Michael and I bought our house a year ago and have been very slowly renovating the entire house at once. It has been a long project and I wanted to share here a recap of all the renovation projects we’ve been working on as well as future plans for each space. I’m hoping by writing down each project that by this time next year we can look back at all the progress we’ve made.
We moved outside the dense city of Philadelphia where we had been renting a beautiful apartment in Old City. I really wanted to buy another home that I could personally benefit from the design and renovation of rather than selling like we did Pearl House. So as soon as we sold Pearl House we started looking and bought our adorable twin.
The third floor was the first area of the home we finished so that we would have somewhere to live while the second floor renovation was happening. Our plan was to renovate from the top down since the third floor needed the least amount of work, the second floor is the most important for our comfort and the first floor is already in decent shape so it was a low priority.
Finishing the Primary Bedroom
Our primary bedroom has been quite a chaotic space lately, serving as a temporary storage area for tools and materials while we work on renovating the primary bathroom, closet, and laundry rooms. However, we’re excited about the progress we’ve made, and our hope is that once we finish tiling the bathroom, we can finally move our king bed into the bedroom and create a more comfortable living space.
Looking ahead, our plan for this room is to transform it into a cozy and functional retreat. We’d love to install a built-in electric fireplace, both for warmth and ambiance. We’re also considering incorporating built-in bookshelves or a desk on either side of the fireplace, providing practical storage and workspace options.
One of our neighbors shared a fun suggestion: adding a beverage cooler to the room. We absolutely loved the idea, and we think it would be a perfect addition. So, we might just have to include that in our plans as well.
Tiling the Primary Bathroom
This past week, we finally made some progress on selecting the perfect tile materials for our shower and flooring. It’s funny how designing for others seems easier, but when it comes to making decisions for ourselves, we get stuck in analysis paralysis. We’ve been considering various options for months, and just when we settle on something, I stumble upon old photos from over a year ago, only to realize I had taken a picture of the exact same materials in my camera roll.
The shower is all set with waterproofing, ready for the tile installation. We started cutting the hexagon mosaics over the weekend, and soon we’ll be putting them in place. To get a better sense of how everything will come together, I created a mood board for the space. Seeing everything all together like this gets me so excited to see our vision come to life!
Build Our Dream Closet
With our reconfigured on suite layout we afforded ourselves a walk in closet. The plan for this closet is to use 4 IKEA Pax wardrobe units, custom framing, and molding for a built-in custom closet. We’d love to add a bench seat below the window with storage underneath and shelving on either side.
Finish the Laundry Room
The laundry room, or rather laundry closet, is situated off the main hallway. Our goal was to have side by side front loading machines, allowing us to create a functional tabletop for convenient folding. To accommodate this, we made modifications to the hallway wall, enlarging the opening so that both the washer and dryer doors could open into the hallway.
As we continue with the closet renovation, we have plans to incorporate a convenient laundry chute between the rooms. We would put a hamper like this one on the other side of the chute to (hopefully) catch everything before it can make a big pile on the floor.
For the time being, the space serves as a storage area for essential tools and supplies. I’ve tried keeping everything organized by using clear Sterlite bins, categorized by job type (electrical, drywall, tile ect) but it turns into chaos again real quick.
Finish the Guest Bedroom
Last year my mom and I worked on installing a beautiful wallpaper and shiplap accent wall. The other side of the room still needs to get finished off with shiplap and we need to finish painting. We got pretty far, but this room has also been being used for storing our 74″ bathroom vanity, so we weren’t able to fully finish it.
Kitchen
We recently painted the kitchen cabinets to brighten up the space and could not be more in love with the outcome. We desperately need to paint the walls since we removed the wallpaper. Since our living room has been a wreck, we have been using the kitchen to house our dining room table and the room isn’t big enough for it.
Eventually I’d love to open the doorway from the kitchen to the dining room up so there is a larger arched opening. Long term we’ve considered replacing the center window over the sink with two windows and putting a range with hood in the center of the wall. The sink would be moved to a larger island in the middle of the room. We also considered replacing the larger bay windows with sliding door or french doors and eliminating the existing door.
Powder Room
We did a quick and dirty renovation on our powder room which is right off the kitchen. We installed peel and stick floor tiles, removed the wallpaper, painted the walls Polar Bear by BEHR, installed a new vanity, and installed a new toilet. We still need to find a towel bar, mirror, and potentially a new light. I also think it would be fun to do a subtle wallpaper in here, but don’t want it to clash with the floor tiles. I’ve recently seen some work by M & M Interior Design and are absolutely fawning over how well they use wallpaper to cozy up each room.
Living Room
We recently tore the ceiling down in part of our living room so we could reinforce some joists above and install recessed lighting. It previously just had one combination fan + light centered in the room. We already feel the recessed lighting makes a huge impact on the functional light in the space. Now I’m trying to decide on a light or fan to fill the center space. I’m leaning towards this or this.
Dining Room
With the second floor still being a construction zone and the living room area getting repainted, all the furniture that normally goes in those rooms got pushed into our dining room. So we haven’t had a functional dining area in a long time. I’d love to eventually build a statement built-in bookcase on the wall adjacent to the kitchen. The floor is little wonky there so it will help hide some imperfections. The room is open to the living room so I want to be careful making sure the two spaces flow together nicely.
Exterior
In February we hired a team to come out and replace all the cedar shake siding on the upper two floors and the front first floor with James Hardie brand cement siding. We chose the color Arctic White for the siding with white trim and had them redo our front windows with special black frames. We are obsessed with how it came out and now I can’t wait to finish making the outside look just as good. Since my background is in Landscape Architecture I am really excited to finally have a yard that I can design just for me (remember my hanging herb garden?).
Third Floor Offices
We upgraded our upstairs flooring by removing the carpet and refinishing the existing hardwood floors. We also painted the walls using leftover paint from our Pearl House renovation. Using leftover paint from a previous project, we painted the walls in Swiss Coffee by BEHR and the trim in Toasty Gray by BEHR.
A professional hardwood flooring contractor refinished the floors and applied Bona Naturalseal Water Based Polyurethane coating. This sealer helped to tone down the yellow tones of the pine flooring. The results exceeded our expectations, and the floors still look great after a year.
There are two rooms upstairs which is currently our bedroom/his office and our closet/my office but will ultimately be just our offices.
Last year we spent so much money on what I like to call the “guts” of the house; the exterior, structural work, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical. In the upcoming year I’m so excited to start seeing the finishing touches bring our home to life. It will be a place we can finally entertain (we love doing), relax after work, and maybe even bring a puppy home to.
KP HOME RENO 
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[…] I’ve intentionally kept track of how each fixture fits within an overall scheme. You can read this post about all my plans for the house. I usually lean more towards a timeless modern style that draws […]
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