Ya’ll. The Iowa City housing market was a tricky one. We searched and searched. When we first looked at this house I saw SO MUCH potential. I was drawn to the natural light and the ranch style layout it offered. I’ll admit, I too had a hard time seeing past the dark, plaid and oak. But each time we looked at it I kept dreaming up new plans and ideas for the space. We still have projects to knock out but we’re so happy with how far we’ve gotten with some paint! The most time consuming overhaul was redoing the trim. We removed the bottom trim and replaced it with new white trim…because it would have been WAY too hard not getting it on the floor. I also wanted the base trim to be a bit wider. My sweet husband learned how to use a table saw and borrow a nail gun…and voila. The rest of the trim was primed white and then painted white…in ONE LONG WEEKEND. My mom is a rock star ya’ll. She flew down to visit and I dragged here into yet another home renovation. It runs in our blood I guess. Believe it or not, we didn’t change the wall color! It just appears SO much differed because of the change in color of trim. Next we tackled light fixtures. We picked up three new fixtures from Menards and my husband installed them. It was amazing the difference good lighting made!
The cabinets. Oh the cabinets. I have such a love hate relationship with them. Though I would have preferred a flat surface cabinet front, replacing kitchen cabinets was not in the budget. We used Restolums cabinet transformation kit. We’re about a year in and it has held up wonderfully! I have two little ones…so that’s saying a lot! Our last biggest transformation was the flooring in the bedroom and in the living room. I stressed about it for months on end! There was carpet EVERYWHERE. With kids and a dog the carpet wasn’t working. The problem? The previous owners had recently installed beautiful real wood flooring in the kitchen and hallways. We couldn’t justify removing it…but we also learned it was discontinued (and expensive!). Instead of trying to match the flooring with something close, we opted for an entirely different transition. We went with a wide plank, dark LVP. We’re so pleased with how it looks and how impermeable it has been! You can see the drastic transition in the fourth picture below.
The same flooring installed in the living room was also installed in the bedrooms as it was carpeted as well. Best part?! My kids spilled kinetic sand AND milk in their rooms…and I wasn’t even mad. It was SO easy to clean up.
Often I look around at my home and continue to see all of the projects that still need to be completed. Sometimes it takes looking back on your progress to realize how far you’ve come! And how much I have to be thankful for. We love this Iowa home!
Another great transformation from “house” to “home!” It is so fun to help and watch it in progress. Great job Katie for being able to see the potential and extra kudos to Brance for learning how to use power tools and a measuring tape like a pro. (Measure twice, cut once 😬)