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1910 House Renovation Plans and Timeline

April 14, 2018 3 Comments

We recently completed another successful round of the 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS™ decluttering challenge and the second year of our email course, our membership surpassed that of last year! It’s amazing and crazy to see the number of participants grow each year; I’ll never tire of hearing stories of how a simple decluttering challenge has challenged lives. Thanks for all your support, inspiration, and spreading the word on our humble challenge. 

Behind the scenes (or if you follow on instagram stories), we’ve been prepping to start remodeling the entire first floor of our house, starting with the family room pictured below. Before I tell you what we plan to do in this phase of the project, let me take a step back. I’ll share a brief timeline of what we’ve done up to this point and plan to do for the renovation.

white house black shutters family room, before - dark trim, white walls

Since our current #whbs1910house needed SO much work, we wanted to do as much as we could right off the bat.

April 2017 we first toured the property. I didn’t even take any pictures while looking!! I didn’t want to get my hopes up. As I drove up, I had a strong feeling this was it. This was the house. As I toured the house, I got more and more excited. It needed work, sure, but I didn’t think of it as a “tear down” despite the listing selling it for land only. The demand in our neighborhood is high, and many small old homes get torn down to make way for beautiful new ones.

We looked at it on Doug’s lunch break, and he returned with my dad and a structural engineer that night. He confirmed what we had thought – there were some structural issues, but they were able to be fixed. We got several quotes/opinions on the basement work and started making plans on what we’d do to the rest of the house.

Our rough timeline looked like this:

  • basement foundation, drainage, and supports
  • all four upstairs bedrooms painted, new flooring
  • expanding the family room
  • complete gut of kitchen, dining room, bathroom
  • adding laundry room to back porch
  • making front porch more porch-ish
  • landscaping and exterior projects

I didn’t announce until end of July, the closing kept getting delayed and we wondered if it would even go through. 2 1/2 months after our offer was accepted we reached a resolution. We got the news we could close on a Thursday, closed Friday, moved in on Saturday, cleaned up our old house on a Sunday, then closed early that week. Ahhh!

First we finished the basement, then while the major work was done down there, we started all four upstairs bedrooms. The original hope was to finish those two before moving in, but life happens.

Once we moved in, the major basement work started. After the structural stuff was done and the house settled a bit, we started room by room on the ceilings, walls, and trim. Over several months we did that work, emptying one room bedroom at a time, and shifting everyone’s mattresses and stuff around. Once that was done, we had the floors upstairs refinished. Once all THAT was done, we needed a breather.

We finished our bedroom, had baby Nora in December, and stopped all work until now. We’ve been sourcing things, getting quotes, and planning our next steps. We finished up 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS for 2018, took a family vacation in Florida over the kids’ Easter break, then made plans to start once we came home.

So here we are today!

This year we are hoping to remodel the entire first floor, all 800 square feet of it. Here’s what we plan to do in 2018:

  • 1st phase – HVAC, downstairs bathroom expansion, family room expansion, move basement door
  • 2nd phase  – kitchen, dining room, adding 1st floor laundry room
  • 3rd phase – (what we would like to do but not sure if we’ll get to it) front porch/curb appeal updates, add patio

The 1st phase was started, HVAC is done and demo on our family room starts Monday, which is insane.

In the next post I’ll share more details on what we plan to do, and then go into detail for our design of each room. Room layout, finishes, etc. The fun part of course is decorating, so I’ll do another post on that eventually. I feel this house has pushed me past my safe zone for decorating and I’m feeling more comfortable picking bold, out-of-the-ordinary style choices, which is so fun! I think my style would best be described as classic/traditional, yet eclectic at times. I’m drawn to bohemian styles and textures, bold color, and it will be interesting to see how those play out in our old home.

Stay tuned! Any questions, leave them here or on facebook, or on our instagram stories. I’m constantly sharing updates on instagram stories, it is the best place to follow us these days. I’m revamping our email newsletter and will keep you posted on how to get updates there.

Raise Funds for Your Non-Profit with 40 Bags in 40 Days and Savers

February 13, 2018 2 Comments

This year, I have partnered with Savers® and Value Village™ to share their FUNDrive® program. Through the program, your decluttered bags from the 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS Challenge raise funds for your nonprofit organization or school. How awesome is that?   Since talking about this program ...

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Simple Home Office Organization

January 28, 2018 3 Comments

When you're working with a small home, it can be tough to fit everything you need into the space you have. In this home I've had to create storage where there is none. Then also evaluate everything and see if those items are truly *needed* or if they should be donated to someone else who can use ...

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Looking Back on 2017!

January 10, 2018 3 Comments

I’ve been taking it easy these past few days after having baby #6, our precious Nora. Doug and I had some time to reflect back on all that 2017 had to offer. Once we started making a list of everything that happened, we laughed; to say that it was the busiest year of our lives would be an ...

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And Then There Were Eight

January 2, 2018 16 Comments

Last week, we welcomed a new life into our family. A new little personality which made us a family of eight. Our daughter, Nora Jane was born on Thursday, December 28th at 11:30 am. She was 40 weeks and 6 days, and quite cozy. I was induced starting at 6:30am, and things picked up quickly from ...

