Greetings again from Panera (there’s no internet at home yet – so we stop in, get hot chocolate, and slap together a post or two for you guys whenever we have a spare moment thanks to their free WiFi). We know you’re anxiously awaiting interior shots of our new house all empty and move in ready from yesterday (can’t believe it’s really ours!). So here they are. I ran around quickly, which resulted in some less than perfect shots (our friends and family were outside in the snow waiting to start bringing things in so I made it snappy and didn’t have a chance to record a video so that’ll have to come later). But anyway, this is the blank slate that we can’t wait to start having fun with. Paneling? Check. A yellow and beige bathroom? Check. Dark wood trim? Check. Many different floor choices? Check. Brick that we’re dying to paint? Check. Off-centered windows? Check. Small box-like rooms? Check. Walls to knock down? Check. A sink in the master bedroom? Check.
In other words, we’re insanely excited to get in there and start making our new house feel like it’s really ours. Which usually doesn’t happen until the paint brushes and the hammers come out. And we have to send a huge shout out to the former owners for allowing us to be the lucky new residents of their pride and joy. They even hosted a party to welcome us to the neighborhood a few weeks back and listened with excitement as we mentioned what colors we wanted to paint things and what walls we couldn’t wait to knock down. It has been an absolute pleasure to buy their house.
But enough jibber jabber. You guys are all probably all thinking “just get to the pictures” (if you haven’t skipped this intro entirely and scrolled down already) so here they are. Oh and check out this post for a floor plan description that will probably make a lot more sense of the flow, some of our future plans, etc.
Here’s the exterior in that blanket of surprise snow courtesy of mother nature:
And here’s the room that has us at hello. It’s actually a formal living room with a dining room behind those built-ins, but we’ll be converting the formal living room part into an entryway/dining room with a huge opening on the left wall that leads into the large eat-in kitchen. And that back room that was once the dining room will become our home office thanks to the addition of some pretty french doors.
Here’s a look from the other direction back at the door.
And here’s the long eat-in kitchen we mentioned. Lots of paneling to paint! We’re also planning to paint the cabinets (not sure what color or colors yet) and add a giant island. The opening to the new dining room in the front of the house will be on the right wall in the picture below. We’re hoping to get at least a 5′ pass through so it feels really airy and inviting.
Here it is from the other direction. Another thing we loved about this house from the get go were the wide doorways that it already had. You know we’re suckers for the whole open flow thing.
Here’s another one of those nice wide doorways that leads down the hall (this was taken with my back to the master bedroom facing the front door). Burger likie.
Here’s the room where we’ll do all of our living (when we’re not in the kitchen, since everyone seems to end up there anyway). We realized we never used our formal living room nearly as much as our family room in the old house, so we longed for a bigger all-in-one room to gather (that could accommodate a lot of our large family and a sectional along with some other larger furnishings) instead of having two smaller sitting rooms that were half as functional.
We love that it feels airy and spacious thanks to the generous size and the awesome sliding doors (one leads out onto a raised patio and one leads out into the sunroom).
Here’s the view looking towards the kitchen with your back to that big square window in the picture that’s two images up. We’re planning to make that fireplace a double-sided one so we can enjoy it from the kitchen and from the living room- and we also want to widen that doorway to make the kitchen feel even more connected to both rooms that are on either side of it.
Here’s the sunroom that was added on a while later. The challenge here will be making it feel more integrated with the rest of the house since it feels so modern and new when compared to the rest of the house, most of which was built half a century before.
The other side of the sunroom has an off centered window and some dark brick that we can’t wait to transform.
Here’s the master bedroom. It’s a really generously sized room, and the reclaimed pine floors (with super wide-planks!) are pretty special, so we can’t wait to show them some love.
Here’s the sink in the far side of the room (with a shower and a toilet in a room to the right and a walk-in closet to the left). It’ll definitely be a challenge to make that sink feel integrated since it’s visible from the bed (romantic!) but we have lots of ideas when it comes to getting ‘er done.
Here’s the hall bath that’s back near the other three bedrooms. We love that it’s so similar to the original full bath in our old house (and the tile is luckily in much better shape).
