Deb has been looking for a house for awhile now. Anything that has a decent renovation goes into a bidding war and as a first time home buyer, she’s reluctant to take on a huge renovation. She tries to wrap her head around fixer uppers and homes that are not her style, but lacks confidence in her “vision”. So, I nudge her along.

I sent Deb before and after shots of the second home we renovated, a weekend place we had up near Stone Ridge from about 2000-2004. I’m posting the conversation along with the photos because it’s Passover/Easter weekend, so you want I should actually write a real post?

Happy Holidays, y’all!

Ok, so D=Deb and M=me

D: Very cool.  So did you buy all the furnishings? How long did all of that take? Was that a flip or that was your house?

M: No, we never did an actual flip before! That was our Kingston house. We put too much money into it thinking that we would keep it forever (which we’ve done on all 4 houses). We owned it for about 4 years and renovated slowly the entire time. When we decided to sell, we finished the reno. I don’t know how long that was in actual reno time because we stopped and started so many times. It was our weekend project for many years. We went up there to get away from our Park Slope renovation.

D: Considering that you like wild colors and all it seems rather tame for you, no? But in line with what it is.  I likey.

M: I think I did that because everything was so dark when we bought it that I just wanted LIGHT.

D: The dining area, you covered the beams, is that what I’m seeing?

Before. Obviously.

M: Not really. Those “beams” were faux, made out of foam. We ripped them down. The house was modular and came in 2 sections. That beam running down the middle is the joint. It was never bolted together until we did it. Or maybe it had a couple of bolts, but not to Luke’s liking.

D: Gawgeous. Did you and Luke do everything, like you lay the floors yourself etc?

M: Did not do everything. Hmm, I remember laying out the floor but I don’t remember nailing it down. We had a contractor working beside us. Not sure if he installed or we did. I know that he sanded and polyed.

D: Please tell me that wood floor was under the carpet? har har

M: Oh please, girl. That house was carpeted throughout. It had plywood under all the carpets. The day I was up there alone ripping up carpeting, my dogs were running around outside (we had 7 acres) and one of them came back with a deer leg and dropped it right in front of me. They didn’t kill the deer. People were hunting illegally on the property. I chased one of them down one day.

D: Did you add wainscoting or was that there?

M: The wainscoting in the bathroom was just Home Depot stuff we put up. The living room walls were originally brown wall paneling. We wanted to do that “bat and board” look, so we had a contractor install actual boards piece by piece. Then the previous owner asked why we didn’t just put up plywood and use 1×2’s to create the same look. We were like “Oh yeah. We could have done that.”

D: So, can you do this to the 6th avenue house I like?

M: No I’ll be busy working on my own.

D: This is why I do wish you could sit with me look at a house I like and advise me on how I can make it look a certain way. Darn you!

M: So find a house you’re going to put a serious offer on and I’ll go with you to second showing. But it’s really not as exciting as creating my own mess.

D: Sweet, thanks for sending