The Wee Provo House

Here it is, finally finished! This is our latest Provo property and remodel. We have been calling it the wee Provo house because it's oh so tiny, but perfectly adorable and functional. We have loved working on this little house and were so lucky to find this little gem in need of some TLC. We had the best realtor so far in our home buying processes. Preston Buckley and this wife Sarah. They were so patient with us in looking at lots of houses, and Preston did an amazing job on the purchase.

We are especially excited for this one as Ethan and Kate's nuptials are almost upon us and they will get to rent this cutie from us as their first home together! Kate will be moving in on Monday and Ethan will join her after their wedding on the17th. They coudn't ask for a more adorable little starter home. One of the most special memories Ethan will get to carry with him as he lives in this little house is that he did a large majority of the work on it himself. He and I have been working on this daily with a little bit of help from Bill and Andy on the weekends. Take a look!

This house wins the award for most dramatic exterior transformation. We had also taken to calling it the "Green House", but as you can see, we can't really call it that any longer...but calling it the "White House" seems a little extreme :). I loved adding all the little wood touches to make it feel warm and inviting. We also took a lot of pleasure in ripping that chain link fence right out of there!

One nice little bonus that came with this house is a garage and an extra shed! The only problem was that the only driveway that was there was tiny, cracking to pieces and falling apart. We decided to take advantage of all that space and put in a driveway that can fit about three cars. Why not? Super practical and much nicer to look at than the weed garden that was going on.

(swipe to see the before/after photos)

The Exterior

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The first thing we had to do when we bought this home is replace all the windows. This 1940 house still had its original windows, but they were not in original condition. The big picture window had a bullet hole in it, and at least three of the bedroom windows were completely broken. I decided to go with the black exterior frames and the black dividers in the picture window to add a touch of elegance. New windows gave this house a fresh new look!

The main room is actually really spacious! As you can see, the house had some very ugly and very used brown shag carpets. We replaced that with a light colored wood floor throughout. I wanted to keep everything light colored and bright as the space is so small. That one change and lots of white paint really opened the whole thing up!

Living Room

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The kitchen just needed a new layout to make it useful. We tucked the fridge back into the nook where it wouldn't be in the way, added a huge new pantry, made the dishwasher built in instead of an afterthought, and moved the range next to the countertops and sink. New paint, lighting, cabinets and a beehive backsplash just freshen it up!

Kitchen

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This little tiny wee bathroom took more of my time, energy and talent than any room in the house. Basically it was a huge pain in the ____. All that 90"s brown tile had to go, and of course it took out most of the wall with it! So with Ethan's help, we re-tilewalled the place, then I painstakingly subway tiled the entire room. I think this room alone took me a three weeks. But, with that said, I love the outcome! Its light, fresh and has a few modern touches in the floating cabinet and lighting. We did end up saving that original bathroom mirror and cabinet. It's pretty cute and adds much needed storage.

Bathroom

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Who in their right mind paints a ceiling black and then lets the black paint drip down the wall? Seriously? One word...primer. It's is now forever just a bad memory. What a change!!!

Main Bedroom

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This was used as child's room...a child who had a very artistic streak and was allowed the freedom to express it on the walls. It took a few cans of spotshot and a lot of elbow grease to get it off.....then once again...primer. Ethan and Kate will be using it as their office/graphic design space. I think we can trust Kate to keep her art on the page instead of the walls :)

Spare Bedroom/Office

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These couple of photos are just to remind myself of the time it took to restore the built-ins. They were bad! Only about two functioning handles between all 10 doors. The inside and out had to be cleaned of artwork, dirt, three types of contact paper and it took about two tubs of wood filler and loads of sand paper. Then after that, they got sprayed about 4 times with the paint prayer. Turned out pretty cute, though! Also super functional in a tiny house.

Hallway / Built-ins

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The basement. It's special. HVAC so low that Ethan needs to watch his head with every step. But, not a lot we could do about it, so we just thought of this room as a bonus! Ethan just started a Lego business recently. He's selling and shipping out lego stuff all the time, so this ended up being his shipping and sorting room. Add a TV and a little futon....its usable. We also redid the walls and carpets so he wouldn't feel the need to use a hazmat suit while working down here.

Basement

(swipe to see the before/after photos)