At the end of 2015 we bought a house. Built in 1933 it was the best house we could find (and afford) that met our four main requirements. It was located in St. Louis county, offered a good sized sunny yard, was in a better school district than where I was moving from in St. Charles and had at least a two car garage. We almost didn’t even come look at it, because it wasn’t much to look at from the outside, and the listing gave the impression that it would be great as a tear down.
Tommy loved the house from the get-go, and the neighbor we met sure seemed nice. After much debating, we ended up buying it. It wasn’t everything we wanted, but it fit with the big four. We would have loved another bedroom, and a fireplace among other things, but we knew the likelyhood of finding the perfect house was slim. We bought the house knowing full well it needed at a minimum a new roof, and most likely several other repairs in the first few years, but it was certainly livable.
We started with painting and patching what we could to make the kitchen and upstairs bath a little bit less icky. All the rooms got a fresh coat of paint and the floors got a good scrubbing. We said goodbye to the huge bushes out front, and hello to shade friendly hostas (one of my favorites!), as well as a variety of other flowers.
Our first big project was the main floor bathroom. With a sagging floor, and a seriously dated look, it just had to go. All of it. Down to the studs. Replaced with a jetted tub, chair height toilet and heated floor, it was a vast improvement. Next up was creating our stairwell pantry, planting the orchard and gardens, installing the small pond, and replacing the ‘shack’ behind the garage when we had piers put in.
2020 brought us a pandemic, but the projects continued for our home. We painted a little more of the exterior trim, and installed a bigger pond to replace the small one we put in back in 2016. We also bit the bullet and paid someone to replace our old crumbling parking pad with a more solid wall and concrete pavement.
In 2022 the pandemic continued on, but for us it was the year of the living room rebuild. We tore out the entire ceiling and portions of the walls so that we could install surround sound speakers, porch speakers, and 8 new can lights, as well as add some additional insulation. We followed that up by refinishing the floor in the living room, before adding cabinets and a countertop which will act as the base for our built in bookshelves.
We continue to work on projects big and small to make our house just the way we want it. Future improvements include replacing the deck and eventually gutting the kitchen. Feel free to browse through the photos of our little slice of the Lou.
Our house in 2015 when we bought it.
Our back yard. Before we put in the orchard and the gardens.
Little did we know when we bought the house that the back yard gets a little wet when it rains.
If it rains enough, we can pretend we’re living in Venice.
Boring and blah upstairs bath.
Looking better with a bit of color on the walls.
A fresh coat of paint on this old vanity means we can get a few more years of use from it.
I like my house to have a little whimsy.
Old doors and old hardware make for quite a challenge when trying to add new knobs.
We prevailed! New updated doorknob installed!
Adding craftsman style trim to the doorway between the living room and the hall made a big difference.
New house, new colors, and everyone helps out.
The first summer after we moved in, we got quite a surprise when the poppys started blooming.
This is probably the only picture we have of the bathroom on the first floor before the remodel. It was a lot less pretty than it looks.
With an old house, you never know what you will find in the walls
Out with the old bathroom, so we can put in new!
In with the new bathroom! I think it’s a big improvement.
Leaky roof meant replacing the ceiling in two of the closets.
Custom shelves to hold all our DVD’s. A great addition to the upstairs hallway.
Moving the pond from St. Charles to our new house was hard, but worth it!
The trees are in!
Hubby doing a little work in the kitchen. New microwave and hood soon to be installed.
Who has a hallway without a light???
Lighting problem fixed. Handy hubby to the rescue!
We pulled out the bushes by the porch and planted flowers and hostas instead. I love our gardens in spring.
The previous owner just boarded up where the door should have been. Handy Hubby tore out the plywood and replaced it with a real door.
Got dirt?
One of my favorite gardening buddies.
Farmer Rolf is starting to work on the orchard and gardens.
I love having a front loader. Until I have to bend over to load and unload it. Thankfully Handy Hubby was able to make a custom stand to solve that little problem.
Yes, we bought a house without bedroom doors.
Handy hubby working on building a door frame.
Door all done! Woot Woot! Privacy for all!
Need more storage! Removed the wall in the stairwell so we could build a little pantry.
Pretty canned goods all in a row! Our stairwell pantry is super handy, and a very unique addition to the house.
Butterflies love the Mexican Sunflowers.
Buzz Buzz Buzz. We see lots of these pollinators around.
I love the vibrant color of Gerbera daisies.
This little guy found our pond.
It’s not always sunny and green at our house. Sometimes there’s snow.
This sap sucker seems to be competing with the humming birds for a taste of sugary goodness from the feeder.
Sunflower seeds attract all kinds of pretty birds.
This little guy was saved from becoming a cat snack.
Pretty sure we won’t have a mouse problem with this guy lurking around.
Tree frogs are so neat!
Removal of the defunct ‘shack’ behind the garage was needed eventually. The need to have the garage piered helped spur on the removal of the crumbling structure.
Crappy shack all gone!
One of our less fun (and more costly) projects. Having the garage piered so it won’t slide down the hill.
With the shack torn out, we decided it was a good time to replace the windows in the garage with ones that actually open.
Lots of hard work by Handy Hubby to re-build a new ‘shack’ behind the garage
Pretty new ‘shack’ all done, complete with picture window that was removed from Rolf’s old house a few years back. (We are pack rats when it comes to building materials)
Sometimes it’s the little things. Like finally having a doorbell that works!
Deer. A constant problem at our house. Those bastards eat everything!
Spring 2018 was heralded by tiny bright green frogs.
Another year, another garden. I try to plant local flora whenever possible. I think this butterfly agrees with my choice.
Home sweet home circa 2018
Back yard, Spring of 2018
Sprucing up the basement a bit with some paint and new lighting.
I love cutting vinyl stuff for the house. I’m going to decorate EVERYTHING!
Vinyl fun on the light switches in the stairwell.
A little house for our imaginary mouse.
Fall 2019. Continuing to paint over the yucky brown around the windows with crisp white.
Out with the old and in with the new improved pad. Spring 2020
A new and improved pond installed. The 45 or so fishies are much happier.
Added a wall to our basement to keep the cats away from the plants in the winter.
We raised the strawberry bed so it would have better drainage.
We ditched the janky old mailbox, and built this monolith instead!
The bees love our polinator garden.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are a regular visitor to our gardens.
Finally got around to hiding the ugly air conditioner.
Pulling the ceiling down. so we can insulate, add speakers, and lights.
Ceiling completed, with additional insulation, speakers and 8 new lights!
Adding some stereo speakers to the front porch, so we can enjoy tunes and nice weather.
First coat of polyurethane on the floor.
Refinishing the floors. Second coat.
TA DA! Cabinets are in! Next step is building bookshelves on top of them.
We didn’t have enough hobbies already. So we added bees. We are now beekeepers.