Here’s Clara’s new nursery (it’s almost exactly the same size as her old one):
And here’s the middle bedroom that we’re calling the playroom (it’ll become another kids bedroom when our clan grows someday):
Here’s the guest bedroom that we can’t wait to offer up to family and friends stopping through. Of course we need a bed first…
And here’s they funny little yellow-beige bathroom suite (that room used to be the master before they added the new one along with that spacious living room behind the kitchen, so it has its own bathroom).
Can’t wait to redo this baby.
And here’s the little laundry room that we want to pack with storage and function to create a mini mudroom as well.
We love the lines of the back of the house (and hope to upgrade the exterior up front someday to match…).
Doesn’t the snow make our backyard look so charming? We’re in love.
So there it is. It was totally love at first sight for us. And we’re still so thankful for our buyers agent who convinced us to go look at the house (we snubbed our nose at it because it had a carport, and later learned that the owners were offering a full credit to pay for the conversion from carport to garage so it wouldn’t cost us a dime). Seriously, it makes us crazy to think that we might have missed out on this beauty because we were anti carport. But the (real estate) world works in mysterious ways.
Anyway, we hope you guys enjoy the first of many pics of our new place. Please bear with us when it comes to questions (since we don’t have internet access, and want to spend more time at the new house than Panera, we might not be able to answer a ton of new house q’s). You have our word that we’ll share more details about what will go where and what projects we want to take on as things unfold. We’re all about the whole real-time blog-as-we-go thing. Especially since we have so many new projects to tackle! Thankfully we have nothing but time (at least 4.5 years, since that’s how long the last house took us) to settle in and share every detail with you guys. You know we’re chronic over-sharers, so don’t worry about us sparing any detail. Stay tuned for diary-like updates as we tackle transformations both big and small. Until then, come on in and make yourself comfy in our new home! So glad to have you guys along for the ride.
Psst- You can check out our new BabyCenter post all about Clara’s new room here.
alyssa says
Congrats! Can’t wait to see all of the wonderful things you will do to make this house your home!
K says
This is so exciting!
Stephanie says
The house is beautiful… thanks for taking us along for the ride! Can’t wait to see how you make it your own!
Natalie says
FANTASTIC!!! It has such great bones, you guys are going to work your magic and have your dream home in no time… the most exciting part- the journey will be as amazing a the destination, and we get to come along for the ride… pretty sure I am on your site more than anywhere else online, even facebook… I am a YHL junkie!! Frequently saying things like… “my peeps on younghouselove do this… or recommend that… ” Lately when doing things in my own home, I take a moment and say… “what would John and Sherry do?” WWJSD- hehe…
Congratulations guys!! Well worth the wait for us junkies!
With joy,
Natalie
Kathi says
What a gorgeous new home for you all, and the potential… woohoo! The house looks like it was well looked after, if somewhat dated. Like Vivian, I loved the pic with Burger, great hallway!
Congratulations to the four of you, and Merry Christmas to you in your new home!
maggie says
John and Sherry-
i am SO excited to see what you two have in store for this home. i am unbelievably hooked to your blog and i love all your inexpensive and creative ideas! thanks for posting amidst all the moving madness!
Sheralyn says
I am SO IMPRESSED that you are posting! Moving can be quite the whirlwind, but reading your blog, I get the impression you’re up for any challenge. Welcome home, Petersiks, can’t wait to see what you do with all the potential your new house has! WOOO!!
Jenn says
Can’t wait to see what you do with it! I love the built in book shelves!
paper claire says
I love it, youngsters!!!
I can’t want to see how you guys transform it. Thanks for sharing with us and giving us ideas!
DD says
OMG. It JUST hit me that your old house is gone. I can’t believe how attached I was to it (lol!)!
Can’t wait to see all the new projects this one will bring though!
Blog is the New Black says
Wow, LOVE the open layout of the place. I cannot wait to see what you do with the place. It’s so wide open, lots of potential! CONGRATS!
Beth says
LOVE IT! I can see why you guys fell in love with this home. It’s amazing. That room inside the front door had me at hello, too. Happy moving in and decorating!
