BEFORE Photos!

So here's what we're starting with.  The place needs LOTS of work, which is why we're waiting to move in until the renovation is complete on the main house.  So here's a bit of what we're starting with:

Kitchen.......to be taken down to the studs & footprint expanded into the room next to it (formerly the Game Room)

Hallway - all old tile will go.  To be replaced with CORK flooring

Former dining room.  Will be merged with the living room to form one living space

Sunken Living room

Living room - former dining room to the left. Stairs to the master bedroom behind fireplace

Room to become Caroline's office after reconfiguration, etc

Full bath off of the dining room.  To be turned into a Laundry/Utility room, along with a small office behind it

Guest bath to be gutted & redone with all tile

Master bath to be gutted down to the studs & reconfigured

Harvest Gold toilet!  To be put on Craigslist soon!

Backyard view from where the bar will be

Also from where the bar will be

Back of house.  All wood siding to be replaced with Hardie board & painted not brown (final color TBD).

We dig the front doors.  Plan is to have them painted a light Aqua color & replace the hardware with Starburst hardware.

 & the same doors from inside

Pretty Colors!!!!  Can't wait to see which ones we use :)

Here's the abode today.  Pretty much original 1975 with a few minor exceptions.  It's got good bones & an interesting floor plan that will work well for us.

We'll be keeping the doors, but they'll be a fun mid century AQUA when we're done!

OOOH!  BIG Fireplace!

 Old dining room, which will be married with the sunken living room to become 1, 2-level living room

Dark, dank, small depressing kitchen
BIG plans for this room!!!

View of downstairs from up by the Master Suite
(Fortunately, the Grand Piano finally left with the previous owners)

& the skeezy Master bathroom

FUN FUN Backyard with POTENTIAL!!!

 & THIS is where the bar will be!

It's been quite a while since we updated this blog & we've had a bit of a change of direction that we're EXCITED about!!

1st up: We decided not to build in Lockhart, so we SOLD our land there

And....We moved into Austin proper, which is a better fit for us than small town Texas :)

On October 9th we closed on a house in Austin - YAY!!!

BUT!  We're not moved in, yet.  The house needs a gut & remodel, and we're going to build the Moai Icehouse (BAR!) in the backyard.

Soooooo....We'll be using this blog to keep ya'll updated on our progress along the way :)

Wish us luck - the next 6++ months will be an interesting ride!

While we're awaiting the ever-slow-turning wheels of Construction Financing 101, we've got a little diversion in that our ranch truck is almost FINALLY done!!

Here's a little preview of it's awesomeness! :D

NOTE:  The wheels & tires are still the old, crappy ones - we've got much better old wheels to get on it along with new tires......

SWEET re-covered '70's Chevy Suburban seats!!

& a Custom Dash, too!

Tile Quest!!

For the past several months, I have searched high & low for a tile blend that would give me the look & feel in this Kohler ad from a few years ago:

The blend above has a healthy dose of Aqua & a but of grey thrown in.

I've looked high & low & even resorted to calling Kohler, who scrounged & also could not figure out where they got the tile or where to send me (though they did make a valiant effort!).

So, since these aqua tones do not appear to be any longer available in glass mosaics, we will be going with more of a blue tone, instead, but a similar look & feel - tile all the way up the walls, rounded edge where the floor meets the walls, etc.

Here's where we ended-up with a custom blend.  We're happy with it - given that it appears that it is certainly going to be the closest we're going to be able to get:

It's got some shimmer pieces to it, a bit of grey & a lot of varying shades of blue - we think it'll look GREAT!!

Getting Closer.......

Since, of course - NOTHING is cookie-cutter about this house - bidding has taken FOREVER (& a few days more, even.....).  But - after some refinements to get us MUCH close to budget, we're getting closer & hoping to be able to turn it over to the bank in the next couple weeks for final approvals.

Unfortunately, our hopes of being in our new house (& out of our crappy apartment) by Christmas as looking like just a pipe dream at this point.

As they say.....Rome wasn't built in a day  :) 

Hopefully More SOON!!!!!

Plans in the Builder's Hands - FINALLY!!!

On May 28th, we passed an important milestone of the pricing plans being handed-off from our architect to our builder for him to develop final pricing.  YAY!!!!!!

He was chomping at the bit to get rolling on the pricing, so we're sure looking forward to the next step, which will be handing that all off to the bank for our final, final construction loan approval.  Can't wait!!

& here are a few views of the updated plans for your viewing enjoyment.....we're sure getting closer!!

Some Interim Updated plans from our architect yesterday - will post some highlights as soon as I get electronic files.

In the meantime, a picture of my little helper, already claiming the new home as her territory =^..^= MEOW!!

It's about time we got back to some house stuff, so here are a few things we've picked-up over the past couple years for the house.

A friend in the design business saw this flooring on Craigslist for a STEAL & it seemed like a GREAT fit for our bar - since it's flooring made from old WHISKEY BARRELS.

Sadly, it no longer smells like Whiskey Barrels ;)

Next-up, we found this old Ship's Door at a great ships salvage place down in Galveston & thought it was PERFECT for the door from the Bar to the Pool.

We'll have to add a little height to it during the build - but Authentic & very cool for way cheaper than we would have paid to have one custom built, too - YAY!

And we've got something FUN planned for this, which we picked-up at a Flea Market a while back:

And.....finally.....neither of us can say that we EVER thought we'd have a Mailbox in a bucket.  But, well, such is life in rural Texas.  Hook 'em, baby!!!

Oh - and even without a house on our land, we can still do a bit of this to keep ourselves entertained ;)

Before we get into house stuff, I've also been asked to share the rehab of a truck we have underway - so here is where we started & where we're at now :)

It's a 1978 Chevrolet c10 Longbed.

Where we started......VERY Rough!

(The inside is ICKY!!!.....just wait to see the "after" :) )

Then, we pulled the engine out & not much was left afterwords....

A shiney new engine :)

Vintage seaats bought off of EBay......BEFORE:

& AFTER!

The first visit to the Paint Shop - in February.....we're still in pieces at this point.

Getting closer....lots of trim still needs to be added, but it's starting to look real!

The blue stripe is tape - that marks where the orange pinstriping will be.  Tailgate letters will also be in Orange, too :)

The re-building of the interior will be the next step to update!