Hey there. So I realized today that like every year, 2016 flew by me, and I only have another week until this year comes to an end...and I somehow let over six months slide by without posting. But since Andrew is working today and I'm home by myself, I thought it would be the perfect chance to sit down and put some words on paper (figuratively speaking) before we send off 2016 with a bang.
First off, I just have to say holy cow so much has changed since I last posted in March. Andrew and I moved to Indianapolis, both started new jobs, bought a house, and have spent the past few months doing renovations. Looking back at the past couple months, I probably could've shared on here a little more, but I think I've been waiting to do some GIGANTIC post that shows awesome before and after pictures and puts me in the ranks of those HGTV house-flipper hosts. But if there is one thing that everyone always says about renovation, that I didn't really understand until I dove into it head first, is that everything takes So. Long. Luckily I'm seeing enough progress that I get still get excited and can really envision what our home is going to look like...even if that vision is a couple years away...
So. About our home. It's a historic bungalow that sits in the Meridian Kessler neighborhood of downtown Indianapolis, and is nestled between an assortment of colonials, other bungalows, and tudors. It was built in 1924 and has TONS of potential to be the most adorable house on the street (can you tell I am already a little biased with it? hehehe). The attic was renovated into a master suite at some point in the past, so unlike many homes of the area, we have a spacious master bedroom and bathroom upstairs, while the other two bedrooms are downstairs. Despite its charm, pretty much every space in the house needed an overhaul, so obviously we jumped on the chance to do a flip :)
As soon as we closed on our home, we decided the first thing we were going to tear into was the floors. The living and dining room were clearly original wood, but most of the house was covered in white porcelain tile. So not my style. However as we worked through the floors, we decided to veer slightly off course and rather than tackling the floors for the whole house, we are now tackling each room on its own. I'll write more about those adventures in posts to come, but am going to break down this reno into the chunks it has become...and then hopefully post some super cool before and after pictures!!
Tearing Into the Floors...
So much to my surprise, I found out that it is WAY easier to demo than to put something back together. That being said, tile that's been glued down to huge pieces of plywood isn't the easiest to remove. To get the tile up, we got a 3 pound hammer (which I've been told is not the same as a sledgehammer, however I liked calling it my baby sledgehammer nonetheless) and a flat pry bar. Literally all you have to do is put the bar under the tile edge and hit it until it knocks the tile loose. Sometimes, you accidentally make contact with the porcelain, which kicks off a spark and makes you worry that the house you just bought is going to catch on fire. Other times the tile decides to break into a thousand tiny pieces that have to be individually pried up. Or SOMETIMES you find that the tile is glued to linoleum and can literally be peeled off the floor. Regardless, I've found that knocking up tile is not on my list of favorite of activities.
Gotta get the sister selfie!
Cleaned and puppy approved :)
Because my life is filled more with renovations than experimenting with new recipes, my posts will probably be more about the house for the next few months (or at least until I get a new kitchen which I'm sure will be a chapter all to itself). That being said, let me know if there is anything you want to hear about and I'll try to share as much as I can!