Letty says
Congratulations! I love it! And I can’t wait to see what you guys do with it– particularly the romantic sink in the bedroom ;)
Alicia says
CONGRATULATIONS! Your new home has so much potential…I can see why it was love at first sight! Can’t wait to see your first project!!
Melanie says
Can’t wait to see the transformations! So exciting! I used to hate ranch houses before I found your blog, but now I totally see the potential.
Big ups for posting today! I don’t know how you guys do it!
Best of luck in your new adventure!
Mel
Loren says
Loving it. In the first couple photos I was thinking ‘What could they possibly need to fix in this house?’ THEN I got to the kitchen pics. Yikes. Good luck, looking forward to your renovations.
noelle says
Call me crazy, but I love, love , love the light fixture in the long hallway. So hip (in a retro kind of way)!
Julie at www.velvetandshag.com says
I love it. Congrats! Now get busy putting up that tree again!
Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says
OMG – at first I was really sad to see the old house go, but this is phenomenal!! How lucky are you not to have to rip up carpet! And, yea, you’ve got paneling, but not too bad! This house is a gem! I am more excited now than I was before to check out what you have in store!!!!
Briel K. says
Wow! Seeing all these pictures makes me even more excited to see the projects you come up with. I see a lot of potential. I can’t wait to see what you do with that kitchen! Woohoo!
tracie says
Aww, it reminds me of my grandparents house so, so much. Just with more flooring choices (they had tile in the baths, hardwoods, and brick linoleum in the kitchen/family room. Yes, faux brick. It was special.) And I personally love the yellow tile bathroom. It looks adorable.
Amy says
love the built ins and the ceiling beams. Can’t wait to see what you guys do with the place, but I also hope that you guys take some time to relax somewhere along the way! Happy unpacking!
Claire says
I’m in love with your house! Can’t wait to see it after you guys go mad on it. :)
Ami @ beyondpeasandcarrots says
ohhhh so exciting!!! What great bones to start with! As I was looking at the pics I couldn’t help being intrigued about where you are going to start!!!
Shannon says
Ok, I am sooo happy for you, but I am also insanely jealous lol. This place is bursting with potential!!! I can’t wait to see what you do with it. What room will you be starting first?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Shannon,
We’re definitely planning to tackle multiple rooms at a time so we won’t be all organized and go from room to room so it’ll be all over the place since that’s usually our process. Taking off doors here, painting rooms there, hanging art here, organizing the cabinets there…
Funnnnnn!
xo,
s
Tekesia says
Wow what a great house! It’s so spacious and has SO much potential. The light is great and that sun room would have had me at hello :) Congrats guys!!
Kim says
Ahhhh I’m so excited for you guys! I feel like I’m moving in with you. Haha. So much potential, but also so many great characteristics already! Good luck!
Jenn M says
WOW! I can’t wait to read about all of the changes you’ll be making. Thanks for letting us be a part of this new adventure! I’m taking notes, because we’re hoping to move in the next year!
Good luck!
Jaya says
It looks super cool and has so much light! I am getting flash visions of what it will be like in the coming months! Thrilled is what I am!
And that tile- well we have the SAME EXACT tile in our tiny master in our 1962 ranch. I CANNOT wait to see what you do with it because we will definitely be borrowing (stealing?!?) heavily from your ideas.
Thanks for keeping us posted!
Brooke says
SOO loving this place…it already has such great bones and I can ONLY imagine how great the final outcome will be once you all work your magic. I’m especially loving your fireplace idea and those wide-plank pine floors are gorgeous. Can’t wait to read about all of the updates over the next year! :)
Cristy says
Looks Great! Congrats. Looking forward to observing the progress
Jessie says
I love this house. It looks nice as is and I can’t wait to see what changes you make!
Lisa says
So much potential! Congratulations!
Monica says
Congrats! I love all of the ideas you already have to open up the floor plan. Can’t wait to watch your progress on your new casa.
brandt @ New House On The Blog says
Yays! It’s got to feel like such a huge load off your backs to be able to finally be on to part 2 of the journey! Yays!
And Burger even found time to make an appearance on his busy schedule? This is a good post indeed!
