The down and dirty: downstairs floorplan

We had a fantastic holiday weekend, complete with Christmas songs, presents and good company. How was your weekend? I hope you had a great time as well!

Sound the trumpets, hear the heralds cry! Just as promised I present you a first peek at the downstairs floorplan of our Ugly Duckling courtesy of the great software at floorplanner.com

If you look at our list our biggest changes to the downstairs floorplan will happen in the upper right hand corner, namely the mudroom/laundry/bathroom area. The bathtub will go bye-bye and its space be added to the mudroom/laundry area while the full bath is being decimated to a half bath aka powder room (we're not sure if we're going to keep both doors. We figure we'll start with two doors and get rid of one if we feel like it after living with it for a while).
The other big change is opening up the walls to both staircase and livingroom. There're a lot of arches going on: from hallway to livingroom and hallway to smaller hallway, from livingroom to diningroom and from diningroom to kitchen. (It's not like you can close doors if you have a cat. She'd surely take that as an affront.)

For an old house it has a decent amount of closet space downstairs (upstairs not so much). Some time in the future the large window in the kitchen will make the transformation to a French Door opening up to a deck in the backyard. First things first, though. First I need a -kitchen- :o)

Here're the things that need to be done before we get to move in furniture downstairs

• update/repair plumbing in entire house
• update/repair electricity in entire house
• update/replace hvac system
• repair damaged trim/molding where necessary in entire house
• make roof repairs as needed
• scrub entire house to within an inch of its life
• turn downstairs full bath into half bath
• take space from downstairs bath and add to mudroom for laundry space
• tile downstairs half bath
• tile mudroom/laundry room
• demo kitchen
• salvage hardwood floors underneath linoleum or lay tile
• install kitchen cabinets
• install appliances
• open wall to staircase (remember, the Ugly Duckling is currently chopped up into a downstairs and an upstairs apartment) to create a single-family home
• open wall between entry hall and living room
• refinish all downstairs wood floors
• paint downstairs: fireplace, walls and ceilings and trim
• update light fixtures

Trust me when I tell you I'm already wielding drywall saw and paint roller in my head at night ...

We have a winner!

Husband and I have been busy playing with Polyvore creating mood boards in order to help us visualize possible designs and color schemes for our rooms.
For the most past we're incorporating our old furniture pieces and are using window treatments and wall colors as new ingredients to freshen up the look (after all, we have no reason to expect for unlimited funds to magically appear that will afford us all new furniture - even though that would be nice). Frankly, the biggest selling point for home ownership is the freedom to paint everything your way. My favorite room in our rental is the den and it is painted a lovely shade of "swine". Flesh-colored walls, seriously? I'm starting to believe it is probably the best-selling Ooops-paint on the market. I can't wait to get my hands on buckets of paint and a roller :o)

So, anyways, before I take care of a few errands and household chores and then run off to volunteer at our son's school I thought I'd post the more or less finalized design for our hallway that hubby and I have come up with.

Hallway - yellow/grey by Littleoldhouse on Polyvore.com

Since the entry hall stretches over two stories we decided to go for a fresh neutral color and chose a light grey against the crisp white of some fun batten and board. We both really love the bright happy yellow of the classic patterned fabric for our window treatments and the warmth of the aged brown of both hardwood floors and the big travel trunk. It will find a new place of honor in our entry hall and get to house our scarves, hats, umbrellas and gloves in its many drawers rather than being relegated to serving as the base for our Guinea pig cage (yes, sad but true. Practicality made me do it!).

Since we're both big NYC fans we really dig the artwork but might trade it for a similar shot from Jacksonville. Jacksonville has a great number of bridges that lend itself well for architectural shots and we've seen some really really cool artsy shots taken at the harbor with cranes and other industrial equipment. Another option is go the historic route and choose some vintage postcard designs or city maps instead.

