From Hovel to Home

We wrapped up the garage last week and can't do anything with the lawn while the grass seed is getting started, so last weekend we were ready to start a new project: the back bedrooms.  We have two bedrooms that were added during an addition in the late 70's or early 80's. The pee room And the disco room. Obviously both rooms needed some attention.  We need to replace the windows and floors but we really want to make these two bedrooms seem like they are part of the original house.  We already started this process by enlarging the back hallway from 32" to 40" And framing a new master bathroom in part of the disco room. But we still have more work to do. We removed the closet framing so the bedrooms were just one long room (9'6" x 33') Looking North Looking South And then framed in the new closets a few feet south of their old location Looking North Looking South Since finishing the framing we've been work...

We have hated our front door since buying the house.  First off, all the homes in our area were built in the 50's and every single one of them has a storm door.   I hate storm doors but at least it helped hide our hideous front door. The door has not seen a coat of poly in years and without that protection the wood has started to delaminate.  With some sanding and glue it could be made presentable again but the bigger problem is the door knob.  It has a 5" backset knob but only a standard latch, so the latch is several inches short of reaching the strike plate.  The only way to keep the door shut is to use the deadbolt.  Since I don't want to carry my keys at all times we just don't use the front door. While in Helena on Thursday we happened to find a cart full of clearance windows and doors.  We picked up a few new windows for the living room but our real find was this door. It was listed for $450 but was marked down to ...

We're preparing to start a dreaded but necessary project: landscaping.  Luke and I have gotten very good at remodeling just about any part of a house but lawns have always been a struggle for us.  Despite occasionally working as a florist I do not have a green thumb.  Growing anything other than weeds is a challenge for me and having dogs does not make it any easier.  So here is what we are facing: We saw the house last Memorial Day after a hard winter.  There wasn't much growing and the house had so many issues that we didn't really notice the lawn anyway.  Since we were still living in Washington we made a trip out over the 4th of July to make the house habitable.  The grass had grown considerably and my grandpa spent a few days trying to get it under control. When we finally moved to Butte in August the yard had baked for lack of water.  According to the neighbors the previous owners never watered so it probably looked like th...