I’m delighted to finally sit down and share more on our home purchase last year and the current renovations underway (we are almost done!). Time has been flying by, but moments have also felt like the longest moments in time. When a delay happens, it feels like weeks, and when a certain stage of the reno is complete, we scramble to the next step. All in all, we are overwhelmed with joy to finally design and put all my saved and pinned images to use, buy our favorite fixtures, and continue to scheme and dream up future plans.
The search for our new home began in late 2019. We were rolling full steam ahead when the world began to shut down in early 2020. It felt like a huge risk to keep ‘looking’, but we cautiously decided to carry on with our home buying search. After passing up on several properties that needed more work than we were willing to do and putting offers in on just three other homes (which is unheard of … its typically 10 plus!), we found our house before it was even listed, in a neighborhood we were not even considering. The house never made it on the market because our offer was accepted on Easter Day of 2020.
When I think back, it was all meant to be and fell into place perfectly. The real estate market, like everywhere in California, is extremely competitive in the San Gabriel Valley, but thankfully things worked out in our favor (a small positive from pandemic), and I’d say we got pretty lucky.
However, it was such a strange time to visit homes for sale, as I remember most days being very gloomy and of course the streets empty. I like to think the silver lining was that since my husband had to work from home, we could both easily go and see open houses at any time during the day, and we carved out time in the afternoons to drive around neighborhoods (quarantine breaks). An eerie time while making a very big life decision.
Although there were some unexpected and lengthy hold ups to follow, everything worked out in the end. This home was built in the 1940’s. We fell in love with the home’s traditional style and charm. It is cozy and bright, the bones are solid, and the overall condition was pretty good, but it needed a major update and facelift … and we were up for that.
Truly making this little house our home by designing, planning, scheduling, ordering and fine tuning every detail, has been a labor of love. My husband, aka “the contractor”, has been the glue/nails/plaster holding this project together. We began demo in October of last year, with the main overhaul happening in the kitchen, the two bathrooms and our laundry space, which were all nearly gutted. The beautiful oak floors are now restored, the entire interior is being painted (that’s if our painters decide to show up today!), plus all new electrical and HVAC were installed. Never ever did I realize what I thought was going to be a small-ish reno, would take as long as it has, but here we are and we are loving how it’s all come together.
The glorious before and during demo pictures.
The progress is incredible. It is a small space, but much to be transformed. The overall layout will remain the same, but we removed all existing cabinets and tile from the kitchen and bathrooms and had custom cabinets built, which has been such an awesome process to watch unfold! (We love our cabinet maker and would recommend him in a heartbeat, a true craftsman!)
I’ll share more progress pictures on my Instagram and in a follow up post, as well as design inspiration and what we have purchased thus far. As usual, I have a wish list of what I want for fabrics, wallpapers, rugs and furniture, but we need to just move in first and get settled!
So excited to share more, as I have a soft spot for all things interiors and design. Have you been through a home reno before, and if so, what did you love most about it?
