Two weeks in

If there's one piece of advice I've heard from people who have gone whole hog into renovation right after closing, it's "pick a project and stick with it until it's finished, and then move on to the next thing." I haven't done the best job of following that advice.

To be fair to myself though there wasn't much hope in my prioritizing until I had done an appropriate amount of exploration. Before I start to break this out into more topical posts, here are some highlight photos.

Before Pics

I didn't do the best job at restraining myself from peeling and scraping before really documenting the place, but here's a bit of what I do have.

First Post: Two weeks and a day until closing

Oh my god what have I done.

Behind the façade: 1600+ square feet of South Philly Italian Grandma House. Wallpaper, drop ceilings (like three different kinds), carpeting, old wiring, pink tile, PURPLE TILE, a ton of junky concrete work out back, the whole nine. On the slightly sketchy edge of an improving neighborhood, on a block with only a few trees. But enough about the bad stuff -- I was convinced that this was the house with the most potential for the entry price and that's why I'm buying it. It has four bedrooms if you're listing it (three if not), two full baths, a nice wide living and dining room, serviceable kitchen, and a pretty huge back yard by city standards.

And here's where this blog comes in. My goal is to fully remodel (and furnish) the place to my liking within the next five years, on a shoestring, doing as much work as possible myself, even building some of those furnishings. Regular postings here will keep me honest, I hope, and help keep that goal on track. About me: 30 something, project manager by trade, creative background, handy but not yet handy enough. Working on it.

Here's to what will likely be a long, tiring, expensive, chaotic, but ultimately very satisfying time in my life.