Introducing the Classic Cape

I've renovated a lot of houses over the years, but never a classic center hall Cape Cod. So it's pretty exciting to try something new!

It has some curb appeal, don't you agree?

According to city records, this house was built in 1927, with 1344 square feet.  So it's not a big house, but it has lots of potential.  The previous owners bought it in 1967, so it's certainly ready for some updates.

Like many center hall homes in this area, the front door opens to a tiny foyer with the stairs and a small closet directly in front of you.

To the left is a really big living room.  It's 12 x 27, with a big original fireplace.  

I'm not exactly sure what the bungee cords are for, but given the insulation, I'm guessing a cold draft came down from the chimney. 

To the right of the foyer is the dining room.  It's a nice sized room and I kinda like the wallpaper, although given all the renovation we'll be doing, I'm not sure it would survive.

Look how the sun shines in!!!

And the kitchen?  Well it's unusually large for an old house and I can't wait to figure out how we can update it!

But as you look closer you start to notice things.  Like the water stained ceiling tiles, that are drooping in numerous places.  And the 9" floor tiles, which almost always means asbestos. And who knows what else we will find as we start to peel back layers!

On the back of the house is a 3 season porch.  A really, really tired 3 season porch.  

When we were looking at the house I jumped up and down, to see how sturdy it was.  My husband immediately looked panicked 😂.  

We went outside and looked and discovered the porch is perched on a bunch of concrete blocks.  And evidently when it started to sink, they jacked it up and popped some 2x6's to hold it up.  Obviously not good building practice!  

Upstairs there is a nice wide hallway that leads to 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.  The first bedroom is nice sized, with two large windows and a decent closet.

Look at that built in linen cabinet!  So cool!

The second bedroom is a bit smaller, but gets tons of natural light from a south east facing set of windows.

The third bedroom is pretty small and has this interesting saran wrap festoon hanging from the ceiling.  I guess it's to catch water from a roof leak?  There is a lot of flaking plaster!

I guess this is instead of a bucket to catch a roof leak?

And the bathroom?  Well you can probably guess we will gut it down to the studs.

The backyard is larger than most SoPo yards and has a deck built against the 1 car garage.  

While the photos are helpful, a floor plan may make it easier to put it all together.

So our assessment - it's got good bones with lots of potential!  What do you think? 

Pin It

Basements Can Be Beautiful

It's hard to believe a basement can be beautiful when you start with something like this.  It was wet (even though we were in the midst of a drought) with a homemade french drain running across the floor.  The antique furnace ate up much of the space, with octopus like ducts stretching all over the place. 

And then there was the scary staircase that we had numerous contractors fall down....before we decided it had to be replaced with a code compliant one.

Such shallow steps!!! 

New, code-compliant staircase

What else did we do? We had a french drain installed around the perimeter and a sump pump sends all the water outside.

All the pipes drain into the new sump pump

A trench with drainage pipe was installed all around the basement

We added spray foam insulation that both insulates and air seals all the gaps around the foundation and sills.  This makes the house more comfortable, but also prevents the condensation in summer that happens when warm moist air hits the cold walls - creating that icky 'basement smell'.

And finally, we could start finishing the space!  Drywall went up on the ceiling and we installed wide format beadboard paneling on the walls. 

The result?  Well, does this look like your idea of a finished basement?  It's a pretty amazing space! 

The new staircase is such a wonderful improvement! 

While the finished spaces are great, we were still able to create a utility room for laundry and storage - as well as all the mechanicals. 

And with more people working from home, a dedicated office space is incredibly important! 

See - it is possible to take a wet, nasty basement and make it into fabulous living space that the whole family can enjoy!  

Pin It

When 1 becomes 1 1/2 - Bathrooms that is!

This house had an extraordinarily large bathroom when we started the project.  It just didn't seem like a good use of space!  So my goal was to figure out how to improve it!  Big jetted soaking tubs aren't popular anymore, particularly when they leak into the kitchen.  This one had to go!

Here was my goal - I wanted to create a full bath in the hallway, a half bath for the primary suite and a laundry space.  Ha!!  That might bave been a bridge too far!

I tried lots and lots of options, but ultimately, the laundry was too much of a stretch.  However, I was able to make the full and the half bath happen.

First step was to take 2/3 of the space to make the hall bath.  The tall ceiling created a bit of drama - a huge improvement over the former low ceilings. 

One of my favorite features is the antique style mirror over the vanity.  I've used this same mirror a couple of times - including in my own house!

Tall ceiling for the win!

And because storage space is always highly prized in a bathroom, we added this cabinet of drawers under the sloped ceiling.  Great use of space! 

And what did we do with the rest of the space from the original bathroom?  We were able to create this half bath for the Primary Suite.  It's not big, but it's got wonderful functionality with built in storage, a medicine chest and vanity space.  It's going to be so great for the new owners! 

Pin It

Bedrooms at the Craftsman Cottage

The dramatic Before & After photos continue on the second floor, thanks to changing the ceiling height from a very low 6' 6" to 9' high.

Opening up this space gave us opportunity to move walls around

But it wasn't easy.  We had to open up the ceilings and install a new structural ridge beam across the peak of the roof.  This required lots of new structural supports below it, to transfer all the load down to the foundation.  But in doing so, we got light and airiness that just didn't exist when we started.

We also removed the chimney, which gave us lots of options for moving walls around and making the bedrooms larger.

With all the structural work done, we turned our attention to creating 3 comfortable bedrooms in roughly the same spot we started with.    

This floor plan helps illustrate all the changes we made. 

The primary bedroom saw huge changes - it got taller.  It got wider.  And a skylight brought in some light and fresh air. 

How did we make the room so much bigger?  There was a bathroom closet and shower behind this wall.  We stole that space for the bedroom.

And we were able to add a large closet on this wall, when we moved the doorway from the hall.  A large closet in a 101 year old home is pretty unusual! 

Like the primary bedroom, the second bedroom is now larger and more spacious, because we moved the chimney that was in the hallway. 

Taller, wider and so much brighter!!!

This room didn't have a closet, so we added a custom built storage unit into the corner of the room.  The baskets function as drawers and there is hanging space behind the custom doors.  Oh and the triangular cubby?  Well that's just fun! 

Can you believe it's the same room?  Of course it has new walls, window, beadboard on the kneewall, and a skylight that floods the room with light. 

And last, but not least, is the third bedroom.  This bedroom was small to start with.  But it shared the same dark color scheme with low ceilings that made it feel even smaller. 

While we couldn't make it any bigger, the increased ceiling height provides a sense of spaciousness.  And a built in closet provides some much needed storage.  

Look at the change with new ceiling height!

This is now the perfect room for a child or a home office!

Finally, it's noteworthy to see the changes we made in the hallway.  It was abnormally large, given the size of the bedrooms.  But by removing the chimney and making the hall smaller, the bedrooms gained useful space.  

Note how low the ceiling was! 

The door to the Primary Suite is where the chimney used to be. That added 3' to both bedrooms

Everyone loved all the changes we made when they visited the Open House.  And the new owners love it too!  Changing these rooms was a massive project, but so worth it! 

Pin It