Hope you all are enjoying this wonderful Christmas season and all that it offers. Â I’ve been having a blast, from partaking in Christmas parties, plays, and dinners with friends and am thoroughly enjoying this month.
I’ve got a fun project I’m helping with and want to share it with y’all today!  You are really going to like this one.  One of my friends from my church and fellow choir member, Andrea, has lived in this 1950’s brick ranch house off the Marietta square for 14 years.  She bought it from her mother and has never made it her own.  She got married  6 years ago to David and now she has a partner to help her with updates to this charming house.  It’s in dire need of being introduced to the 21st century and that’s where I came in.
She visited my house and had started reading my blog and decided I was the one to help her with this house, so I said yes, I would. Â And I told her I would blog about it, which she is excited about. Â We’ve barely gotten started on things, so it might be a bit slow, but I wanted to share the Before pics with you so you can see what we are working with.
It has really good bones and will be a great house. Â It just needs updating with lots of paint and decluttering and it will feel like a whole new space! Â I can’t wait to see it evolve into the charming 21st century home that I know it can be. Â Andrea has promised to do what I ask her to do and I think it’s going to be a fun project. We are going to try to do it on a budget as much as possible, so I’m not sure that there will be any tearing out the kitchen cabinets or any of that, but new countertops in the kitchen and bathroom will happen eventually. We’ll see how this goes as we work through, room by room!
Be kind and remember this is a work in progress! Andrea is ready for the challenge and change.
David, her handy husband, will be doing much of the work as they move through the house. Â The exterior is traditional red brick and they are on a lovely street off the Marietta square.
She is all decorated for Christmas.
Front porch with brick stairs. Â We will start with the inside of the house and hopefully move to the outside to give it some updates too.
Excuse my photos, I didn’t have my tripod with me, so they aren’t the clearest, but you can get an idea of the layout of the house. Â Coming in the pretty front door.
Hallway coming inside the house.
Looking from hallway back to front door.
One of the first projects they are tackling is adding board and batten below the chair rail here in the hallway. And that yellowy wall color is going soon!
Main bathroom of 2. This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. Â The tile in here is actually not bad at all with a gray tint, so I’m sure we are going to work with this and update the rest of it. Â Lots of decluttering to do and getting down the dated drapes and wallpaper. Â Andrea is more than ready!
I’m pretty sure we will get the vanity painted in here and add new countertops, sink, faucet and lighting.
Guest bedroom. Â We are going to have some of her furniture painted and reuse as much as possible. Â I’m going to be looking at fabrics with her to update some furniture and bedding.
Master bedroom. Â A pretty spacious room.
Looking towards the smallish master bath.
This tile isn’t in bad shape either, although the color is harder to work with. Â We’ll be talking through all of this as we go along.
It’s a very small space and I Â know how that is, since my master bath is really tiny too.
Back to the foyer and hallway, now we’ll head to the formal living room.
She would love to open up the wall behind the sofa into the family room behind it. We’ll see if that happens along the way. I’m sure that’s a load bearing wall, but it would really give more of a spacious feel if it was opened up. Â I’m in agreement if they can do it reasonably.
Looking from living room to dining room.
Dining room. Â David found this pretty wood dining room set at an estate sale recently.
It’s very nice wood, so we are going to work with it and recover the chair seats. Â Not going to paint this! Â She would love to rip out the carpet in the living room and dining room and continue with the oak flooring all in here too. Â I’m definitely in favor of that.
There are mirrors in several locations around the house, one here in the dining room. Â All the mirrors are coming down!
Not a great pic, but this is a really pretty china cabinet.
The family room is right behind the formal living room and the kitchen is through that door to the right.
We are going to paint this brick fireplace and all the wood paneling. It will completely change the look of this room when that happens. Â Andrea saw my painted paneling in my den and understood the power of paint. Â Not sure yet what color for the fireplace.
One wall in the family room. All of this wood will be painted a lighter shade. Â Not sure yet, but we are probably going with White Dove on the kitchen cabinets and some of this paneling.
Family room has a wall of mirrors too. Â Time for those to go! Â We are going to reupholster some of her furniture and I’ll help her shop for new pieces later on. Â All those curtains are coming down.
Kitchen is spacious but needs a lot of updates. Â We are thinking that her hubby will build a banquette seat in the window in that corner. Â That would be really cute.