Here's the To-Do List for the hallway:

• re-open wall to stair case
• re-create archway to living room
• repair electric (ie repair sockets and switches where necessary)
• repair drywall (from opening walls)
  
• repair and refinish hardwood floors
• repair and paint trim and moldings
• paint walls
• install batten and board
• update light fixture
• move in furniture
• decorate

And while we're at it we might as well

• remove ugly metal awning outside of hallway window
• replace crappy storm door
• replace exterior door lock
• paint exterior door

Pretty straightforward, right? We can do that in a weekend ;o) Right? (Probably not. It's most likely going to take 2 weekends but we can hope, yes?)
I'll be dabbling with Floorplanner.com over the weekend and maybe I can show you Before and After plans on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Flags & Fences

This morning - like every morning, I must admit - I swung by our Ugly Duckling to wave "hello" and blow kisses after dropping off the munchkin at the school bus stop. Our little old house was flanked by a gaggle? flock? murder? pride of little orange flags fluttering merrily in the early morning breeze - the land surveyors had been over to measure the property and by tomorrow we should have the report in hand.

Huzzah for yet another step accomplished!

It was also good to see that the odd angle that the fence makes in the back is NOT the actual property line and that our backyard is indeed rectangular. Heh. It needs a prettier fence though; the chain link is a disgrace, not to mention entirely inappropriate for the historic neighborhood, even though it's grandfathered in and not visible from the street.

Hubby and I have been pondering which kind of fence to put up, especially around the front yard, and we keep going back and forth between black Aluminum fencing or a white picket fence. Let's take a look at some inspiration pictures, shall we?

Here we have aluminum fencing: while picket fencing would be more historically accurate our Historic Preservation Committee does allow this kind of fence which appears to be rather popular. It looks good with most styles of historic houses in Springfield and is definitely more of a security feature than a picket fence.

[Black Aluminum fence with arched gate by perryfencing.com]

[Aluminum Fence style 101 by Fencedirect.com]

Now on to the picket fences! White picket fences are like the heroine in a bodice ripper: pretty, romantic and rather high maintenance. Just ask Tom Sawyer and his friends about keeping up with the paint. Picket fences would be the most accurate choice for our neighborhood from a Restoration point of view and both houses to the left of our Ugly Duckling already sport bright white picket fences in their front yard. I personally have discovered that I favor them slightly more than the Aluminum fences because they appeal to my love for all things country.

[scalloped picket fence by illusionsfence.com]


Victorian picket fence by rippelsfencing.com.au]

It was far easier to find nice photos of picket fencing than of black Aluminum fencing but in all fairness I decided to show off two of each. I'm slightly biased toward picket fencing channeling both my history nut self and the country gal inside of my, hubby is still on the fence (heh ...).

Thoughts? Warnings?

It's the spirit of the season

Since I'm obviously in the mood for making lists I thought I'd add our "Master List of Projects" as well as a time line of events for easy reference to the blog. See? Up there underneath the header of the blog? It says "House Hunting Timeline" and "Ugly Duckling to Pretty Swan" and links to two static pages that I can update quickly without having to wreck my brain for content for an entire blog post.

Just for kicks and giggles :o)

She's making a list and checking it twice ...

The Ugly Ducking was built in 1919 and hasn't seen much love in the past 2 years (and more...).

Abandoned by her last owner in spring 2009, this little old lady has been vacant for more than a year and sat neglected until we came along with enough vision to see the potential in her old but sturdy bones and the charm in her grey facade (we also had a little help from the Ugly Duckling's sister houses to the left who look sharp in apple-green and mandarin-orange).

There is -lots- that needs to be done, from fixing deferred maintenance issues over bringing things to code to giving both the exterior and the interior a facelift, and the Ugly Duckling is not yet move-in ready.For one, she doesn't have a kitchen :o) Not a real one, you know, where the only thing missing are the appliances. Nuh-uh, we need an entire kitchen, top to bottom, because what's in there now needs to go. Far, far away! Where nobody will be able to find it. Ever again. (Yes, it's that bad. It's "I don't take pictures for the parents" bad ... heh)

And you know what? We're so stinkin' excited to start our first foray into home ownership with mega demolition you wouldn't believe it. Yeah baby! That's the good stuff ... ahem, well, maybe we romanticize this renovation idea a bit and we'll see how we feel about it once we're knee-deep in construction but for now it has us all giddy with excitement.