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When the Joy Outweighs the Struggles

December 6, 2017 28 Comments

An upside down chair, smudged mirror, laundry basket full of misplaced stuff - this picture perfectly sums up our life these days. And oh yes, there's something else in this picture. :) On Friday, I'll be 38 weeks pregnant with a sweet little girl, our 6th child. This pregnancy has been rough in ...

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master bedroom makeover with dark walls and planked ceiling

Calming Master Bedroom Update with Planked Ceiling

December 5, 2017 5 Comments

A few days ago we finished the work on our master bedroom. It's calming, has a planked ceiling, and dark walls. We have plenty of finishing details to work on, but I'm going to jump right in and show you because delaying it would be cruel. Here's our master bedroom today: I'm so happy with ...

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Tips to Get Your Home Guest Ready

November 20, 2017 1 Comment

With the holidays approaching, it's a great time to have your home ready for guests at a moment's notice. Today with 4 bloggers, in partnership with Bona, I'll be sharing 5 tips to get your home guest ready. We recently finished our 107 year old pine floors, they look incredible but were starting ...

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custom rustic bulletin board closeup

Custom Sized Corkboard Command Center

November 18, 2017 Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Michaels Stores. I am a Michaels Makers project creator and was provided with store credit to purchase products for this post. All ideas and opinions are my own, and I only recommend products I would use again.   As we settle into our new house, the new ...

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Bright Office Update with Planked Ceiling

November 6, 2017 4 Comments

Hi friends! Recently I shared a photo to our Facebook page of our bright office update, complete with a planked ceiling. I just couldn't take it anymore! (Keep scrolling if you want to see it.) I didn't want to wait to write the post, I was ready to share it right then. The renovations in this home ...

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before of our old basement, what we plan to do to update it.

107 Year Old Basement Plan and Updates

October 24, 2017 4 Comments

Hi friends! We've been going like crazy updating our home. When I announced we were moving and buying a new house, the original plan was to work on the house two and a half months before closing. Things change and rarely go according to the perfect plans in our heads, and we closed the day before we ...

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Hi, I'm Ann Marie! I share tips on intentional living, decluttering & organizing, home projects, and enjoying (or surviving) everyday life.

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  • ...and so it begins! In between baseball and ice skating and hockey practices, Doug started taking this wall out. See an update in my story! We will have work done for most of this, but decided to do this one ourselves. 💁🏽‍♀️👷🏽‍♂️ #demoday #whbs1910house #whbs1910housegutproject
  • Spending a morning at the table with them, ignoring the messes calling my name. It’s easy to forget the importance of these happy messes. 😌🎨🙌🏼#reallifestilllife
  • It’s funny seeing our kids react to all the changes around here, like it’s a regular part of life. Paint samples on the wall, exposed HVAC, and she’s just sitting there engrossed in a book. When “the guys” come to start work or give a quote, Adam gives high fives. When we moved the fridge to the dining room, Ben said “hmm, I like it in here - it’s easier to pack lunches” 😂 The mom guilt has been real, but they’ve come to accept changes. They point out the bright side when things are less than perfect. Then I realize through my imperfect example, they’ve grown, and now are teaching ME to be better. ❤️😭👏🏼 #whbs1910house #reallifestilllife
  • Life has been intense lately. I am so happy to have this man, my best friend by my side. If you could, please keep our family in your prayers. My grandma - who has lived the greatest love story I have witnessed - will soon be leaving this world. But she’s at peace. She is ready to meet my grandpa, who she cared for with such a fierce love, for over 10 years as he faded away from Alzheimer’s. She’s ready to meet Jesus. She’s raised 6 kids to be wonderful people, and gotten to love on her grandkids and tons of great-grandkids! She’s lived a good life. Pray for us, as we say goodbye. 🌷 Doug’s sister, my SIL @bonniedonahue recently reminded me how everyone, everyone is dealing with struggles of their own. It’s so true. We’ve been battling illnesses, I’ve had a flare up and felt hopeless at times, I’ve witnessed other friends in intense struggles. I’m offering up all our sorrow and struggles as a prayer for your intentions. May you have hope, may you get through things, and may it make you stronger. 💕 Life is so so sweet, what a gift we have been given.
  • Hey good lookin. 😍 This is the current state of our dining room floors. 👏🏼 We are back from FL and back at it again. Demo starts next week, and a special delivery arrived today - see my story for more details.Any questions? Wish we could save these? Are we absolutely crazy for deciding to take on this house? (the answer is yes 😂) #whbs1910house
  • A year ago this week we first saw our #whbs1910house. The second I pulled up, I thought “wow. This is the one.” From delayed closings and extensive renovations, to growing our family - this past year has been an exciting mix of insane and wonderful. This last week together was just what we all needed. Thanks for the good time, Naples! Despite the springtime flurries in IL, there’s no place like home. 💕✌🏼
  • Enjoying one last day before we head back to the arctic 😎🌴 #lowdermilkbeach

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Sharing my life and projects here in this space. Ordinary wife and mom of 6, seeking joy in the beauty of everyday life. Renovating our 1910 fixer upper. Declutter with us: #40bagsin40days Read More…


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