homeowner dreams

fingers crossed, i'll be a first time home owner of an old house by the end of this month. the little house was built in 1921 and sits perched up at the top of a block overlooking the neighborhood and straight across to the West Hills. The house has been a rental for the past several years and shows signs of "worn" everywhere, as noted in the inspection report. I told the realtor that I wasn't intimidated by a fixer and so here I am an, about to buy a project house ... a house I can make my own, slowly over time.

first things first, we'll be pulling up the ragged carpet to see what sort of shape the wood floors beneath are in. peaking under the register, they appear to be clear vertical grain fir ... pure gold in my book. the real test will be to see if there is residual cat smell that has seeped through to the sub floor. you see, we're getting a deal and a half on this home and I think the main reason why is the renters didn't seem to be bothered by the full litter box and a hummed and hawed about even taking the risk of buying a home soaked in cat urine but choosing to accept worse case scenario we were greatly relieved to learn that it might be contained to the litter box, as when we spent several hours in the house during the inspection, after the realtor requesting the boxes be removed/cleaned, the smell was all but gone.

so the bigger items to tackle, but not prior to move-in items, that became clear in the inspection report is a new roof, new water heater and new furnace in the near future ... ugh the reality of home ownership has hit even before getting the keys.

ok but back to the fun stuff that keeps me motivated. paint. a whole lot of white paint ... i love a clean, fresh, bright palette. a few other low hanging fruit would be different light fixtures/switches and working in the yard! a yard a yard with a fire pit and garage! i imagine i'll get around to posting about each of these individually but figured i'd start with the big picture first. so if you're interested in following along on my thrifty take on home restoration projects, then check back soon.

and here are a few photos from the listing