Some people might say I am a dog lover!

Saturday morning Ryan called and told me there was a dog that had been hanging around the Montclair house for a few days and had been playing with the workers all morning. He was running around chasing sticks, just sitting on the porch watching them work, and of course trying to get inside. Ryan had already called our vet, Walnut Grove Animal Clinic, and thought we should take him up there. 


Just a little shout out to Walnut Grove, if you live in our area I would highly recommend them. They are amazing!!!


Anyways, I got Stella's kennel, her leash, and a bag of dog food for the trip. He was more then happy to hang around us and do what we wanted him to do.

That is asphalt on Ryan's pants not drool/dirt from the dog.

We had him checked out and he was perfectly healthy. We were going to pay to board him until Monday and hopefully find someone that would take him by that time.

We left the dog at the vet and when we got back to the Montclair house, one of the workers said a guy had been walking around looking for a dog and left his name and number. Ryan called the guy and he said that he rescues dogs and has 19 at his house! This is one of his rescues that had gotten out of his yard that was nearly five blocks away.

The guy said he had actually just had someone contact him about adopting this dog, so i was glad to hear that b/c I was really falling for the dog. If you have been thinking about getting a dog I can give you the name of the guy who runs the rescue.  

Renovating these houses is always interesting, and you never know where they might lead.

Montclair Interior Update

Things have been moving very quickly in the interior. 

All the tile has been laid in the bathroom. We put our favorite black and white basket weave tile on the floors and the white subway tile in the shower. We went with dark grout this time; its called silver from Mapei. We also added traditional bead board around all the walls. 


The vanity was installed yesterday and I think it looks great. I love the color of it and we are going to do a dark granite countertop.

The cabinets have been installed in the kitchen and look wonderful! The whole house has its first coat of paint up and it really pulls it all together. It is amazing how quickly a house can be transformed. 

The exterior has been painted. I wanted to get a good picture of the whole house but each time I have been over there so many workers and trucks are there its hard to get a good shot.


The house will be put on the market in about two weeks, so keep an eye out for more posts as the final finishes take place. 

Scared???.... Ryan's not

Well, we bought the house that as kids you would have avoided when trick or treating. The house that if your ball went in its yard you were too afraid to go get it. 

I have driven down this street many times over the years and never even noticed this house. Which as you can see by the landscaping is not hard to do.

Here is a better picture so you can see that it really does have potential. The first thing everyone comments on are the lovely awnings.

This converted carport/garage was listed as a den. A separate den with a window unit and a sweet awning that attaches it to the house... We are going to be converting it back to a garage.

This is the back of the house complete with more awnings and more overgrown landscaping. The left side of this picture is going to have a large master suite addition.


This is the biggest project that we have taken on so far. It is going to take more work and more creativity then ever before. Ryan was ready from the get go; I on the other hand had to be convinced, but now I am excited.


We took possession of it today and are diving right in. 

Exterior Update

The exterior has had a huge face lift!

• A new roof with architectural shingles has been put on.
• New Jeld Wen windows replaced the old ugly ones. This helps the curb appeal and also the lighting in the interior.
• All the landscaping has been ripped out
• The iron work has been replaced with nice wood columns and a new railing.
• We have a sample paint color up that is most likely the color we are going to use. 

We think the house looks so much better but still has a long way to go. The shutters are being built, the landscaping is in the works, and of course painting.


I will do an update on the interior soon.

Moving right along

The Montclair house is seriously moving right along. A lot of progress has been made in a very short time. The first step was demo, where they ripped up the carpet and cleared out the kitchen and bathroom. 

Look what was underneath that ugly carpet!!! It amazes me when people put carpet over hardwood.

The kitchen looks so much more open with this wall knocked out looking into the dining room.


The new roof is already on, the old landscaping has all been ripped up, and the new windows came in today. They should be installed by the end of the week if the weather cooperates. 


I will post a picture soon of the exterior and all its changes.

Have I told you I LOVE old houses?!?!?

When I went with Ryan to check out the demo going on at the South Montclair house, look what I found laying on the floor.

While the workers were taking out the old kitchen cabinets this beautiful key fell out of one of the drawers. The house has original door hardware on the interior doors but it's not the type with key holes, so I figured it was just a random old key.


Believe it or not it actually went to the back door. I was amazed that they still had the original hardware on the door and it still worked (not all that well but it did)! I highly doubt they still used this key, but still very neat. As you can see there were a number of other locks that had been added over the years.

 

Unfortunately we aren't going to be able to save this door but we are planning on replacing it with something that looks very similar and functions properly.

 I always think how neat it would have been to live during a time when this was the key to your house. Can you imagine carrying keys around like this in your purse or pocket?

 Ryan pointed out that if we lived during that time you probably didn't lock your doors and they probably rarely used this key at all. This made me start thinking.... 


My first thoughts were of Fulton, Kentucky, the small town where my parents grew up and where I was born and lived for a short while. Some of my favorite memories are of the times I spent there as a child with family and friends. It is a small town where everybody knows everybody, the houses are old and beautiful, and people still rarely lock their doors. 


I have always slightly longed for a life a like that. I do feel I got a taste of it since we spent so much time there, even after we moved. I feel that this is where my love of old houses started. Houses that were built when craftsmanship was still important. When subdivisions weren't just thrown up so quickly and everyone of them looked the same. 


That's why the work that Ryan and I are doing is so important to us. We want to restore these older houses to their former beauty and retain the character of the old while having the amentities of the new. We want families to come live in these houses and love them like all of their former owners have.

This is a picture of Ryan and me in front of  my great grandparents house in Fulton. Bubba and Dandy, (what we called my great grandparents) built this house in the early 1940's. Some family friends now own this home and I am so glad that another wonderful family gets to enjoy this home as much as my family did. A wedding shower was thrown for us at this house and it was so special to me.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the key but I am going to find a special place for it.

New Project on Montclair

Well we're finally starting on our next project!!  

This is another house in the High Point Terrace neighborhood in Memphis and is located on S. Montclair. We are buying it from the original owners! This is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house that is very outdated but has been well taken care of and is structurally sound.

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves in this post.

The washer and dryer are in the kitchen which is something we are definitely going to change.

Here is another view of the kitchen from the hallway. Obviously we are going to rip everything out and completely renovate it!!

 This is the bathroom in its current state and is actually a good size. The only thing that will remain after demo is the tub. I have a lot of ideas of what I want to be done in this room.  

This is a picture of the dining room. I actually love the vintage feel of the chandelier but Ryan says it has to go. Now the geometric shelves are another story; they definitely are out. All of the rooms have carpet in them but they do have hardwoods underneath that I am sure are going to shine up beautifully. 

Check back soon for updates as the project moves forward.