House to Home: part 1
October 15, 2015
Have you heard the phrase, “those that do for others, don’t do for themselves”? Or perhaps a better example is, “The cobbler’s children had no shoes”. As a designer, those phrases have always been the case for me and my abode. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved creating a home but it’s been on an extreme budget (think second hand stores (except for mattresses, I shudder at the thought) and dumpster diving), but this past May my husband and I went all in and purchased a home in town that has been worn down, and neglected for thirty plus years.
When we first heard this home in our dream neighborhood was “coming soon” we immediately called our realtor and drove over to the house. It was in utter disrepair, but we were blind to the reality. . . we only saw our future home. After a competitive bidding process against developers who wanted to tear down the historic home and build two new homes on the almost half acre site, we came out victorious only after promising the owner that we would renovate the home back to its original splendor.
With title and keys in hand May 25, our contractor started on May 26 clearing the overgrown land and demolishing the damaged interiors. It’s already been a long journey, with many, many lessons, despite the fact I’ve been in the business for over 13 years, but it’s been a dream come true. I’m excited to share more stories from this experience in future blog posts. I hope you’ll come back to read more and to see the progress of this gem in the city!
Cheers! Momo