The name originated as a joke, because this remodel was supposed to take 10 months and ended up stretching beyond 2 years… so I liked to say that this is my first and last remodel due to the stress. “I’m just going to live here until I die and never ever do it again!”
Then I realized that it was actually a great descriptor of our design approach and intent with this remodel: we purposefully steered away from anything modern or trendy, not only because it’s not our personal aesthetic, but also because we didn’t want it to feel dated in 10 or so years. It’s our last remodel because we embraced design that’s already stood the test of time. Not only will we not want to go through this again in the coming years, we won’t have to!
Since leaving the world of renting, I’ve lived in dwellings built in 1860, 1910, 1907, and now 1932 (how modern!). I’ve always said history never goes out of style and I truly believe it.
We approached this remodel more like archaeology than anything else. Our conceptual narrative was that if someone were living in this home in, say, the 1950s, they may have remodeled some rooms but not others, so different rooms in the home may have their roots in any decade between the ’20s and the ’50s (’60s, if you count the backyard!). And that’s just what we did. We restored as much of the home and its elements as we could. And what needed to be new, we made sure it felt old.
We had so much fun and learned so much throughout this experience. I can’t wait to share it with you!
From the many design iterations (which I’ll invite you to weigh in on), to our journey to find a replacement for a single original bathroom tile that was lost during demo, to the treasure found in the walls during construction, to how we are rehabbing our yard after 2+ years of construction… I’m excited to share it all.
Check back soon for content. (This page is a placeholder created in a flash. I promise the actual blog will be of higher quality!)
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before and after: 1st floor
before and after: 2nd floor
