Plan, plan, plan!

The phase in between demo and building was the planning part. I am late blogging about this for two reasons. For one it was frustrating and two, it was time consuming. We had a plan and then found another idea and re-planned. When we finally thought we had it figured out, we found out that we wouldn't be able to remodel a part of the house because of it's poor foundation. So, we re-planned. I have to say that we did have a lot of help. Two weekends ago I went home for my mom's birthday. During that time I spent a few hours at the kitchen table with my 'dream team' (my sister, mom and dad). I coined them the 'dream team' because all of us love to dream and the wealth of ideas and knowledge in the group really makes them the most ideal people to plan with. Our goal was to find a layout that worked and one that Steve would approve of. In the end we succeeded with our goal.
 I also had some help from the little people in my life. My niece and nephew were so excited about my house that they worked all weekend to build a Lego version of what they thought it should look like. Here are some pictures of it:

The finished product and so proud to show it!

Thinking and Dreaming

This is part of the show where we just get to sit, think and dream. Since we don't have keys to the place yet and haven't actually purchased the property, we are stuck. Daily we talk to each other about ideas and are continually looking up pictures on pinterest and other places on the internet. We look at the Ikea catalog before going to bed and think about all the cool ways we could set up our kitchen. Last week we realized that our house turns 100 years old this year. That means we are living in a place that was built one century before our car. That doesn't happen very often in where we live.
On Friday we finalized everything with the mortgage broker. Monday things should start making their way to the lawyer and by next Monday (January 30), if all goes well, we will get possession! Then we can get going on the next stage of our plan. What's that you might ask? It's the destruction part. The part where all our guy friends say, "Hey, I'll come over and tear down a wall or two for you..".
But, while we are waiting, I thought I'd put up a few pictures of the inside. Get ready for this. You will soon realize why our next purchase will be a sledgehammer.

Enjoy!

The Beginning

Welcome to our Translumation blog! During the next 8 months we hope to transform this small 1912 house into a home. It's a huge job, probably bigger than we realize. But, we are excited and optimistic. We know it's going to be a grande experience with trials and triumphs along the way.

A Little History:
Steve and I have been passively looking for a house to buy for the last couple of months. We were most interested in the community we bought our house in because of its location and potential. In early December this foreclosure came up in the area that peaked our interest. After Christmas, we took my parents out to see the place. If you know anything about my dad, you will know that he is instantly interested in a deal and a project. This just made him smile and encourage us to seriously consider our options. We put a bid in and after a week of thinking, praying and bidding we finally got the house!

The Plan:
We're not sure what to do quiet yet. In fact we've included a fun poll on the side to ask our friends and family to throw in their humble opinion. Following possession date (February 1) we hope to get a good look at the place and start tearing things down to see how the house was built. I am sure more will said as the month goes on, so stay posted.

Below you will find some pictures of the outside of the house as well as our first visitors, Marie and Jeremy.

Marie is standing between the house and the 'greenhouse'.

This is the side yard. Free picnic table!

View of the backyard.

This is the back of the house.

Check out the door over the back window.

Jeremy...I am not sure what he is doing.