Step One: Buy the House

So it is official, as of this past Tuesday, July 15th, we have a house! The inspector said that everything looked good except a few minor things that were expected. We close on August 7th and the fact that the house is just sitting there empty is driving me crazy! I fantasize about getting in and starting to paint and fix stuff up. The house is on Hampshire Ave. I told Jeremy that we should call it the Ham-shiiire house (emphasis on the i) because it sounded classier. When he said that made it sound like we were hobbits, I decided that we should just stick with Hampshire. 

Below are some photos of the place. 

There are two larger projects to do on this house in addition to the cosmetic stuff. First, we are going to remove the window in the kitchen facing the back of house and replace it with French doors that will lead out to a deck in the backyard. For anyone that knows Jeremy and I, we love our decks and we love our grilling time. So, this if course is one of the things that we are most excited for. The second big task is taking care of the basement. How to describe the basement... it looks like a haunted seventies dentist's office that went to ruin. It comes complete with peeling linoleum flooring, wood paneling and paneled ceilings with fluorescents. It also smells like BO. Here is a picture of my step-dad David, obviously his nose is not as sensitive as mine and he is smiling because he sees all the unfulfilled potential this basement has to offer! 

We plan on gutting it next spring and adding a bathroom down there. It is a great big room that should give us a lot of options. 

The one thing I am super excited about is the fact that the basement has a cellar. A super creepy cellar that may have been used for some illegal operation but STILL! I don't know why I am so excited about this fact, maybe I envision having wine and beer fermenting in the "real cellar." I don't know. It is a cool old house thing and I like it. Stop asking me to explain myself!

The house was built in 1947 and is a story and a half. There are some kick ass wood floors throughout that Jeremy is super excited about since he has never lived in a place with wood flooring, as he reminds me. It also has three bedrooms including a loft on the second floor. 

If you don't know much about my family, let me just say that home renovation runs in our bloods. My dad renovates old historical homes for a living in Saint Paul and won an award from the Historical Preservation Society. My uncle and dad have been building, designing and renovating homes for the last 30 plus years. My mom and step-dad live in a renovated house in Minneapolis and so do me and my sister in the Nokomis area (currently anyway). Needless to say, I am super pumped about another project and Jeremy, having quite a bit of building experience himself, is quite up for the task. 

I am excited to share our renovation journey along the way; this should be a large task worth documenting. Keep coming back for more updates, we have more than enough projects to take care of.