by Valerie Swearingen
Backstory:
Since Jay and I first met in 2004, I knew we were a good match. In lots of ways of course, but one of the things I loved is that he had built the most perfect patio off the back of his 1920s bungalow. It matched the style of the house, yet it was updated enough to be inviting.
Since that time, I can’t tell you how many houses we’ve renovated. Most often, we moved because our family was growing and we needed the space. But sometimes we moved on a whim just for the excitement of renovating another home. We give each of our houses a name. There was the Yellow House (mentioned above), the Brownstone, the Gentry, the Lodge, the Shoebox, Dancer’s Image aka the Boulder, and now our current house, the Cape.
Maybe this is the downside of being the wife of a Realtor®, but with each house I see, my mind is able to take its greatness and expand it. I can see the potential. I can see the vision. I can see what the house needs in this current moment of time. Call me crazy, you wouldn’t be the first, but I simply love renovating houses.
With each house we renovate, we learn so much more. At first it was just painting and changing blinds and curtains. Then we started watching YouTube and our minds were blown. Not only could we do the work, but we could save money doing it ourselves to boot! We had gotten the itch and will never look back. Some projects we do are minor, some are decent size and the one we just wrapped up was pretty significant!
The Decision:
In 2021, we were looking for a four-bedroom house in a very specific part of town (yay Northtown!). With three kids, we simply needed the extra space. AND I wanted a yard big enough for a vegetable garden. (That is an article for another day about mental health and getting your fingers dirty in the garden.)
A house popped up on the market, and within just a few hours we had toured it and my personal real estate agent (shout out to Jay Swearingen @ Dwell Kansas City) had submitted an offer. We knew there were risks with a full price offer that included no inspection, but with the market as hot as it was for this part of the city, it was a concession we were willing to make. The house itself was an average Cape Cod style, but the street it sits on was AMAZING!
And, when I first walked in the door, I knew this was a house just waiting for us to let it shine. The families who lived here before did a great job of maintaining the property. For example, carpet had been covering immaculate hard wood floors for decades! Everything was in amazing condition. I believe the last family had lived here for 25 years and the house was perfect … for them.
But if you know anything about me, you know I love to shake things up. Ha! I’m a stubborn Aries, so it works for me. And, my creative brain is constantly looking for an outlet. Whether it’s rearranging furniture on the regular to keep things from being stagnant to completely gutting a bedroom to its studs to overhaul it completely (spoiler!), I’m always willing to take a chance on home projects. Life projects, not so much, but home projects are always safe since my goal in life is to be an Official Homebody.
Over the past few years of living in this new-to-us-home, we had done some updating right away…removed heavy draperies, pulled up the vintage carpet, refinished the hardwood floors, and painted all the ceilings and walls with a fresh coat of white paint. Tip: do this before you move in if possible – much easier without furniture to move around. We basically just let all the light in we possibly could to make it feel brighter. We also did some easy landscaping in the front. I say easy because I didn’t do much of the work. Jay and our kids did most of the manual labor. It’s so fun having teenage children!!
The Project:
Back to our largest project so far at the Cape. This house is a standard Cape Cod. Two bedrooms on the main level. Two more bedrooms on the upper level. One full bath on each floor with a half bath in the finished bathroom. Zero bathrooms were attached to any of the bedrooms. Nada. Zilch. If you forget a towel for your shower, looks like you’d be streaking it back to your bedroom.
It was built in 1962 with a common floorplan. The upstairs bedrooms were the largest ones, leaving two small bedrooms adjacent to each other on the main floor. While we naturally took the largest of the four bedrooms as our room because that’s what society has us trained to do, we eventually switched rooms around after a year or so.
We gave our kids the larger rooms and took over the 3rd smallest bedroom that was on the main floor. We aren’t old (just yet), but it is nice have our bedroom on the main floor. And honestly, we don’t spend a ton of time in our room, so for us, it made the most sense.
What wasn’t nice about the swap though was having OUR bathroom be the same one guests used when they were over. Not that we’re messy people or anything, but it was a tiny bathroom needing to serve a lot of purposes. So, after much thinking and debating and sketching and budgeting and doubting and questioning and more sketching, we officially decided to take the 4th smallest bedroom that was currently serving as my home office and convert it into an attached, primary bathroom suite. Now the real work began.
But before I get to that, there is a piece of the story I’d be remiss not to include. Since 2005, Jay and I had been eyeing two vacant lots just a few blocks over (also in Northtown). A dentist friend owned them, and we were constantly telling him, if you ever want to sell, please let us know. Well, in 2022, he offered them to us. After wanting them for so long, we didn’t think twice about buying them with the intention of building our dream home (thanks again to my REALTOR® hubby for the best negotiation).
