Upstairs Apartment Kitchen

Ok, so the kitchen is really small and had next to no storage and no countertop at all.  It also had this weird cork board thing that I still haven't figured out why it was there.

So, same Silver City Paint with white ceiling and trim.  The light was basic so we left it.  And New York Wood Shop built a custom cabinet with gorgeous wood countertop. 

The kitchen sink is absolutely awesome!  It's an original apron, farmhouse sink.  If you like this style there are more modern (and therefore more fitting to newish kitchens).

Here are a few choices in white:

1. Here's an old fashioned looking double.  Perfect for simple style but what a touch for any kitchen!
2. This is a really pretty, shiny double sink.  It adds a great unique look while maintaining a clean, stylish look.
3. Another modern take on the old farmhouse style sink.  Clean lines and perfect for a modern kitchen with a twist.
4. Really cute and unique single.  It truly has the farmhouse appeal and is perfect for a smaller kitchen.

Ok! So there are some really cool copper styles out now!  These are amazing and beautiful.

1. This gorgeous piece of art has a scroll engraving on the front.  Would look absolutely beautiful with earthy colors or contrasted with sharp stainless steel and solid coloring.
2. I absolutely love this partially oxidized simple double with rounded front.  Truly unique!
3. Another really nice engraved front offset double.  Much more intricate that the first.  Just lovely

One all its own!

This sink is very unique.  It's a single apron front sink made of bamboo!

 The kitchen had another horrible linoleum.  So up it came & down the Minwax Honey Pine went.

Upstairs Apartment Living Room & Kitchen

Next was the bedroom and living room.  The bedroom was this horrible mint green color with green shag carpet and very dated lighting.  So we painted, same Silver City color with white ceiling and trim.  Added a basic light from Home Depot, and re-finished the hardwood flooring (why on earth they'd cover that hardwood with that carpet I'll never know).

Here's the before and after - what a difference!!!

The living room was very similar.  

Horrendous burnt orange shag carpet, stark white paint, and dated lighting.  

After:  Silvery City Walls, Fresh white ceiling and trim, new light, and refinished hardwood floors.

 Of course we had to rip up that old floor. We used Minwax Honey Pine.  We almost always use Minwax, the color and quality is always reliable.

Upstairs Apartment Bathroom

So we have this GREAT upstairs apartment!  One bedroom, One bathroom. and a great layout....  That being said... It needed some help.

So absolutely GORGEOUS clawfoot tub but the bathroom had this AWFUL linoleum and... apparently someone decided to handmade a shower curtain rod for it...  It was some metal pipe and electrical tape - and really small. And everything was stark white...

So, here is what we did.  FIRST thing was to rip up that disgusting floor.  It honestly came up quite easily.  We redid the ENTIRE apartment because there was this gorgeous hardwood floor underneath. We used Minwax Honey Pine but because of the tone of the wood it turned this beautiful, warm color.  We almost always use Minwax, the color and quality is always reliable.

Next Stop:  PAINT.  

I could't tolerate that stark white, especially with all the blotches from patching holes.  

BTW PREMIXED patch is the way to go 100% - great for projects large and small.

As for the color, we went with Eggshell white on top and Silver City on the bottom with white trim.  

I actually kept the Silver City throughout the whole apartment.  It's a really nice fresh grey, not a lot of blue in it like some of them.

 We did absolutely HAVE to replace the shower curtain rod with this one.  It's the perfect size, and really nice silver, and you could actually FIT between the shower curtains once they were up.  It's not durable enough to hang towels off of or anything, in fact, we added a little extra support because it was wobbly.  But it looks pretty :)

Next Stop! Dining Chairs!

Ok, so apparently dining chairs are EXPENSIVE!!!  I had no idea.

Every single chair that I liked was $100+ EACH and I need SIX.  We just barely scraped together enough to buy this little house.  I don't have $600 or more for chairs! 

I looked around quite a bit.  Here's what I really wanted:

I'm a complete Pinterest addict (If you haven't become addicted DON'T start now, you're husband will hate it) and found this image there but the link was a dead end so I was stuck looking for a dining banquette on my own.  Here's what I found:

You can find this here.  It's very similar to the other one, the legs could always still be refinished to match the table top.  It's a little more modern with the cleaner lines.  Buuuut (Big but) it's still $480.

I understand why it's that much, it's totally worth it, but that doesn't mean I have the money... Definitely not in fact.  

I did look at quite a few, found: here, here, and here - That last one is really pretty.

Ok, so what now?  I'm broke, we have this GORGEOUS table... but still sitting on the floor???

Craigslist to the rescue!

And here's my find!

A set of 6 matching antique chairs, including the 2 with arms in MINT condition for $60!  My husband was laughing so hard at me, I came home absolutely bouncing! 

Sooo, they don't exactly match the table... BUT SOON THEY WILL!  

More pictures to come as my project ensues!

Priority One - Dining Table!

So... I have this room in my new house.  That you're apparently supposed to eat in?  I don't know, never had one.  

But... this is literally all the dining room furniture I have...

But, I have a woodworker guy for a husband!
Enter: New York Wood Shop

And... Here is what he built me!  My very own 6-8 person CUSTOM farm style table! These are his specialty.  Now he mixes his own stains and oils for the table top but for the legs, I wanted STARK white and we used this.  

If you'd like to have something built similar let me know!  

Or better yet, email newyorkwoodshop@gmail.com for a quote!

Purchase a house - Why???

We weren't planning on buying a home.  We really weren't...  We always said we wouldn't buy a house because then you're STUCK there until you can sell it - IF you can sell it.  We like to travel - probably more than we should.  We've been all over and would like that to continue.  We bought this place so we could do just that - travel and DO MORE than just work to pay bills.  We bought this place for rental income.

And thanks to www.trulia.com and an FHA mortgage we did it!  
We bought a little old 2 family home JUST FOR US! (and our future tenant and our future dog)

Things to know about buying a house:
If you're doing FHA - the house pretty much has to be perfect.  AKA: No chipping pain, stairs rails in place and in good condition, no rot, nothing winterized, nothing could be wrong.  
So that was fun.  It actually went pretty smoothly, the lawyers, realtors, and bank all agreed it was pretty much a no-fuss transaction!  That never happens for us...

But as soon as we saw this place we new it was perfect for us!
2 bedroom 2 bathroom, a walk out basement for @nywoodshop to do his thing and it was all crazy clean! and with a 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment above - before and after pictures on my other post!

All that said, of course, as with every older house there are things you want to do to make it your own home.  We have a home!  We've never had a home!

So my first priority was a CHECKLIST (I'm very list-oriented):
I probably missed a few things when writing this checklist, but it gives you a general idea of what you'll be seeing.  
All of my posts were done by either me or my husband.  We own New York Wood Shop in Middletown, NY.