House #2 - Family Room - FINAL

When we bought the house the family room was dark with very little natural light making it to the center of the house.  It opened into another room that we chose to close off to make a 4th bedroom/game room. 

I always wanted to get a painting for the area above the couch but I didn't find anything I liked so the spot stayed bare.  Oh well...it's not the end of the world.

House #2 - Parlor - FINAL

The parlor did not change much.  The previous owner was using it as a dining room so there was a chandelier.  In our opinion the room was much too small to be a dining room (reason #1...the dining room table wouldn't fit in there).  It was a nice chandelier so we moved it to the new dining room.

Other than that the floor was the major change to the room.  We kept a couch in there but at the point this picture was taken it was being used to stage another house.

House #2 - Dining - FINAL

A little background information.  This house was remodeled and sold before going into foreclosure when we purchased the house from the bank.  This house was known as the "ghost house" by our realtor who had shown the house several times with no success.  That was before we purchased and remodeled what would become the second house we lived in.

Here is the before picture.

As I said yesterday we were going for the open feel in the house.  Here the sheetrock has been removed and is ready for the contractor to remove the wall.

We also opened up the wall close to the entry as you can see below.  At this point the walls are ready for the new sheetrock.

Here is the princess doing what she does best...supervising the work.  You can also see the gap we had to contend with and the reason we decided on laying a wood floor over the existing floor.

Here is the dining room all finished and decorated.

House #2 - Entry - FINAL

A few months ago, we finally sold the second house we purchased.  I never got around to posting pictures of the final product.  And now that I am thinking about it I may not have posted the final pictures from other houses.  I will have to check that out.  As for House #2 I will be posting pictures over the next several days.  Hope you enjoy.

Here are the before pictures of the entry.

As you can see we took down all the sheetrock to be able to remove the wall separating the dining and the family rooms.  In the process we closed the door into the family room in order to build an entertainment center in the family room.  I will get to that room later.

Here is the final product.  The tile was still in great condition so we left that.  There was original wood in the dining room and parlor.  Because we removed the wall something would have to be done to connect the existing tile to the existing wood.  We felt the easiest thing to do was lay another floor over this.  We chose an engineered wood that held up great to the nails of our pups.

House #5 - Marvin Zindler's House!!!

Our next house is special because it was previously owned by Marvin Zindler. For those who don't know who Marvin Zindler is, he was an investigative reporter here in Houston. He got his big break bringing down The Chicken Ranch. Rent "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" which is based on that story.

Here is the front of the house. We are really lucky that the landscaping is such good condition. I am also thrilled that is has a WORKING sprinkler system! It is the little things that make me happy. Hahaha.

Here is the entryway. Off the entry is the dining room and parlor. The dining room is currently a step-down from the rest of the house. We plan on raising the floor to make everything level.

The family room is probably the most dramatic with the red carpet. In the picture below you can see the sun room. This will be a great place to curl up with a book once we move in.

In this picture you can see the kitchen. We are tearing down the cabinets overhead to open it up to the family room. We are unable to level the counter because the sink is on that side of the kitchen.

There was a built-in desk in the family room. We are tearing it out and this will be where the entertainment center will be.

Here are pictures of the kitchen. We are tearing out the cabinets that jut into the kitchen and rebuilding them extended along the wall. This should give plenty of cabinet space. We are also thinking about installing a wine cooler.

The house has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Back in the 80's they remodeled turning the 4 bedroom house into a 3 bedroom house. The space from that bedroom was used to expand the master bathroom and the master closet. Both are now very large for the area.

Here is the closet...

Marvin would take 2 hours to get ready in the mornings. I can believe it seeing the number of mirrors he had around the master bath and bedrooms. There was a mirror on each door in those rooms and several on the walls.

He even had a chandelier on the ceiling of his bedroom.

Here are some pictures of the 2nd full bath.

Here are some pictures of the backyard. The landscaping is in great shape so we really lucked out.

Here We Go Again - House #3

It is that time again...here are the pictures from House #3. We are hoping to have this one done quick since it is just a flip. As of right now we have no plans to move in to this house.

The utility room has large cabinets for storage.



The guest bathroom is going to be updated with granite countertops and new floors. We also refinish the tub.



The master bathroom is also going to be updated with granite countertops and new floors. We will also redo the shower and make it larger by removing the little makeup desk you can see in the master bedroom.







The hallway looks like a jumble of doors right now.



The entry way will change dramatically because we are taking out walls and the entry way closet (don't worry...there's a closet just inside the hallway).



The kitchen will be updated with granite countertops, new cabinet doors, and new floors. We will be adding a pantry.





The breakfast area.



The family will get a makeover with walls removed, new floors, and recessed lighting. We also have plans to run wires for the new buyer in case they want to put a TV above the fireplace.





The dining room and parlor will get new floors. The wall between the dining room and family room will be removed to open the house.







The guest bedrooms are typical for the area. They will get new carpet.







The outside will get a little sprucing. We will add some color to the flower beds.