Can you believe we just passed the two-year mark of living in our current house?  I feel like, between years two and three is when our MN home started really feeling like ours and I think the same is true for this house.  While the Minnesota house just needed some updating and a huge injection of personality, our current Maryland house needed a complete renovation.  Even though we weren’t looking for a mid-century ranch, we felt like this home was a little gem and, since it’s in a desirable neighborhood, was worth the energy, time, and investment to renovate.  We also liked that it hadn’t been updated and was being sold as-is so we could be the ones to renovate to our specific tastes and needs.  It was going to be the biggest home makeover project we’ve ever tackled and we knew it would be hard at times, but we felt like we were up to the task and this home deserved the attention.

Since we have two years of work under our belt, I figured I would condense all the projects into one post to share how far this house has come.  Here is how the house looked when we first moved in.  I liked the U-shape front and traditional details, but we knew we would have to clear away a lot of overgrown brush and trees.  We’ve removed ten trees in total (one pine, one holly, three dogwoods, and five hemlocks) and had the six large maples that line the front yard capped and crowned.  We’ve also removed about 15 overgrown and/or unwanted shrubs.

In addition, we replaced the roof, installed new windows (except the bay), painted the doors, shutters, and trim (on two sides of the house so far), and started on the landscaping this spring.

We also painted the faded green siding in Creamy by Sherwin Williams to give it a fresh look.

Here’s a before and after of the front before we started the landscaping…

…and of the front door after sanding, painting, removing the storm door, replacing the hardware, adding a charming door knocker, and updating the light fixture.  You can find all of the front door details and product links HERE.

I painted the porch ceiling in a pale blue and love that little detail every time I see it.

We also painted the trim, doors, and shutters on the garage side of the house, installed new windows, enlarged the kitchen window, updated the light fixtures, moved the dryer vent, and revamped the landscaping.

This summer, we finally had our contractor cut down the basketball pole when he was working on some other projects.

In the backyard, the pool was the most obvious issue that was not only an eyesore but a safety issue.  In our homeowner’s insurance assessment, I told them that we don’t have a pool but a large concrete hole.  That wasn’t on their amenities list.

We later learned that this hadn’t been used as a functioning swimming pool for over 15 years so it was amazing it was salvageable.

 Our contractor also works on and maintains pools, so he was perfect for our house.  The shell of the pool was in pretty good shape, but it needed to be resurfaced and we needed coping work, new tile, new concrete slabs in a few places, and all of the guts to keep the pool running like a pump, filter, and skimmer line.  We also needed to replace the ladder, handrail, and cover.  You can read more details about the pool renovation HERE.

While we left the pool work to the pros, our family worked on power washing, landscaping (more details and before & afters are HERE), and building a new fence.

We replaced the fence this summer and I’m still deciding if I’m going to stain/paint it or just let it weather.

The sweet autumn clematis grew back up over the fence throughout the summer, so I might just let the vine takeover each spring through fall.

It even climbed over on the obelisk I built and it looked so impressive when it was in full bloom.

We replaced the fence on the other side of the yard as well and I’ve planted some bushes along that length as well as the back fence we share with our neighbors to provide screening and even more privacy in a few years.

We still have a lot more work to do on the exterior and in the yard, but it’s really taking shape.  It’s definitely my favorite yard we’ve ever had.

Moving inside, the kitchen is probably the most memorable makeover at this point and it was the renovation I was most excited about when we bought the house.  I wanted to be able to do my own kitchen and, in order to do that, I needed to find a home with a kitchen that needed to completely be redone.  The kitchens in our last two homes were just too nice to rip out and start from scratch.  This one, though, was the original 1970s kitchen and it has served this home well for many decades.  It was time for retirement.

We didn’t think it would be possible to move the basement staircase that divided the room, but it ended up being possible and surprisingly affordable.  So, we took out all of the walls and soffits that closed the room in and opened it up.  You can see how the floor plan changed in THIS POST.

I designed the kitchen around an impressive 48″ Ilve range and I don’t regret that for a second.  I think it’s the jewel of this kitchen makeover.

New hardwood floors, new cabinets, a custom-built range hood, a brass pot rail, an antique island, and a larger window brought my vision to life.  (You can find details on the cabinets HERE.)

It’s hard to see how this view has changed because it looks so different without the walls, but this side door used to be boxed in by a small laundry room and broom closet…

What we lost in storage, we gained in light and space.  We moved the washer and dryer down to the basement and, when we renovate the ensuite bathroom, we’ll add hookups for a washer and dryer in case they need to be moved to the ground level again for accessibility.  (You can find details on this custom-built shelf HERE.)

Here is the view towards the window…

In addition to enlarging the window to bring in more light, we added recessed lights and sconces to make the room brighter.

The door to the basement is now to the right of the doorway to the dining room.

There was something very charming and cheerful about the dining room.  The wallpaper was stained and peeling, but I appreciated the bold choice as well as the color palette.  You could tell all of the papers used in this house were high quality.