However, we ultimately realized that it’s okay for dreams to change. What we once thought would be the perfect new construction home didn’t really match anymore with what we wanted out of our lives. That house would’ve been built with our current family dynamics in mind (multiple rooms for our multiple kids), but in a few years, we’ll be Empty Nesters and the house we always dreamed up won’t be the right one for what our life will look like in that chapter.
So, we decided to sell the lots and let someone else have their dream home in that space. Ultimately deciding that our current street is the neighborhood we want to be apart of and we were going to make THIS house be the one that best meets our needs. But I digress.
Before: To help you get a grasp of what the space was like before, here is a diagram of what the floorplan looked like originally. I’ve also included a picture of my non-professional sketch of what was possible.
[insert photos 1 and 2]
While I always wanted to be an architect, I know I’m not a pro. Fortunately, we have friends who are and they were helpful in reassuring us that our project would work. And not just that it would work, but that they would be sad if we didn’t bring it to life. Talk about a confidence booster!
There’s something about that first step of demo that is always the hardest. Brains are weird and they will constantly question you “Are you sure you’re ready?” “Do you really know what you’re doing?” “Wouldn’t you rather hire this out?” “You’ve lost your mind to tackle something like this.” But then, you just swing that hammer anyway. And shockingly, the doubts disappear, and adrenaline takes over.
These pictures can show you the before and during phases once those hammers started swing. Fortunately, our kids have grown up with house projects and while I think the mess gets to them at times, their skillsets have grown exponentially and it’s always fun when they want to help.
To complete this project, we demo’d the main floor’s hall bathroom, the 4th smallest bedroom and a little hallway. The pictures below show what each space looked like BEFORE. Everything was fine, in great condition, and that retro pink tile is actually coming back in fashion. But as hard as I tried to work it into the new design, it just didn’t work for our needs. So, see ya later!
[insert pictures 3,4,5 and 6]
During: Dust masks, work gloves, and our favorite tool – the catspaw – were the hardest workers most days. While our muscles were sore and our backs constantly reminded us we aren’t as young as we used to be, it was great to see progress. Opening up the space between the 3rd and 4th bedrooms for the new bathroom access was such a beautiful sight to see.
You never know if what you’ve drawn (and redrawn 1000 times) is actually going to work. The pros have that confidence, but I’m still cautious. Until that very last piece of the puzzle is installed, I’m always unsure it’s going to work. I’m a worrier by nature, so that tracks.
[insert pictures 7,8,9,10 and 11]
After: Oh my stars – it worked!! I’m still amazed most days that we get to wake up and have this gorgeous space to live in every day. What used to be a hall bath and small bedroom is now a butler’s pantry (ya for more storage!), a powder bathroom and a glorious primary bathroom. Since our current closet was tiny, we made space for another closet as well. I get the original closet to myself and Jay gets the new one – hallelujah!
[insert pictures 12, 13, 14 and 15]
Affiliate Links for Items we used and love –
Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint, Snowbound & Pure White
Lowes Cabinet
Powder sink, toilet, mirror, light, wallpaper
Pros: Emily/Scott, Travis, Scott, Shower Glass
Double Vanity
Medicine Cabinets
3 Sconces
Exhaust fans
Towel hooks
Towel rod
Shoe organizers
Shelf rods and brackets
Why do we do this?
It’s fun. It’s a challenge. Because we can. Taking something and making it beautiful. Why not?
While a new construction home has it’s appeal, for us, the older homes seem to be more appealing. Are there things we would’ve done differently on the latest project we tackled, of course! And that’s the joy in it. There are 1,000+ options of what you can do when renovating your own home.
Taking the space as it currently is and making it the best possible option to meet YOUR needs is what it’s all about. If organizing your junk drawer is important to you, do it! Set a time for one hour and knock it out. If knocking out a wall between two spaces is important to you, do it! (Disclaimer: make sure it isn’t a load-bearing wall first)
Planting a garden – container or raised beds. Painting your front door. Hanging a picture that makes you smile when brushing your teeth or washing dishes at the sink. Whatever it is, don’t be afraid to make your mark. Our lives are fleeting and joy is necessary to make it through.
Whether you own a brand new home and want to make it personal to you or your wish is to find an old home like us and bring it back to life – the reward of it all is so amazing. Don’t be afraid to try something new. If nothing else, it can always be fixed.
Do you have a project stirring around in your mind? What’s holding you back? Need a cheerleader? I can help! Share in the comments what you’d love to tackle. I can give pointers, advice or a kick in the rear to pick up that hammer and get started.