(12 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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These are the pictures of my former home. I bought it 6 years ago, and with a small budget I turned it around. Very old people used to live there and it was almost abandoned, since no renovations had been done in years. I sold the house last year. (more…)
(29 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5) Loading ...
We bought the apartment in the fall of 2005. It had originally been a one-bedroom, but had been shoddily converted into a two-bedroom. The kitchen had been moved to the foyer, and only had two cupboards, a sink cabinet, a stove, and a small refrigerator. It all looked very hodge-podge. We were expecting our second child, so our goal was to maximize as much of the 700 square feet as possible and make the apartment tight and clean. We were drastic. Many of the pictures show the original details of the apartment. Rest assured, the pictures make the apartment look much more charming than it actually was. I¹ve included a few detailed “before” pictures that show up-close the poor the condition of the apartment. As I’ve looked back at these pictures, I’ve asked myself many times if we could have preserved more of the original details. But each time I look back and think about the condition and existing layout of the apartment when we bought it, I feel we made the right decision. (more…)
(33 votes, average: 3.76 out of 5) Loading ...
The house was built in 1929 and is typical of the era, tiny cramped rooms and really poor plumbing. I bought the house in 2004 with the intention of overhauling the place bit by bit, however 6 months after I moved in that eighty-year-old plumbing gave out and I literally ended up with a waterfall from the 2nd floor bathroom, through the kitchen, and into the basement. Needless to say the timetable for kitchen renovations moved up a bit. (more…)
(38 votes, average: 3.55 out of 5) Loading ...
When we closed on this apartment we knew we wanted to do a modern, yet warm renovation. It had the generic feel of so many New York apartments with its high-gloss wood floor, 50 layers of paint (cream being the top) and the single $5.99 standard overhead light fixture. Fine for some people, not quite enough for us. Robin and I had a small collection of warm, organic-shaped furniture pieces which would serve as a contrast to our planned dark floors and white walls. More after the jump. (more…)
(42 votes, average: 3.69 out of 5) Loading ...
Travis and I decided to buy a major “fixer-upper” in Westchester County, New York, when we decided our 850 square feet in Brooklyn could not accommodate a third child. The house we bought was appealing for several reasons: 1. It needed a complete overhaul, and the low price ensured we could renovate to our picky specifications. 2. We liked the open floor plan; the stair case at the back is unusual for colonial homes and was a good use of the space. 3. All homes with children should have a place that can be used as a “race track”… where the kids can run around and around in circles, thoroughly annoying anyone in the kitchen or living room. (more…)
(42 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...
The renovating of this apartment is the least interesting/entertaining part of the story of this apartment of ours. The getting in was the heartbreaker. But to sum up, I was way too pregnant, we had been homeless (living out of our suitcases on various friend’s couches) for the previous 10 months and this place was a dump. Years-worth of grime from chain smoking that was evidently never, ever cleaned. I understand that the dirt floors in Guatemala are kept cleaner than this place. (more…)
(34 votes, average: 4.53 out of 5) Loading ...
This is our current apartment in Brooklyn. We bought it so we could have more space (and yes, 650 square feet is more space). It’s probably not fair that the only ‘before’ pictures I have are ones when the previous owner still lived there. That’s why there’s so much stuff all over the place. It’s also unfair that the ‘befores’ are taken at night (with no sunlight coming in) and the ‘afters’ were taken during the day. I also regret not taking ‘during’ pictures because for a month the place was a wreck. Next time I guess. (more…)