The dining room is still a work in progress, but we replaced the window, removed the wallpaper, primed the walls, painted the ceiling, and swapped out the chandelier.  Next up is picture-frame molding below the chair rail and a hand-painted mural.  You can see my plans HERE.

We also removed the wallpaper in the foyer and hallway, primed and painted the trim, walls, and ceiling, and added a chair rail and picture-frame molding.  We replaced the hardware on the front door and the hall light fixture.

Since the formal living room would be my studio, we added French doors for a noise-buffer and a bit of privacy.

Here’s a look down our bowling-alley-of-a-hallway…

…and how it looks now as a gallery for old family photos…

We added fixtures with more bulbs to brighten up the space, brought in a runner for color and pattern, installed trim for architectural detail, and primed and painted everything.  We also upgraded the door hardware to pretty brass fixtures, but you can’t see that in the picture above.

Back to the studio, here is how it looked when we first moved in…

…and now…

We installed hardwood floors, recessed lights, primed and painted the walls and ceiling, and outfitted it with all of my studio furniture.  The nice thing is it can easily be used as a living room again.  The only thing that makes it a studio specifically is the way it’s furnished.

Since I claimed the formal living room as my studio, the den became our living/family room.  It’s where we entertain and put up the Christmas tree, but it’s also where we watch TV.  A lot happens in this small room.  Here’s how it looked when we first moved in…

We designed and built out a more traditional mantel and painted the trim, walls, ceilings, and doors in Card Room Green to give it an English library feel.  (You can find tips on painting wood paneling HERE.)

(I still need to add one more coat of paint to the mantel!)

Sometimes people ask where we keep our TV and it’s currently on the buffet on the right edge of the picture above.  I just always crop it out of photos because no one wanted to see a big black TV in a pretty room.  I’d like to find an antique cabinet to house it so we can close it away, but Jeff is not so sure about that plan.

I really love the character the beams and paneling add to this room and I couldn’t wait to get them painted!

We also swapped out the Berber carpet for hardwood floors and installed recessed lights.  There was almost no overhead lighting in this house, so we added it to all of the bedrooms, the studio, living/family room, and the kitchen.  Because the house still had the original electric box with old screw-in fuses, we also updated that to a new box that meets modern safety standards.

The windows along the back of the house, including those in the family room, are still original to the house but they are on our list to replace when that reaches the top of the priority list.

The primary bedroom had old wallpaper that was stained and peeling along with a 50-year-old blue carpet.  My mom and I started peeling the wallpaper and removing the glue the day we closed on the house.

We primed and painted the ceiling, walls, and trim, installed new windows and hardwood floors, and added recessed lights.

I painted the walls white so I didn’t have to stress over paint colors, but I’ve now started pulling out paint and fabric swatches and dreaming about adding some more architectural detail and personality to this room.

Those are the rooms that have undergone the biggest changes.  In the boys’ bedrooms, we stripped old wallpaper and primed and painted the walls to suit their tastes.  Marshall’s room is dark blue and Calvin’s is almost black.

There has been lots of wallpaper stripping and, believe it or not, there is still more that needs to be done.

We revamped the boys’ bathroom, mostly to address moisture issues.  This involved removing the peeling wallpaper, replacing the old fan so we had better ventilation, sanding, priming, and painting the ceiling and walls, and redoing some of the deteriorated grout.

We also put up some peel-and-stick wallpaper to just embrace the 1970s quirkiness until we can do a full renovation.  It at least feels fresh until we can replace all of the tile and fixtures.

We’ve also had to do some other boring stuff that has to be done when you buy a home that needs work – replace copper pipes that are corroding, treat for termites, Install a new garage door motor, add dehumidifiers to the basement, service the 20-year-old A/C unit, have the house tested for lead, install a radon mitigation system, have the septic tank inspected and pumped, and make dozens of fiddly repairs from closet doors that come off their tracks to doors that are sticking or handles that won’t latch.

In the future, we plan to add a half bath to the foyer.  We left room in the former pantry during the kitchen renovation in order to do that down the road.  So, we still have three bathroom renovations, the dining room, guest room, and some crazy wallpaper and carpet glue in the basement to address.  There are more windows to replace, more wallpaper to remove, more exterior trim to sand and paint, more landscaping to work on, more shutters to install, and a lot more organizing to do!  But, we’ve come a very long way and, if a building had any sort of emotion or feeling, I think this house would appreciate the care and attention we’ve given it.  The house has remained silent, as one would expect, but we have heard from the family of the previous (and original) owners who designed and built this as their dream home and they have been pleased with the work we’ve done.  We’ve also heard from neighbors who have taken notice and complimented our choice and hard work.

It’s been slow and frustrating at times.  I will admit that there have been days when I felt like we were a little crazy for buying a house that needed so much work.  But, it’s been rewarding and I’ve developed a fondness for this mid-century brick rancher that I wasn’t even looking for.

You can read more about our 1970 home renovation HERE.  And, since the question comes up, HERE is a post sharing our approach to funding large renovation projects.