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More Before and After Pictures: The Sunroom

Melissa Beene Ford/ before and after+ Big Blue House

This room has changed drastically since we bought the house! It was added on in the 1960s by the previous owner, and she had her collection of wicker in this room. It was like The Museum of All Things Wicker…..every single thing, even the birdcage and lamps, were wicker! And the astroturf carpet was a nice touch. Really, though it wasn’t my style, I could see the potential. The ceiling was covered in antique tin ceiling tiles, and the huge floor-to-ceiling windows were from an old church that was being torn down. At nearly 600 square feet, this room was a huge job, so we saved it for last!

(On a side note….do you see the blue structure outside the window? I had forgotten about that ’til I saw this picture, but there used to be a closet out there, that the owners had built right out the other back door, sort of giving the appearance of an outhouse stuck to the back of the house. We tore that down a long time ago).


This room was almost completely destroyed by termites and water damage. A tree had fallen across the roof of this room before we bought the house, and sat there for quite some time before anyone did anything about it (since the house was just sitting here vacant for 5 years). Water poured in, the roof was bowed downward, and when we tore the ceiling tiles down carpenter ants came pouring out by the jillions. It was DISGUSTING. Oh ~ and the smell!! I can’t really describe to you the stench of rot and rats. Do you see the brown streaks in this picture? That was the termite poop.

This stained glass window and the little gothic arch window above it (not shown in these pictures) were from that old church. We had to remove them to put in more support for the ceiling, a huge beam above, then vertical supports had to go in this wall to hold up that beam. That little arch window now has a new home hanging above my bed.

This is the nasty, back-breaking tearing-out process (yes, I did my share, in case you’re wondering….I was the girl who carried the garbage to the dumpster as the guys tore it all out). We tried to salvage the old ceiling tiles, but they were so disintegrated from all the water damage that most of them came raining down from the ceiling in rusted chunks as we tried to pry them loose. Carpenter ants rained down as well, and we’d have to stop the tearing out periodically to attack them with bug spray.


This is our friend David, who did most of the work in this room BY HIMSELF! He’s quite a miracle-worker. AND a saint. He never complained, not one time, about having to tackle this disgusting job! We got bids from several people, or TRIED to get bids, and nobody else wanted to do it.


The rebuilding process…..all new sheetrock, wiring, insulation, paint, molding, floor joists and subfloor, and fixtures…..we had to remove three of the old windows because they were rotten, so we put french doors in their place. Three closets were added, one of them a huge walk-in closet lined with floor to ceiling shelves for the TOYS. The other two are for extra clothes, since this 80 year old house didn’t really have an abundance of closet space.




And now, for the finished product.





We have a ‘kid’ side, and a ‘grown-up’ side. KB is quick to let me know when I have crossed over the line into their half of the room. And/or when the grown-up side is messier than the kid side. Which of course NEVER happens…… 😉

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Comments

  1. Modern June31 says

    April 29, 2008 at 3:45 am

    Wow! What a transformation. You are one brave lady to be in there with all of those bugs. Yuck! Looks like your hard work paid off, though.

    Reply
  2. ohhollyf says

    May 14, 2008 at 8:00 pm

    Very nice i love to see diy projects.

    Reply

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About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

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I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
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That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
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It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
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Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
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Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
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Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
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I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
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How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
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It’s the goal, though. 
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This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
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I’m working on both.
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