Moving on up: Starter Stories with Urban Compass
There has been unbelievable amounts of boxes, stress and excitement around here lately. With both Mollie and me building homes from the bottom up, you can imagine where the above mentioned things come in to play. For me, building a house has always been the "dream". So when the opportunity arose, I jumped head first. Both houses sold much quicker than anticipated and since we both went out on a whim and just decided one day to list our homes, we were left with short time find new homes, while in the meantime bunking with the in-laws. Yikes! I still can't believe it all happened so fast but I couldn't be more happy.With the whirlwind of moving finally coming to an end, I thought I would share the before and after photos of our first home together. Me doing so could not have come at a better time, as I was inspired by Urban Compass to share my story. Urban Compass has a new project they've got going on called Starter Stories. If you haven't already heard about them-Urban Compass helps NY folks find great neighborhoods and places to live in New York City.So without further ado........ 
This home was such a labor of love. Steve's previous home was a tiny three bedroom in a pretty scary part of town. So when we saw this monster of a home while on the hunt, we were thrilled. It was in a great neighborhood and had loads of space.We bought the house on a short sale, so naturally we got a killer deal. But like most short sales, the house was anything but move-in-ready. Yikes, again! The house was covered in head-to-toe yellow paint, green linoleum and a lot of dirt. It was, to put it plainly, outdated and dingy. But with a lot of blood, sweat and tears, we made that house a home. A home that will forever hold a piece of our hearts. So many memories...tear!
A brief description about the updates done to each room:1. All flooring was ripped out and replaced. Tile in the baths, kitchen and entryways. Dark hardwoods were laid in the living room, family room and stairs.2. The railings were all refinished with a fresh coat of white paint. This was one of my favorite transformations but boy was it the hardest. During this HUGE undertaking, I came down with the flu on top of having an intestinal virus. TMI- right?! And if that wasn't enough, we took on this project right before listing our home, so the project needed to be completed in a week. Not one of our founder memories.3. The kitchen was refreshed by refinishing the cabinets with white paint, adding hardware, taking down the awful florescent light and replacing with cans.4. New baseboards, fresh paint and new light fixtures in each room.5. The master bath was a complete gut. New everything including adding a vanity and enlarging the shower.6. The three-quarter bath aka the "library" was also a total gut. New flooring, vanity with vessel sink and fixtures. Instead of painstakingly removing the lovely wallpaper, we chose to cover it up with bead-board for a cleaner look.
Stay tuned for some BIG things coming up with both of our new houses! I think you'll love them as much as we do!A big thank you to Kellyn of Urban Compass for allowing me to share my Starter Story!