Lots of things to decide on, but she’d like to keep these cabinets since they are all wood. I’m trying to figure out how to update the doors, maybe adding some molding. Â All those curly wood trim pieces will come down. Â All new hardware.
This is where the built in banquette will go.  All that wallpaper and window treatments will  be coming down soon.
It’s definitely stuck in the past.
Look closely and you can see a mirrored backsplash, which is also coming out.
These appliances are all original and she’s going to replace those as well, the oven and cooktop.
1950’s finest!
Not sure what we will do with this desk area, may keep it or do something different. Â But no matter, all this paneling will be painted. Â Can you imagine how much lighter and brighter it will feel?
Laundry room.
Outside the family room, is this enclosed sunroom. Â It is the first room that is getting a makeover. Â Andrea had painted it this darker gray color, but when she said she wanted to start in here, I started thinking of a color that might work. Â See that brick wall? Â When I told her we were painting the brick, her eyes got really big and she said, we ARE? Â I said yes, paint that brick. It’s another wall in this room.
The gray isn’t bad, but we want to lighten this up too. That sofa is going and we are going to recover those wingback chairs.  This rug is already out of there too.
The walkway from the garage is right in the middle of the room so we have to leave a traffic path.
So, they got busy and bought the paint I suggested, Revere Pewter, by Ben Moore and got it all painted out, brick and all.
It looks great in here now. We’ll add a rug back in here eventually when we get colors figured out.
They love this new color and so do I. Revere Pewter is such a gorgeous color, now I want to use it somewhere. Â Doesn’t the painted brick look great? Â The deer head is not going back up.
We are going to reuse some things in here and get these chairs recovered and make this room so cute and functional too. There’s also a nice pool in the backyard right outside these windows, so that’s an extra bonus.
She already got rid of a lot of stuff in here and we aren’t finished decorating yet. Â The paint is only the beginning!
I’ll keep you posted along the way as Andrea and David update this home and make it a beautiful space to live. It’s got so much potential and I can’t wait to see it come alive! Â This is only the beginning!
That front door is GORGEOUS. The foyer is, too. The bedrooms are lovely as is, too! The kitchen and baths and family room all need updating, yes, but overall it’s MUCH nicer than I expected! The living room is also very pretty, maybe minus the pink… How lovely that it’s been so well taken care of. That will make your job much easier! OH, and the FLOORS are beautiful!!
(psst…the Christmas decor is lovely…but the pumpkins need to go, LOL!)
That house is awesome – what a fun project.
How lucky Andrea and David are to live in such a fabulous house and have you for a friend. I love ranch house makeovers! When we designed our own house 20 years ago, we made it one story on purpose so we can live here into our old age. The rooms are great in Andrea’s house, and she has so many lovely things to use in the redecoration. My sister and I love to play store…we round up all our “stuff” in a pile, and the other one rearranges with a fresh eye! It’s so much fun. Rhoda, in addition to the fabric mill I mentioned to you, there is a rug factory with an outlet store nearby. I once got a $1000 Belgian wool rug there for $100!
Wow! Tell us about the mill outlet and the rug factory with an outlet store nearby! I’d love to visit them. Thanks….
This is a beautiful 50’s house. I think it would be a terrific idea for you all to read Pam’s Retro Renovation blog. There are certainly things that need to be changed, but reading her blog (and particularly all the info she has listed there) would be helpful. Good luck!!!
Great idea, Deb! I actually have met Pam, so will definitely look over her blog for ideas.
I have a 50’s stucco California Bungalo and read Pam’s blog as well….I was going to suggest it too. I love the tile in the bathrooms, it’s just the curtains and wallpaper that needs updating. Also go check out Dana Miler’s blog http://www.housetweaking.com/ for a completely different take on updating a brick Ranch.
Those mirrors though…they make my eyes cross!! I know people used them to make things more spacious, but it really just doubles everything visually.
Hey, Renee, I love Dana’s blog as well and have seen her ranch renovation. Very nice!
This is a beautiful home. I will really enjoy seeing it updated. Both our daughter bought older homes and have completely updated them. Both had large formal living rooms with small dining room similar to this layout. They both have “flipped” the rooms. They now have large dining rooms where the formal living room was and nice sitting rooms where the small dining room was. Avoided the expense of taking down walls. Such a nice small room for a reading room or for casual conversation when a football game is going on in the family room. So happy to see your friend will follow your suggestions even if they seem different from what she is used to. That’s the point.
So excited! Cannot wait to follow along. Love the changes made so far…especially the painted brick!
