When we first moved to Prairie Village, we bought a fixer-upper. We redid the entire thing from top to bottom, I don't think there was an inch of space that wasn't touched. It took us six years to complete, and even up until the day we put it on the market we were cramming in last minute projects.
That house was a labor of love. Our literal sweat and tears went into everything we did. My husband did most of the work himself, with lots of opinions thrown in by me - ha! The kitchen and bathroom we had help with licensed contractors because of the way our loan was structured. But aside from that it was a true testament to stretching our creative (and physical) capabilities.
While we're in limbo with planning out our current house - details to come soon! - I thought I'd share a tour of the OG PV Cape Cod. Looking back, I really wish I would've documented more the before and afters because it's crazy the transformation that happened. I mean the kitchen still had 1950's metal cabinets in it. The bedrooms on the first floor had layer after layer after layer (after layer!) of wallpaper on it. Somehow that was my job to remove it.... Point being! This time around I decided to document it so I could easily look back on all we accomplished, even if we're getting a lot more outside help this time. In our defense when we started our first house we only had 2 kids!
I will say my design choices were pretty bold - so if it's not your cup of tea I won't be offended in the slightest. This time around I've gone a little softer, and a little more neutral. But as with everything my tastes have changed and evolved with time. Without further ado:
We painted the front door yellow, added the shutters, and painted the garage door.
The kitchen was probably my favorite room in the house. I was obsessed with the plate rack (even if my husband didn't think it was worth it - ha), as well as the gas stove and the farmhouse sink. ALL THE HEART EYES. It was small, but imho very well designed with the pull out trash, the pan drawers, and of course the cork floors. When we bought the house, the door to the basement was in here right on the wall where the Kitchenaid mixer is. We moved it into the dining room so the stairs would go straight down versus having a sharp right turn to go down. And hello to more kitchen space!
I also very much miss the coatrack my husband built on that wall. So functional, and so beautiful! I'm very lucky he takes my crazy ideas and runs with them.
Those bookcases used to have crackled mirror as the back. We knocked those out and added headboard as the back and painted them to match the color of the walls in the dining room. We also added that door on the left that goes to the garage. Previously you had to go out the front door and open up the garage door to get into the garage.
I remember the dining room well, the goal was for it to be completed before our third daughter was born. She surprised us being two weeks early, so that didn't happen - ha! It did get done eventually, and adding in the picture ledge and board and batten I think totally transformed the room.
Our master bedroom had lots of wallpaper, and somehow that became my job to remove it all. Stress relieving manual labor, but also very annoying. I'm not sure what possessed me to paint it chocolate, but all the designers say smaller rooms with minimal light work with dark colors. Plus have you seen Sherwin-Williams color of the year? I'm ahead of my time!
Our guest room we painted royal purple, and in hindsight I probably should've gone more neutral in the 2 bedrooms, but you live and learn. And I loved them while we lived there, and that's the whole point right?
Our older two girls shared a room for the majority of the time we lived there. This was the very first room we completed solo. Those stripes were a true labor of love, and a testament to my husbands patience and clear love for me considering he had to sand down the walls in order to get them smooth enough to paint the stripes evenly. My guess is he will never offer to paint stripes again - ha! The blue I picked out didn't end up like I wanted it to, but there was no way we were painting again. Our girls loved it, and that was enough for us! The beds can also be bunk beds, but with all the slanted ceilings, and how large the room was it made sense to have them separate.
Apparently I had a big thing for accent walls? But I loved this room and brought two babies home to this room.
The upstairs bathroom was probably my second favorite room after the kitchen. I absolutely loved how it turned out, and of course it was one of the very last rooms to be finished. I still love that floor. SWOON.
The main floor bathroom was nothing spectacular but we did add the bead board to try and lighten it up with all the gray tile. We found that for a steal at Home Depot, and it was just too good to pass up. Also let me tell you it was almost impossible to find a vanity that I liked that was up to code for these tiny Prairie Village bathrooms. But in the end, we prevailed!
Hope you enjoyed the tour of the OG PV Cape Cod! Sometimes I just like to look at it to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and just because the process is slow, doesn't mean we won't love the end result. Home renovation is not for everyone, but somehow it just keeps sucking me back in!
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