So, here's a...ahem, basic list of things we want to do/will do once we've got the keys:

• update/repair plumbing in entire house


• update/repair electricity in entire house


• update/replace hvac system


• repair damaged trim/molding where necessary in entire house


• make roof repairs as needed


• scrub entire house to within an inch of its life


• turn downstairs full bath into half bath


• take space from downstairs bath and add to mudroom for laundry space


• tile downstairs half bath


• tile mudroom/laundry room


• demo kitchen


• salvage hardwood floors underneath linoleum or lay tile


• install kitchen cabinets


• install appliances


• open wall to staircase (remember, the Ugly Duckling is currently chopped up into a downstairs and an upstairs apartment) to create a single-family home


• open wall between entry hall and living room


• refinish all downstairs wood floors


• paint fireplace brick


• paint downstairs, walls and ceilings and trim


• update light fixtures

Now we're moving on to the upstairs

• refinish stairs


• salvage hardwood flooring underneath linoleum on landing and upstairs hallway or lay new floors


• get proper door for closet to heat pump


• re-caulk tub in upstairs bathroom


• refinish wood floors upstairs


• turn upstairs kitchen into Master bath and walk-in closet by building a wall and creating two rooms out of the existing upstairs kitchen


• update plumbing for future Master bath


• lay tile in Master bath


• install bathroom fixtures


• turn secondary hallway into 2 hall closet (this will make sense once I show you the floor plans)


• paint downstairs, walls and ceilings and trim


• update light fixtures

Outside we'd love to

• install a fence for the front yard


• replace the chain link fence in the back yard with something prettier


• update the landscaping


• paint the window frames white


• paint the gable a pretty creamy-yellow color


• install a deck or patio with a pergola
  

And some time down the line we'd love to

• add batten and board or wainscoting to some rooms (like the dining room, for example)


• rip out the linen closet in the upstairs bath


• move the door of the upstairs bath one wall over (those two steps will make bathroom much bigger)


• replace tub with a big walk-in shower with a glass enclosure


• install all new windows


• paint the entire house a new fresh color


• get rid of the old tank on the right side of the house
  

Are we crazy? Maybe a bit. We realize it's a long to-do list (not to mention these are just the projects I can come up with of the top of my head...heh ) and without the beauty of a streamlined 203k Rehab loan this wouldn't be possible at all but we love the old historic houses in our neighborhood and - knowing how beautiful they are when they are revived and restored - we know it's worth it. No, the Ugly Duckling doesn't have a smidgen of Victorian Grandeur or Greek revival classiness but it's a home with a history in the best neighborhood in the world :o) What's a little construction dust compared to that?

Whaddayawant

You know how they always ask "What are you looking for?" at the beginning of those house hunting shows? That usually starts this looong list of all the things you could possibly cram into a house, from 4 bedrooms over 3 baths to a porch, a patio and a 1-acre yard, a fireplace, hardwood floors, character, charm and, and, and. And while you can cram these things into a house, chances are it can't be crammed into your budget. Not even close. Nuh-uh. Besides, it's a wishlist like the kind you write up for Christmas when you are seven. The kind where you leaf through those glossy toy catalogs and write down every.little.thing. because your parents told you that simply checking off things with a marker does not constitute a wish list. Heh.

Your first draft of the "things we want in our house" list makes your real estate agent twitch and squirm but she takes you out to look at houses anyhow. She knows that after a while of looking at houses and getting a better idea of what's on the market and what fits into your budget you will amend your wish list ... or stop looking.

Hubby and I didn't really start this adventure resolved to buy a house. If you go back to this entry here you know that we began with a crazy idea of having my parents invest in real estate, not us. We were (and really are still) perfectly happy with living in our historical rental. Before the real estate market crashed we were sorely priced out of our own neighborhood. Houses, even fixer-uppers, went for crazy amounts of money that were way out of our price range. Now, things look different, much to our benefit. We made our house hunting adventure difficult by declaring that we

1. wanted to stay in our neighborhood (119 city blocks in an area of approximately 500 acres)
2. wanted a 2-story house (bye-bye darling bungalows, hubby insists on upstairs bedrooms)
3. needed either an extra bedroom or an area with enough wall space for our library (~1900 books and counting)
4. wanted at least 2 bathrooms
5. wanted 4 bedrooms
6. wanted a working fireplace
7. wanted some cool historical features such as original fireplace mantels, Victorian fretwork, etc.
   
