My husband and I live in a cute, post- war, flagstone covered house. It was built in the late 1940's and still has the original hardwood floors , plaster walls and architecture. The basement was turned into an apartment, sometime between the 1970's and 1980's, so we have two full floors , in what should really have, only one. These are the things I loved about the house when we first decided to buy it. It also had a fully matured gardens with trees and fairly good privacy from out neighbours who are fairly close. We live in one of the largest metropolitan cities in North America, but our house is like a little country, cottage in a great neighbourhood. Some of our best friends are even our next door neighbours. Sounds like a dream home- and to a certain extent, it is. But as many of you know, older homes are not without there problems. Along with the old-fashioned workmanship and craftmanship, comes outdated plumbing, and even more outdated decor.
Luckily, my husband-to-be( at the time) and I saw the potential of this house, and were able to purchase it at an unbelievably low price in the early 1990's, when housing prices here were rediculously low, and interest rates lower than they had been in years. You see- I was living in the basement apartment for two years, and met my husband- to- be shortly after I moved in. He was my next door neighbour ( Awwww- isn't that sweet). It's a good thing the relationship worked out, or it could have been incredibly awkward. But I'm always up for a challenge, and he was a single guy ( in love) or at least in lust. He also had a a ten year old daughter to care for every- other- weekend. My landlady owned the home and was also a real estate agent. After a year of dating, my husband-to-be moved in with me ( what a big move that was!!!!!!!). Just a few boxes passed through the door, and many jokes about dating the boy- next-door.
Needless to say, it was quite crowded in the basement, and then we had his daughter with us every other weekend. We knew we had to get a larger place and started looking for houses to rent. We didn't think we could afford to buy a house in this city because it was rather expensive. As fate (and luck) would have it, my landlady decided to put the house up for sale. We had been thinking of moving anyways, but just for the "fun" of it, asked her how much she wanted for the house. The price she quoted was unbelievable ( the housing market had fallen very low at this time), so she came over and walked us through, step-by-step, the entire process and we didn't even have to pay a realtor fee. She had lots of properties and was just too busy to continue renting them, so we got it for a steal for the area.(It's worth at least twice what we paid for it now!!!!!)
Now the real fun was about to begin. We stayed in the basement apartment for several months while we ripped up old, gross red carpet, took down even grosser and more disgusting wallpaper, sanded and varethaned floors, painted- the list goes on and on. When we finally got it semi-nice looking, we moved upstairs and rented the apartment. Woo Hoo!!!!!!- three incomes. A new homeowners dream. I bought sooooo much furniture and redecorated as much as I could while working a full-time job. We've been hear 15 years now, and most rooms have been decorated at least once, some twice, and some not-at-all (like the basement rec. room). After five years, we stopped renting the apartment, and I made a guest bedroom, art/craft/sewing studio in the old kitchen area, and moved my husbands shaving kit to the basement bathroom. Can you say-" chicky's got her OWN bathroom". We still have to make a nice T.V. /mancave room downstairs, but that will be a future post. Can't wait!!!!!!!
Anyways, along the way I will show you pictures of each room- some before and after if I can find some old pics. As well as any new reno's and crafty/sewing projects I do around here.
And then there's the garden- also a major rehaul over the years. But here are a few pics for you to see the the flavour and theme of my house.
These are just a few pics taken last summer of the front.....
and back of my house. But I don't want to give too much away.......
so you will have to keep reading and stay-tuned for more.
My little piece of French Country/Cottage in the city!!!!!!!
