Our Fixer Farmhouse
Welcome to our fixer farmhouse. When we first drove up its driveway, the ranch fencing and trees reminded me of going to visit our ranching relatives in the Central Valley with my granny and mom. This was the house for us, but after five plus years of trying to get an offer accepted I doubted there was any way we'd get it. It took a while, but we did, and have really loved making it ours over the past few years. Aside from the kitchen countertops and fireplace wall it has been a DIY effort. Thanks for taking a peek!
2011
First visit to the farm.2011
Front yard.2011
Front of house.2011
Kitchen.2011
Dining room and fireplace off of kitchen.2011
Dining room area.2011
Downstairs bathroom.2011
Staircase.2011
Master bedroom.The Kitchen
The first room we really focused on was the kitchen. We knew being a DIY endeavor it would take a while, so we did one big push to tackle the three main projects we knew we wanted to do right away (moving the fridge, new base cabinets and new wood flooring) and then chipped away at other projects depending on our time and budget.
Kitchen Before
Kitchen before
The room was divided into a kitchen and eating area. We wanted to rework the room so it felt like one large farmhouse kitchen.Kitchen Before
The dining room table was the first thing you walked into when you entered the house.Progress
We extended the wall from the kitchen to enclose more of the room from the entrance and to move the fridge. It also gave us a mudroom hallway on the opposite side.Progress
The viking range was the ultimate Craigslist score for us. We kept the sink and stove in their original areas to help with the budget.Progress
We assembled and installed cabinets from IKEA, and used an inexpensive countertop that we could repurpose later. The center island was another Craigslist score (originally from Restoration Hardware).August 2012
Tom installed the floor in July (not the most exciting use of a vacation, but so worthwhile!). We plan on stopping here for a while.Spring 2014
We found new doors on ebay and ordered Jeld-Wen windows at Home Depot. The old wood stove is out as is the wall of bricks. Tom is putting up more shiplap and I'm assembling IKEA cabinets for a baking area.Summer 2014
Marble countertops are in, hooray!The Living Room
Living Room before
Living room before
Progress
Moving in--one of the first things we needed to address was the carpet!Progress
Rug is out and getting ready to install French bleed wood floors.Progress
Did an IKEA hack bookcase wall for the empty space when you first come into the living room. Tom put up the Billy bookcases and then finished the fronts with molding.Bookcase
The completed IKEA hack book wall.Progress
Hardwood floors in, time to take a break!Progress
We had a general contractor (thank you Aaron!) build a new fireplace for the gas insert. Living room windows are updated.Dining Area
Dining area set for Thanksgiving 2014.Soap Room
Once the soap business started growing, it became apparent we wouldn't be able to work out of the home office for much longer. We had a very large garage workshop that were able to divide to make a two car garage and the soap room Here are a few photos.