01June 2014
New Project Coming Soon!
The very first post. I fell in love with a little stucco house, made an offer, and closed on it in June 2014.
Read more »The house stories
The Downtown Bungalow, start to finish
In June 2014 I bought a 1926 bungalow in downtown Fayetteville, West Virginia. The same family had lived in it for about 75 years, and it had been sitting empty for four and a half years when I found it. This year, it turns 100.
I blogged the renovation as it happened, first on my old blog, The Mustard Ceiling, and later here. Every post is below, in order.
New · The house turns 100
The Downtown Bungalow Turns 100: 12 Years Later
Built in 1926 and still standing strong. Here is the house today, room by room, next to the before photos, plus the pieces of its history we saved along the way.
Read the 100-year tourFrom the archive · Instagram
The Renovation in Progress: 2014–2015 on Instagram
72 photos with the captions I wrote at the time, typos and all. The mastic, the drywall dust, the friends who showed up to help, and every treasure we found hiding in this house.
Read the Instagram diary
Start here
The back porch in 2014, and the kitchen it became. I tried to keep the history of the house intact and reuse as much of what I found as I could.
Those before photos are from 2014, after the house had sat empty for years. Since then it has gotten a new roof, new electrical and plumbing, every exterior wall rebuilt with new framing and insulation, and new drywall in most of the house. A few walls still have the original plaster.
June – September 2014
Buying the house and making a plan
From the first look at the house to the floor plan, the design direction, and the kitchen.
01
02August 2014
Home Sweet Home Renovation: Before Photos
How I found the house, the family who lived there for 75 years, and every room before the work started.
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03August 2014
Home Sweet Home Renovation: Floorplan Changes
The original floor plan, the new one, and why nearly every doorway in the house moved.
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04August 2014
How We Installed Pine Flooring in the Office
Loose tongue and groove boards from the attic became the floor in the office, now the front bedroom.
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05August 2014
Home Sweet Home Renovation: Visionboard
The design direction I started with, before a single wall came down.
Read more »06August 2014
New Floorplan Layout: Kitchen Renovation
Planning the new kitchen on the long enclosed back porch, and the layouts I considered.
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07August 2014
Kitchen Cabinet Color: Gray or Black
Readers helped pick the kitchen layout. Next up was cabinet color.
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08August 2014
Home Sweet Home Renovation: Progress Updates
Two months in: ceilings drywalled, rooms reframed, and the office nearly finished.
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09September 2014
Work Break!
Inspections passed, a much-needed break, and messages from the granddaughters of the family who lived here.
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10September 2014
Home Sweet Home: Photo Gallery
Architectural details from the house before the renovation, saved for a gallery wall.
Read more »December 2014
Six months in
11December 2014
My House in Progress, Year End Review 2014
Six months in, looking back on everything that happened in 2014.
Read more »122014 – 2015
The Renovation in Progress: 2014–2015 on Instagram
Every #homesweethomereno photo I posted while we worked, with my original captions.
Read more »2018
The reveal
The finished rooms, the kitchen shelves, and what I learned.
13November 2018
Before + After: Drab 1920’s Bungalow gets a Stunning House Makeover
The full tour, room by room, with before and after photos.
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14November 2018
How to Build Open Shelves on a Budget
The kitchen shelves we built from free barn wood and scraps left over from the renovation.
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15November 2018
5 Surprising Confessions from My First Home Renovation
What I learned from my first full renovation.
Read more »2018 – 2019
Holidays at the bungalow
16December 2018
Join me for a Festive Christmas House Tour 2018
The house decked out for its first Christmas tour.
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17December 2019
A Very Merry Christmas Bungalow Tour
Simple, natural Christmas decorations, a year later.
Read more »2026
One hundred years
Twelve years after I bought it, the house turns 100. Here it is today, room by room.
18October 2026
The Downtown Bungalow Turns 100: 12 Years Later
The house today, room by room, next to the before photos.
Read more »The house today
Now the Delightful Downtown Bungalow
Today the house is one of our vacation rentals near New River Gorge. If you are staying there now, look for the pieces we saved: the light over the kitchen table was the previous owners’ basement work light, the front bedroom floor is pine from the attic, and the green painted border on the bathroom floor is the original paint. The fireplace mantels were made by the previous owner, the woodworking shop teacher at Fayetteville High School, and the kitchen sink is the original.