Ashley says
First, Congratulations! I can feel your excitement. Second, thanks so much for keeping us updated while you move (don’t know how you do it!). Third, can’t wait to see it transform. Thanks for having us all along for the ride!
~a fellow Richmonder (is that a word? I haven’t lived here all that long, haha)
Sevi says
At last!! The waiting is over! This is a great new year gift to all of us, and to you as well I think.
Guys, this is a beautiful beautiful house. I luuurrrved the sunroom. And the potential… I will show the pictures to my husband and he will start planning -again- moving to a bigger house. Our house is practically one-third of your new house but I still have loots of projects to go.
Congrats again, you’ve made a deal!
Ange says
Congratulations! It’s a really nice place. The best part is, it’s totally liveable while you decide, save $$ & work your magic. It seems really spacious too. I’m excited to see which new colour you pick for Clara’s room. Obscure thought I had..will you miss your new model washer & dryer? It seems the ones you’ve inherited are much older..In my experience in Australia, we usually take all appliances when selling a house, except maybe a dishwasher.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Ange,
Yeah we might miss them and definitely plan to keep an eye out for newer more energy efficient versions on sale someday. Here lots of people convey (include) their appliances, which we did and our new house’s sellers did as well.
xo,
s
Mary @ stylefyles says
aww your new house looks FANTASTIC!
congrats!
It’s weird, but I feel like I’m as excited as you….because I can’t wait to follow along with all your renovations. (okay AS excited as you might be an exaggeration…..no, nevermind, it’s not)
Beth @ bethcooks says
I love it! It’s so spacious and bright! That firplace in the kitchen is what would have had me at hello—-for sure. Unbelievable find, you guys!
Catherine says
I’ll be living vicariously through all of your projects, since we’re not in a position to buy right now, but seriously, I’m so excited, it’s like it’s my own place! :)
Congrats again! And welcome HOME!
Was it at all awkward talking to the former owners about what you were planning to change? I think all buyers should make their home their own, but that TLC show Moving Up made it seem like previous homeowners get offended by change. Glad that your sellers were so awesome!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Catherine,
It totally could have been awkward but it so wasn’t! They couldn’t wait to hear our ideas and they actually debated doing a few of them themselves a while back. Really, they’re super cool people and we’re so thankful they put their house up for sale at the perfect time so we could snatch it up!
xo,
s
Holly West says
I am so ridiculously excited for you all you’d think I was moving in myself.
We’re doing a big renovation starting in January, so I’ll be glued to your blog seeing how your house evolves.
Jessi says
I realized today that I’ve been holding my breath for you all weekend and I’m so glad that you’ve all made it safe and sound! I love your blog and I think it’s cool you moved in today on my birthday and it was a happy story! :)Thanks and Congratulations!!!
sarah says
Love the house and can totally see why you fell for it. I especially love the hallway shot with Burger and the family room. So much potential! Can not wait to see this house transform!
Dana @ House*Tweaking says
Ah, I can see it now… What a great starting point to work with as you please! Love it.
Melissa says
WOW! I love the potential and can’t wait to see what you’ll have to share with us!
Andee says
Thanks for sharing. I am most definately looking forward to following your many upgrades. Peace & many blessings!
~A
MS says
Congrats! I can’t wait to see how this unfolds. And I’m selfishly thrilled that your house is in similar condition to the one we bought a year ago and have been very pokey on tackling. Fortunately, our kitchen is already done, but I’m the first to tell you guys. You lead, I’ll follow. Show me where to start and I’m right behind you!
Erin says
I’m so happy for your family- good luck unpacking and getting settled in the new house :)
Paula M. says
It’ll be fascinating to see what changes you two make in the months and years ahead with your new place. Clearly, you’re already brimming over with some plans and ideas!
And I’m so impressed that the owners hosted a party to introduce you to the neighbors and vice-versa! Are they two of the nicest people on the planet or what? I think that’s a genius idea! So often, it can take forever to meet the neighbors, one by one, either in the midst of moving or out in the driveway or whatever …. I have a very odd work schedule myself, so I haven’t met many of my condo neighbors after three YEARS (aside from the 4 units closest to mine). That really puts you off to a great start, to have met folks right off the bat.