Our Rental Remodel- Intro

Okay friends, it’s been a while since we’ve chatted, and lots to update you on, so let’s start with the most important thing…WE MOVED!

To Salisbury…

It’s still so hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact we don’t live in Berlin anymore. Moving to Salisbury was not in the plan. But here’s what happened. When D and I got married, we moved into our first rental. It was a small, dated, blah, basic, builder grade condo. But it was in Berlin, and within our budget, so we took it. Fast forward two years, and we had to decide whether or not to renew our lease. We decided to renew it for 6 months, thinking that would be plenty of time to find a bigger, better, cuter home in (downtown)Berlin. Boy, were we wrong! 6 months turned into 4, and then 3, and there was literally only a handful of rentals available in  Berlin. None of which fit our needs. So we were forced to expand our rental search, to Salisbury.

And when we did, something kind of miraculous happened. Okay, maybe not miraculous, but it was a nice little wink from above. So let me back up… prior to D & I getting married, we would often joy ride around Salisbury, because I’m a sucker for cute neighborhoods and charming houses, and Salisbury has a lot of them. This one particular street (which will remain nameless for privacy reasons) became our favorite. Every house on the street was so charming. From cottage style tudors, to cape cods and colonials, all circa 1940-50’s. The street lined with crepe mrytles and well manicured lawns. My old home lovin’ heart could have exploded from all the character! It was then, that D and I pledged that the only way we would ever move to Salisbury is if we could live on that street.

Fast forward two years, and now 60 days from our lease ending… out of desperation we expand our rental search to Salisbury, and guess what pops us. An adorable, 1950’s cape cod style home, for rent, in our budget, ON OUR FAVORITE STREET. Was this fate?

I immediately called to schedule a showing. We went to see it the next day. And the second I walked in, I was like “SOLD!”… We’ll, not “sold” per se, more like “RENTED!”

So I know you’re probably thinking, WOW! it must have looked so nice inside for you to jump on it that quick. But in fact it was/is  quite the opposite. It had been vacant for sometime and was super dated. There were purple hallways, blue and red bedrooms, butterfly wallpaper,  yellow bathroom tile, and the list of 1950’s decor goes on. But all my old home lovin’ heart saw was original hardwood floors, crown moldings, a huge fireplace with original built-ins, and a DUTCH DOOR. Frankly, the house could have been a one bedroom shack and I would have taken it just for the dutch door. But my point is, I didn’t see the ugly. All I saw was character and potential. And I honestly didn’t realize how ugly the ugly was, until we moved in.

We had to do something with the ugly…

Of course, my designer-blogger brain was filled with so many DIY/cost effective design ideas that could help make the interior look so much better. So I shared those ideas with the landlord, and he agreed to give us a small budget to make those updates to the space. Whoop Whoop! But really, only one “whoop”, because the budget is TINY…but I’ll take it. Okay, that’s all the details I can give for now because I’m working on a video series for you guys that will document the transformation, so I don’t want to say too much. But, my hope is that you guys will get some budget friendly (and rental friendly) design tips and advice from this series! Especially for renters, like myself. Just because we rent doesn’t mean we don’t want a beautiful space that feels like our own, right!? So I can’t wait to share my design plans, and process, and before & afters with you guys. I’m not sure how fast or slow the progress will be, because going from a small condo to furnishing a two-story house ain’t cheap. But it will be fun!

All that said, I guess moving to Salisbury ain’t so bad.

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