I’ve decided to dust off the site and shoot for a little catch up, but 9 months since a post leaves a lot to get into. To spare you some time, I’ll try to make this brief, but I do plan to revisit some of these on later posts. If you follow us on Instagram, then you already know most of the story, although, you may also know that we (specifically, I) have been terrible about catching before and after shots of projects. I try, but I always seem to get so caught up in the excitement of something that I completely forget to snap the before progress. I promise to be better. Really.

Okay, here we go. Our dream for a mid-century modern came true in late May 2019, when we closed on our cute, 1957 red ranch, complete with Trent’s favorite – the butterfly roof. We made it through the battles of a tough market and a little heartbreak over a deal that fell through after a difficult inspection. But, in the end, it was as if this one had been waiting for us all along. In fact, it was only hours after we had to pull the plug on the rough inspection home that this one popped up. While it is missing practically all of the mid-century modern character on the interior, the exterior had us at hello. It helps that the size and floorplan are just what we were looking for and now we get to have fun molding it into our perfect home.

So, yes. We’ve done quite a lot since moving in. I’ll visit some of this in later posts, but we immediately started with swapping out light fixtures while attempting to unpack and settle in, because we just couldn’t wait to do something fun. But, that was quickly followed by a lot of not-so-fun stuff. As much as we love trees, there were upwards of 14 massive ones that had to go as they were either too close to the house or in a couple of cases, just not able to be saved. The house felt like it could breathe once those were out, and then came the battle with the red squirrels. Most notably, the great battle of the scratching squirrels at 4 a.m. that took place every day in the master bedroom walls. After a highly welcome visit from a critter control expert, the squirrels finally left the building – unharmed, I might add. In case you aren’t familiar, red squirrels may be cute little things, but they are absolute terrors. Trust me when I say you don’t want them anywhere near your house.

In between sewer line and plumbing repairs, HVAC duct work that involved creepy and strange things stuffed in the ducts, gutter replacement, a full exterior paint job, and major crawlspace and basement work, we managed to fit in some fun exterior updates and landscaping projects. But, let me just say that if I don’t ever have to shovel massive loads of pea stone again, I’ll be perfectly alright. Although, I can’t argue with the satisfaction of the end result.

Besides all of the work on the house, which has consumed nearly all of our free time, we’ve had some other big changes these past nine months. Trent used to travel every week for a long term work project, and when I say he traveled every week – I mean every week for the past nine+ years, except for about a one-year break back in 2016. Since October, that project ended and he’s now working at home. It’s been an absolute dream to have a normal life with each other, one where we have more than a day or two on the weekends to try and cram everything in. I can’t tell you how happy that makes the both of us.

Then, before the move into the new digs, we did experience some serious heartbreak with the loss of our sweet cat, Lucy, who will forever remain Princess Pickle Pants in our hearts.

It was a sudden loss that still hurts to this day, but after some time in our new home, we both knew we were ready to share our lives with another furry little quadruped. In late July, Mr. Conan O’Brien the orange cat came to live with us, and I’d say he’s fitting in perfectly.

We both look forward to embarking on some smaller projects indoors while winter settles in, some of which have already kicked off – and there are larger projects still to come that I can’t wait to share. (Maybe my new year’s resolutions should include before and after photo goals.) However, this coming week, I’m just excited about a little holiday decorating and hosting a small Thanksgiving in our new home. This place definitely feels like where we are meant to me.

Hello, everyone. I’m Trent, the other half of this team and the lazier of the couple when it comes to blogging.

I’m going to share a house that I just can’t seem to get out of my head. It doesn’t work for us as it sits – it’s only 2 bedrooms – but I love the beamed ceiling and I’m hoping that the home and the lot might support renovations that would make it work for us.

I love the lines of the roof and the front elevation. I think we could improve the windows on the front of the house, however.

I can envision this with a mid mod garage door, some bigger windows for more light and dark stained wood soffits. Replace the railing on the front porch with something cool, for certain. The jury is out on painting the brick – I’d need to see it in the flesh to decide, but I’m leaning toward yes. I don’t love that tawny/beige brick in most cases.

Did I mention the beamed ceiling?

The great room combines the dining and living spaces, and is open to the kitchen. A kitchen that needs a ton of help.

I know purists would lobby for keeping the mid century cabinetry – as it looks to be in good shape – but that’s just not us. Sorry. This would be a complete gut and reconfigure if we bought this home. We would be gentle in removing the cabinets, though, if they are in solid condition. That way we could donate them to Habitat For Humanity or something similar. The paneling would all go and be replaced with drywall, as well.

The good news is that it’s a decent size for a 2 bed ranch built in 1958 at just over 1900 sq/ft. Both bedrooms have en suite bathrooms, as well, which is nice. Evidently it was built as an “executive home” for someone who worked at one of the local GM plants. We’d need to add at least one bedroom for this to be the house for us. I’m hoping that might be possible because it’s a cool house and it sits in an underappreciated neighborhood (in my humble opinion). The two beds keeps the list price down, but it needs to be given all the work we’d have to put into the house.

We’ll be visiting this home, and others, when we go back to Lansing over the holidays. I guess I’ll get most of my answers then.