Master Bedroom - Before the Work. . .
Master Bedroom After Most of the Work
In July 2009, Christine and I purchased a new home in Alexandria. After living in an apartment in DC for a year, we knew it was time and started looking for something that would fulfill all our needs. The wish list included three bedrooms and two baths in a desirable location somewhere in Arlington or Northern Virginia. After looking at a grand total of three houses (and seeing some really strange decorating ideas like mirrors made to resemble horse heads), we kept coming back to this home. It felt right.
Many people tried to actively discourage us from buying in a transitional neighborhood, however, those protests fell on deaf ears. We thought this home would be move-in ready (it essentially was) and that we would not have to spend very much to decorate in our taste (we missed the mark on that one).
Time for closing came and had the keys. . . then the real adventure began. We planned exactly what we were going to do and went about painting, building casements round windows, tiling the walls, more painting, having fences and storm doors installed, still more painting, adding granite counters and cabinets in the mudroom, and still more painting. Through it all we learned that many tubes of caulk could actually be our friends. We should have taken stock. . .in caulk.
We have posted above a few of the photos showing some before and after. Since this time, the entire house has been painted and crown moulding was installed in almost every room. We learned the highs and lows of buying an old home-sold to us by someone who was flipping the property. We had professionals in and out of the house, but we tried to do most things ourselves. We are pretty sure that the house will stay standing and, after our work on and in it, the floors and walls should be pretty stable too.
What have we learned so far? Oh, a lot. We learned that we can work very well together under high levels of stress. We learned that using primer before paint is a good thing - no matter how stubborn some of us are. We also learned very quickly the benefits of moving into this transitional neighborhood.
Many of our neighbors do not speak English and we are all working on how to communicate with each other. At the same time, we have met other neighbors who are also investing in this neighborhood. They immediately went about making us feel comfortable. Within a short time, our neighbors turned to some of the best friends we have. We went from thinking "how are we going to fit in here?" to thinking "how could we live any where else?" When you have neighbors who not only willingly help to fix a leaky gutter, but offer to help lay sod on the hottest day of the year, you know you are in the right place. When you have neighbors you want to see on the weekends and you trust them to keep an eye on your house and your car and your pets, you know you are in the right neighborhood. We know we have chosen wisely.
All of that was just so necessary for us to feel like this could be a home where we could start our own family. Just as we started to feel that, we got some amazing news. . .
And so it happened with a lawyer. . . in his office. . . wearing orange shoes (not the bride or the groom, but the lawyer).
