My Diamond in the Rough

KeepItSimpleSister
by KeepItSimpleSister
I found a cute quaint little house with a fantastic view.. when everyone told me not to... I did...
I bought this 1950's house because I just loved the view. However, it needed a LOT of work... but I saw my vision in my head. Everyone told me I was crazy. The house had been inhabited by the "proverbial" little old lady with 100 cats!! But in my heart I saw a gem hidden in there...so I started. I call it the "HOUSE THAT CRAIGSLIST BUILT"
This wall came down to open up the kitchen, this wall divided the kitchen from the dining room. I thought just have it all open and not really have a dining room. We are in our 50's and really don't have a "family" dinner so this works well for us..I needed the interior demo'd so I put a posting in Craigslist that anyone who wanted some free cabinets could come remove them...
another way to help with costs is I sold everything from the house I didn't want on Craigslist.. For example I got $50 for the chandelier... probably worth more ...but hey I was going to toss it out..$50.00 paid for my kitchen pulls ...
It was quite a mess, had my fitbit on the day we started tearing into the house got 30,000 steps...in a day!!!
I scoured CRAIGSLIST everdayto find items that I needed that is how I found the peice of marble I used on the islandIt was process I found the cutting board countertops at Floor and Decor for a fraction of what people were quoting me..I also found my cabinets for $1000.00 on Craigslist. That saved me THOUSANDS of dollars...it was when we laid out what I bought and realized didn't have quite enough I decided to have the open shelving...
The white marble I got as a remnant from a marble guy, then I found a fabricator to put it in.. Carrera marble at half the price! The island I bought off craigslist from a couple redoing their kitchen, for $200.00. My husband finished out the other side of the island. Pulls I bought at Home Depot on sale. The entire 4' 8' island cost me $1000.00
The finished product!!! When you have a vision and heart you can create a lot of beautiful things, even when everyone thinks you can't!
the floor is a engineered floor bought a building supply house on sale for 1.50 a sq.ft. they were also running a special on the padding underneath. The chairs we found at AT HOME store...again...they were on sale!!
Here are the countertops we put in butch block at a fraction of the price, also found LED lighting store got under cabinet light strings for $25.00 a set...
More butcher block...
A better picture of the view !!
AHHHHH!!!!
The reason I bought the house... what a view!!! If you like I can put the rest of the house before & after's up and explain what I did and how I found the great material to use, if anyone would like to see it just let me know!
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  • Anita Hartzfeld-Alvarez Anita Hartzfeld-Alvarez on Feb 16, 2016
    Love, love, love the remodel! When you did the demo, did you discover any rot inside the walls? Missing insulation? This is always my fear when I'm remodeling. In fact, the home we're currently in needed serious wall insulation -- it was just simply missing in several sections. Couldn't believe it. We went with injection foam insulation because it's the only product that completely fills in wall cavities and air seals the walls. THanks for sharing!
  • Connie Etcheverry Connie Etcheverry on Jun 05, 2016
    Love the butcher block but have always been concerned about germs and listeria. Yes or no?
  • Dianne Mayer Dianne Mayer on May 29, 2017

    What happened to the wall that was being torn down ? I was anxious to see the after.

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  • Bbunny42 Bbunny42 on Oct 09, 2017

    Great house now and, yes, the view would almost be worth living in a pup tent. I pretty much did the same thing, but my house was a little newer and my view is woods and squirrels and sometimes cows. I LOVE it! The Seller's real estate agent saw it a few months ago and couldn't believe it was the same house. I have repurposed the dining room since then and I'm even happier with my house. Off to read some of your other house postings!

  • Beverly Tringali Beverly Tringali on Jan 13, 2018

    Great job, saw one problem, space by refrigerator looked a little tight. Just move island over .

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