A house in good shape with good bones. I agree with you, based on what little I could see in the photos. It looks like the living room wall is load bearing. Bummer! I’m looking forward to see what happens in the future. It looks like there’s enough space in the kitchen for an island. Is that in the plans?
Yes, there is already a small island and I think a bigger one is in order. We’ll see how the plans go!
Rhoda, What a fun project this is going to be to follow along with you. I love the revere pewter and although it must have been frightening for them to paint over the brick it looks 1000 times better! Have you thought about painting the chairs in that room to save some money? Gorgeous home that will be stuning with some updates!
Mary, she doesn’t mind recovering some of her furniture and I think that would be the best for her budget. Do you mean painting the fabric? I’ve seen it done, but don’t think it’s comfortable to sit on.
Rhoda, I understand it feels just like leather after you wax and powder it but haven’t done it myself or seen it done. Those chairs just looked like leather chairs to me and thought it might be an option. I know with your help it’s going to be gorgeous, how the revere pewter transformed the room is amazing!
Yeah, the chairs are fabric, so we are going to get a fresh fabric on them.
I can’t wait to see the final photos . The porch already looks great with the new paint.
I am so going to enjoy watching this transformation! I love the Revere Pewter in the sunroom. I am so glad I found your blog!
Rhoda, you mentioned you would have some of the furniture painted.
Would you be so kind to let me know who you use in the Atlanta area to paint large pieces? I jave a few retro pieces I would like to update with a painted finish. Thanks for your help.
Patrice, I have a feeling Andrea will tackle this herself. We’ll see!
This is awesome! I am excited to follow along! What a nice house. My jaw is dropping over the first change with the paint in the sunroom! Wowser! I cannot wait to see what you do with the kitchen cabinets. I have the same ones. I thought of several alternatives, one being just replacing the doors with doors from Cabinet Door World in Hickory, NC. We just ordered one door from there , to see if we like it. If we do, we will go that route and place an order for all our doors, and drive there to pick them up since we own a pickup truck and do not live too far away from there. I am glad y’all are considering keeping the bathroom tile. It is pretty!! I think I would keep it and base the rest of the decor around it.
Melanie, I think that’s a great alternative too and we may discuss just replacing the doors. They have hinges that show and to get hidden hinges, new doors would need to be bought. I do think that would be a nice look, so I’d say go for it!
I can’t wait to see this transformation. You have made great progress already in the sunroom! You need to check out Rawdoors.net for replacement cabinet doors. I replaced my cabinet doors from there and was very pleased with them. They have hidden hinges and they came with the hardware and were reasonably priced.
Love, love, love your blog. Thank you for bringing all of us followers some real decorating and fashion advice. What a transformation in the sunroom already with just good ole paint and your decorating know how. Looking forward to seeing more of your magic!
Thank you, Jamie, I’m so glad there are so many down to earth people out there who enjoy “normal” house updates (and fashion). I know this is the majority of America, so I’m happy to be in that category of DIY/decorating bloggers. I will never appeal to the upscale designer groups and that is OK with me.
Great house in a great location. It has good bones. Just needs a little freshening up. Paint will do wonders.
Great call on painting the brick! This will be fun to watch.
The house is beautiful as it is and I know it will be even more beautiful as you help your friend with design changes. Looking forward to following along!!
I am very envious of the large laundry room with a large window! I don’t really like the color gray but I really love that light gray tile in the hall bath! Looking forward to seeing the transformation on the “vintage” home!
I love the house and can’t wait to follow along with the updates. Can’t wait to see it evolve!! We also removed a couple of walls and wow what a difference it has made in our house!! Every year about this time when all our family can gather and be together with space to spare I once again tell my sweet husband “thank you ” for listening to what I wanted and helping me to make it happen. I love the gray on the porch and the painted brick is wonderful. Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
I love renovations and redecorating! Especially since I don’t have to deal with the mess. Can’t wait to see more!!!
Rhoda, I’m so excited for this home updating project. Reminds me of when I began following your blog, the room-by-room interior transformation, then screening in your back porch, executing your lovely front home facade, the lovely low stone wall and new landscaping, many of your projects with the help of your sweet daddy and your mom’s once-a-week dinners. Your blog is a wonderful combination of home design, DIY, heartfelt family connections, and “knock-your-socks-off” fashion advice. I love it!
Hi, Patricia, thank you! You are always so encouraging!