One year ago, we spent one week in Dallas to begin our relocation process. All 3 boys were interviewed and tested for school placement. Greg was busy at work in his new role at the new company. And I was trying my hardest not to jump ahead and look at homes until we knew where the children would be attending school. You can't put the cart before the horse right?
The week passed quickly and not a home was seen. As we drove to the airport to return to Boston, we made one turn to look at the school in which we were hopeful the boys would attend and stumbled upon a home for sale. We wanted to take a peek inside, really just out of curiosity. On a whim, we called the estate agent listed on the sign and she met us there within a couple of minutes. We opened the door to a lovely home "with good bones" built in the mid-seventies, only needing some "freshening up and a coat of paint". We quickly passed through the home and were back on our way to the airport, not really giving this house a second thought.
Fast forward 2 weeks. We received a phone call from school inviting all 3 boys to attend in the fall. Now the task of finding a home was at hand.
So, after seeing that one home for less than 5 minutes, we decided to make an offer and it was accepted. We were going to give it a facelift and make it ours. It happened that fast. No lie.
I flew back to Dallas for 48 hours, met with several general contractors going over work to be done and obtaining bids. Contractor was secured. I flew back to Boston and demolition began the next day. Our plan was to complete the work over the summer, Greg overseeing it while in Dallas each week for work. I would spend the summer with the boys in Boston enjoying every last moment we could there. Work would finish in August just as we would arrive in town and we would live happily ever after. That was the plan anyway.
In reality, we are still working on the house, interior renovations are complete for the most part. The exterior renovation is underway now. In the meantime, I thought I would share a few before and after photos of what we have done.
The dining room is just off the entry of our home. It was wallpapered in a brown, iridescent floral paper. The ceiling was painted red around the perimeter and the raised detail showed an interesting crackle blue paint finish with gold accents. The photos really don't do it justice. The dining room also offered a lovely ceiling fan and two outdoor lanterns flanking the bay window.
The photo above was used by the estate agent as a part of her marketing materials. It sure helped give us an idea of what it could look like furnished. We were dreaming now.
And here is where our work began. We stripped the walls, removed and replaced the fixtures and took off the shutters to open the windows and let in some much needed light.
We added the Phillip Jeffries Rivets wallcovering too. So after just a bit of "freshening up", here is our dining room now:
I have my eye on a side table and a piece of art for this room but I love the wallcovering so much I hesitate to cover it with anything. Maybe one day.
More photos to come, our landscaper is here to go over backyard plans. Story of my life these days.
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