master bathroom

to offset the preponderance of white tile in the house without a full scale remodel, we used our favorite solution - paint.

before & after:

let's get this party started

our first project was to refinish the living room and dining room floors prior to occupation. the previous owner chose a finish called "pickled" - that says enough, right? unfortunately, we had a polyurethane situation (don't believe everything you read on the varethane can in terms of drying time!) that prevented us from refinishing both rooms before our move-in date. in fact, the floors were not wholly finished until a month after we moved in.

pickle vs. our choice of stain:



the finished floors after poly:

we heard a rumor...

at the open house we were told there were hardwood floors under the carpet in the three bedrooms and back hall. once we took possession, it was exploration time.

ahoy!



a room cleaned of carpet, pending staple removal:

the 4th house is the charm

after a long house hunt (or it seemed long anyway) and 3 failed offers later, we walked through the house that would become our home in a month. the first impression was striking - a beautiful, private patio with a fireplace! walk through an original wood door to the living room with a beamed ceiling (albeit painted beams) and a view of century city to the west - not quite the view from lori's condo, but not bad. from the living room you walked through arched doorways to the dining room with a coved ceiling. the dining room had french doors which opened to the patio. the kitchen was pretty awful with an abundance of white tile and urine yellow walls, but we knew that could be fixed. the 3 bedrooms were sizeable, and two had giant walk-in closets - a rarity in 80 year old spanish homes. the rear bedroom had french doors which opened to a lush private backyard. apparently there was a sale on white tile 15 years ago b/c the same kitchen tile was found in the two bathrooms. the oddest part was that one bathroom had the toilet removed and only had a sink and shower, but whatever. we were home.

the house:



backyard view from rear br:



the front patio:



the front door into the living room: