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 #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.

House #4 - The Work Continues

So I messed up and didn't make it over to the house with the camera before the work started on this house. Therefore I only have pictures of the progress. This house is mostly cosmetic but it wouldn't be home repair if we didn't come across problems. We recently found an issue in the attic that will hopefully not turn into a major issue.

The master bath shower had to be tiled.



The entry floor was redone.



The fireplace was stripped down and tiled.



The kitchen is a basic galley-style that we can't do too much to open it up.







The painters have started and will hopefully be done soon so we can put this house on the market!!

Entertainment Center

We finally started the entertainment center. I am so excited to have this because I hate to look at wires behind the tv. This thing has become a lot bigger than I originally thought it would be but couldn't figure out a way to make it work on only a portion of the wall. As you can see from the picture the house is coming along. We are finally painting, which in my eyes is a major milestone. We hope to start moving some things into the house in about 2 weeks. We will still have some work to do but most of that will be outside so we won't have to live in a torn up house. I hope to post the completed kitchen this weekend!!

The Work Continues - House 2

Work is continuing on the second house. We took out 2 walls to help create a nice open area between the kitchen and family room and between the family room and dining room. Wow, did it make a difference. I am excited to see the finished product. We are having to do a little more work than was originally planned because the previous owners cut a few corners. Therefore, the nice granite that was there is being ripped out and replaced.

We also had a little mishap with one of the contractors. While they were in the attic adding the bracing to remove the walls...his helper "forgot" that he's not supposed to walk on sheetrock!!! Luckily he didn't fall all the way through but Justin said he peaked his head around the corner to see what all the ruckus was about and saw a leg dangling into the family room. You can see the damage he caused in the pictures below.





We have started working on the cabinets that will line the hallway between the house and the garage. That room will basically end up being a mud room.

Final Pictures of House #1

Here are the highlights of the first house. This house is finally on the market!! The kitchen is probably my favorite room in this house. It turned out exactly the way I wanted it.






The backyard changed quite a bit. There used to be banana trees all over the backyard but we pulled those up as best we could. They are still popping up every once in a while. TIP: Unless you want banana trees forever...don't plant them. They don't go ever stop growing!!!



The family room turned out nice. Taking down the cabinets between the kitchen and family room really helped open up the room.




The dining room table is on loan from Aimee and Ray (thanks!).


The master bath turned out amazing. I am going to miss this room. The next house has a much smaller master bath.


The closet is something we are going to miss as well. The master at the new has smaller closets that will take some getting used to.


The master bedroom is below. Pretty typical.