Here's the view two days before my parents moved in, October 2022.
Everything had to be scrubbed. No one lived in the house for over a year before we bought it, and it showed. We even scrubbed the fan blades and light covers.
We painted every wall and ceiling and piece of trim in the house (though if you look through the door on the left side of the picture, you'll see we hadn't painted the entrance yet. That came two weeks after they moved in.)
We took off all the cupboard doors, sanded them, repainted them, and added new handles.
The blue backsplash was my mom's request.
There's a new countertop made out of good-one-side birch that my dad really liked. It was finished with varathane. The old countertop was not the sort of thing you'd want food getting close to. Replaced the countertop next to the stove too.
Replaced the sink, the pipes under the sink, and the taps.
All new outlets.
Put up new curtain rods (or, in the case of the kitchen, we just put up curtain rods because there weren't any there).
That's just the kitchen. There are two bedrooms, the living room, bathroom, and an entire basement that needed attention.
Before this house, we never tackled any kind of DIY project by ourselves, beyond painting a room. My dad used to do most of it, but that wasn't an option with this place.
We called professionals for the big electrical and plumbing jobs. The plumbing was the biggest. But everything else was done by just my husband and me. (Actually, my aunt painted some trim in the basement!)
Dave (my smarter and less-handy half) referred to the process as "involuntary learning". And we swore up and down that we'd never do this again once it was finished.
It's not perfect, but my parents are delighted with it. Everything works, it's bright and clean, and it's in an amazing location. They seem genuinely happy to live there. And my aunt moved halfway across the country to live with them in it!
Every room in this house has a story now.
It's painting day for the trim in the #pandemicbath Almost done the 2nd coat then I can start nailing it all up. #DIY #Renovations #ThisOldHouse #PortAlberni
#pandemicbath #diy #renovations #thisoldhouse #portalberni
The problem with buying a home built in 1947 is that there's really no end to the ways in which asbestos can 5x the cost of your next home improvement project. #DIY #ThisOldHouse #HomeRenovation
#diy #thisoldhouse #homerenovation
Shattered Dreams.
Houses are what dreams & nightmares are both made of.
I often wonder what stories old, abandoned homes would tell. If their doors, walls & windows could share many stories from when people lived & loved inside the house.
#MonochromeMonday #abandoned #derelict #InTheWoods #creepy #decaying #FallingApart #NatureReclaiming #ThisOldHouse #WorldInMyEyes #BlackAndWhite #Neglected #forgotten #WhatRemains #ruins #WhatManLeavesBehind #monochrome #vanisle #PNW #PacificNorthwest
#monochromemonday #abandoned #derelict #inthewoods #creepy #decaying #fallingapart #naturereclaiming #thisoldhouse #worldinmyeyes #blackandwhite #neglected #forgotten #whatremains #ruins #whatmanleavesbehind #monochrome #vanisle #pnw #pacificnorthwest
Bathroom ceiling painting complete! Walls will have to wait until we get from Toronto next weekend. #pandemicBath #painting #DIY #HomeImprovement #ThisOldHouse #PortAlberni
#pandemicbath #painting #diy #homeimprovement #thisoldhouse #portalberni
#ThisOldHouse is the #ComfortFood of #Television and Iβm here for it.
#thisoldhouse #comfortfood #television
I just watched This Old House 44x14 "Newburyport: Bed Race" https://trakt.tv/shows/this-old-house/seasons/44/episodes/14 #ThisOldHouse #trakt
I just watched This Old House 44x13 "Newburyport: Off-the-Shelf Custom Look" https://trakt.tv/shows/this-old-house/seasons/44/episodes/13 #ThisOldHouse #trakt
Finally getting some of my finished projects (and other stuff) hung on the walls. We've only lived here 4 years already.. ππ€·ββοΈ
#fibreart #fiberarts #rughooking #embroidery #art #narwhal #thisoldhouse
#fibreart #fiberarts #rughooking #embroidery #art #narwhal #thisoldhouse
10 #TV Shows to #GetToKnowMe
1. #Scrubs
2. #RescueMe
3. #Justified
4. #DoctorWho
5. #DawsonsCreek
6. #FamilyGuy
7. #GoldenGirls
8. #ThisOldHouse
9. #ParksandRecreation
10. #TheMandalorian
What are yours?
#tv #gettoknowme #scrubs #rescueme #justified #doctorwho #dawsonscreek #familyguy #goldengirls #thisoldhouse #parksandrecreation #themandalorian
Anyone affected by the #Netflix password sharing charges? So instead of getting $20 from us a month for a service we watch occasionally, they will now get zero. Grandkids can instead get cartoons from free services like #Plex, #distrotv or #plutotv. I will live on #thisoldhouse 24/7 on it's own channel in #plex. #disney is still ok as there are some series we still need to binge. #discoveryplus is currently our staple Is #netflix going the way of #thebird.
#netflix #plex #distrotv #plutotv #thisoldhouse #disney #DiscoveryPlus #thebird
I just watched This Old House 44x12 "Newburyport: Design Talk" https://trakt.tv/shows/this-old-house/seasons/44/episodes/12 #ThisOldHouse #trakt
Nothing like coming home after a long week of working too hard and finding a pinhole leak in a pipe in the kitchen. π€¬
Fortunately it's in an accessible place where we'd already taken the sheetrock down to work on something. Gonna get some Flexseal at the hardware store tomorrow and fix it.
#SaveMeBobVilla #ThisOldHouse #ThisOldF***inghouse #CabinInTheCountry
#cabininthecountry #thisoldf #thisoldhouse #savemebobvilla
For this weekβs #FensterFreitag the windows on my new (very old) house. #WindowFriday #ThisOldHouse
#thisoldhouse #windowfriday #fensterfreitag
After 6 weeks of work, did final cleanup today on the bedroom makeover -- paint, new door, flooring, trim etc. That's the "I'll do that this winter" project I've had in mind for the last 10 summers.
#thisoldhouse
I watched a series of This Old House where they restored a three-decker house in Dorchester, and I spent the whole time wishing Nashville allowed houses like those everywhere.
I love that you could buy one and rent out the other two units to help pay for it, maybe to friends or family, and the identical floorplans make them predictable and easier to build.
Nashville's housing crisis needs many kinds of solutions, why not add some of these?
#nashville #threedecker #thisoldhouse
Nothing makes me feel dumber faster than Tom Silva explaining how to do something.
I'm sure my hallway light is haunted.
It keeps flickering and burning out.
I'll hold a sΓ©ance tonight.
If that does not work I'll check the wiring.
I just watched This Old House 44x11 "Newburyport: Demo Find" https://trakt.tv/shows/this-old-house/seasons/44/episodes/11 #ThisOldHouse #trakt