a old 1912 fixer-upper eight years ago….still not nearly close to being done. I would LOVE to just hire someone to do it all….but the kids sucked the funds dry!
I appreciate this post more than you know! It says a lot (positive) about you and your husband. Good for you guys! When we moved into our 1950’s home, the garage was GONE and there was a piece of tarp on the side of the house! All of the windows are still old and it’s very drafty, but we loved the house. We sacrificed my husband’s much-needed bonuses when my daughter was born in 2004 so we could work a deal with his company (a building co) to do an addition with a very tight two-car garage and another bedroom. Our rooms are tiny, but it has CHARM!
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I can’t wait to read more about what you did! Brian and I had to do a lot of work to our house, too, but I complained about it a lot more than I care to admit! I love old homes (our house was built in 1900), but they are definitely work!!
Owning a home is truly a labor of love. We always talk about our hopes of having a newly built home or building from scratch one day. But some of our funniest or best memories are from living in the quirkiest homes 🙂
I love seeing home renos! We are doing ours soon too! Craftsman style homes are my fave! Can’t wait to see what you’ve done!
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I am so exited to hear about your house hunting journey! We ended up looking at over 60 houses in person before we found the one we bought. And we went through some really rough ones – one of which was dubbed “The Itchy House” because when we left, we were itchy afterwards for hours. Went straight home after house hunting and got right in the shower. Ugh!
I’m also so excited to see the improvements that you made! You know that’s my thing!
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What a feeling of accomplishment you both must feel! I personally have yet to go through this yet, but I can only imagine the labor and hard work. Good luck to you and your family! 🙂
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