8. wanted a big yard
   
9. wanted 1-2 porches, one preferably upstairs
10. wanted at least 2000 sqft
    
11. wanted to spend the same or less per month on our mortgage than what we are currently paying in rent
    

For the past 6 years we have been living in a 1500sqft 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom upstairs apartment with a livingroom/diningroom combo, with a large dead end of our hallway as library and a butler's pantry as main storage, and a lovely 250 sqft front porch. After looking at a dozen houses or so, we began to modify our list in that we

1. really wanted to stay in our neighborhood
2. wanted a livable fixer-upper
   
3. needed wall space for our library
   
4. wanted at least 1.5 bathrooms
5. wanted 3 bedrooms (one of which would be a dedicated guest bedroom)
   
6. wanted a backyard
   
7. wanted a porch
   
8. wanted to spend the same or less per month on our mortgage than what we are currently paying in rent
9. didn't want to deal with short sales (we aren't that patient)
10. didn't want to fix structural issues
    

Point 1 and 8 were the ones putting us in a pickle. Limiting one's search to 119 city blocks -and- a very strict low budget will send you straight to house hunting hell. Luckily, we were hoping for a livable fixer-upper rather than a turn-key house so that helped. The fact that most Springfield houses are spacious and have wood floors and fireplaces did too.

So, how does the Ugly Duckling compare to our List? Let's Take a look

1. wanted to stay in our neighborhood [Score!]
   
2. wanted a livable fixer-upper [Not quite - it'll take a few weeks to bring electric, plumbing and kitchen up to code and up to speed]
   
3. wanted a 2-story house [Score!]
4. needed wall space for our library [Score! We get a whole room]
5. wanted 3 bedrooms (one of which would be a dedicated guest bedroom) [Score! The Ugly Duckling has 3 upstairs and 1 downstairs]
6. wanted a backyard [Score! even though it's not the biggest]
7. wanted a porch [Score!]
8. wanted to spend the same or less per month on our mortgage than what we are currently paying in rent [Score!]
9. didn't want to deal with shortsales [Score! It's bank-owned]
10. didn't want to fix structural issues [Score! Score! Score!]

From an investment point of view, we're playing it probably as safe as you possibly can in an urban neighborhood (the greatest in the world, by the way) although I have to admit in all our soul searching and house hunting this has never been anything we discussed in great detail. We are buying a home for our family. To us, the Ugly Duckling is home first and investment second. Granted, some of the changes we have planned for it will increase its resale value but that is not the reason why we're making them. Right now it meets our needs and wants and if that should change one day we'll have to reconsider and perhaps sell and move on.

Until then, all we want to do is love on this little old house and our neighborhood and be happy :o)

A Christmas Quicky

I admit it: Germans do things differently!
Our Christmas here has become a darling mish-mash of German and American traditions all wrapped into my favorite season of the year (despite the weather):

• We enjoy an Advent wreath with candles and we look forward to each Sunday leading up to Christmas when we get to light first one, then two, then three and finally all candles.

• Finnley is excited that he gets his own home-made Advent calendar every year finding treats every one of those 24 days until Christmas in a small bag every morning.

• On the 5th of December we polish our shoes and place them on the porch so St Nikolaus can come and fill them with treat and small presents if we've been good and with coals in case we have been naughty.

• We serve a hearty Chicken soup for lunch on the 24th (my family's tradition) and pizza for dinner on the same day (hubby's family tradition)

• We give a first round of presents on the evening of the 24th (my family's tradition) and find Santa's bounty underneath the tree in the morning of the 25th (hubby's family tradition)

And since we're staying home this year traveling neither to PA (his family) nor to Germany (my family) we get to bake and craft a lot!

Here at the Gibbons' homestead, Christmas Crafts always start with the Advent wreath. I have long given up keeping a fresh pine wreath alive in this mild weather and use a faux wreath but it looks alright. New white candles, sprays of Ilex and red berries, candy canes for whimsy and green and white ribbon are my staples - nothing beats the classics! I tentatively added a few pine cones but they were too dark, too brown and 'vanished' from sight amidst the dark greenery. Craft paint to the rescue!



A light drizzling of white acrylic paint to simulate snow and voila - much prettier and more visible pine cones! Easy-peasy.



And here they are, in their full glory, as part of our pretty Advent wreath!