Where to begin- bathrooms and HVAC and wiring, oh my! And flooring and windows and kitchens...

The hardest thing about renovating a house that needs a new everything when you have limited funds is deciding where to begin!  When we first went into the house it had holes in the drywall throughout, wires coming out of just about every wall, a huge switchboard type panel in the entryway, broken windows  and doors (most of which seem rigged to fit into their openings) and a LOT of bugs had lived, loved and died throughout.

Thankfully, we closed when it's still snowy and freezing outside so we have the good fortune to focus solely on the tragedies of the interior without getting sidetracked by landscaping or gardening that will need to be done soon.

The previous owners ran a business from the home so they had a lot of people living there (not so great for the septic system) and they wired every room for phones and computers. The picture above is of the main hub where all the wires in the house come from- we're hoping to pull most of them out before we tackle properly insulating the exterior walls and attic.

Right now we have no idea if the boiler or AC run. We've had the water off since we closed in order for the septic system to continue to be repaired.  Hopefully we'll have all that sorted out within the week. I'm getting pretty tired of dressing like a homeless woman to endure the bone chilling cold in there and I'm pretty sure the people at the grocery store up the road are tired of seeing us every time we have to use the bathroom!

Other than the basic necessities of septic, insulation and HVAC, the bathrooms, kitchen and a stairway in the middle of the main living space are our primary focus points for renovation.  We have a long list of wants but those are the needs. As you can see, the master bathroom leaves a lot to be desired.  We can't even get our shoulders through the doorway without walking sideways!                                                        

The small frosted window on the wall connects to the guest full bath to let some natural light in from the  big window in the master....I get it but really? Not ok.  

The guest bath is decked out in all pink tiles.  One challenge we face is where to get extra room to make the master bath bigger.  We're probably going to have to take some square footage from the master bedroom but we'll be depending on whatever general contractor we choose to help us sort out the details.  We're hoping to cut down on contractor fees so our goal is to demo both bathrooms, the kitchen, flooring and other misc areas ourselves.  I gotta say, I think demo is gonna be fun!  I wonder if I can recycle the smashed up tile somewhere. I need to look into that! Otherwise I may have a pink and blue table mosaic somewhere in the garden. 

The connecting guest bath in all its pink glory!

As I mentioned earlier, another main focus is the kitchen and an ill-placed staircase in the center of the open floorplan.  The kitchen, like the bathrooms, appears to be original to the 1965 home and is just as unfortunate.  Low, warped cabinets, formica countertops and wasted space all over.  NO pantry. I really want one and am hoping some creative genius designer the contractor brings in can find a spot for one that costs us close to nothing. If the kitchen depresses you, you can always throw yourself down the staircase put directly in a high traffic area two feet away.  I'd love to meet the person who originally thought up that layout. I need to buy a silk glove just to slap them with

it should we ever meet. 

The answer to the question you're wondering is yes, that is an actual 1980's era glass block wall on the side of the refrigerator eating up space.  This house has just about every horrid decorating item you can think of! The dead fridge is pulled out from the wall in the picture above because it had been leaking which warped the hardwoods underneath.  We don't care though because those hardwoods have to come up anyway. Some kind scavenger was nice enough to sneak into the house one night and steal the ancient stove and oven. Thank you kind stranger, you saved us the work! 

If you can't tell from the picture above - a past owner put wood floors on top of linoleum instead of taking the time to level it out with the rest of the floor.  They let it sit 2 inches higher resulting in little step downs that run the length of the kitchen and living room. Very deserving of a second slap in my book. 

Our plan is to remove the raised wood planks, relocate the staircase making it a switchback with its own door and then sand and stain the floors a rich brown, thereby making it the only rich thing in the house! Ba-dum-bump!

 The hardwoods help the main living area look pretty decent, even as run-down and dull as they are, they really make a difference. I'm so thankful we don't have to deal with carpet upstairs (downstairs is a whole other issue and will have to be a whole other post!).

This is the huge window located on the West side of the main room between the fireplace and the front door.  I'd love to make it a bay window seating area where we can enjoy the view!

Having a fireplace has been great so far, we light fires when we visit to stay warm! As you can see, the "open concept" room would be a hell of a lot better without a huge staircase smack in the middle.  

Another thing that's a "must" (vs. a want) is replacing the aforementioned doors and windows. They, like everything else, also appear to be original to the house and gotta go! None are efficient and I'm pretty sure that even a toddler who got angry enough could kick the doors in.

In the picture above you can see the slit window side entry door that leads to a large screened in porch area.  My hope is to replace that door with french doors and enclose the porch with windows so we can use it year-round....that's the definition of a "want"!