Whatup DC readers! I’m ModFruGal, and I’m feelin’ pretty lucky to be here…for one, Karly and Erin are superb style mavens I admire, and two, I’m not showing you a house 3 feet under water. You see, my poor city of Nashville had a pretty solid ass-kicking over the past several days. I’m posting this from my Crafty Counterpart’s office since he has fancy things like electricity, phones and internet here.
So, now that I’m in the land of the connectivity, I have the chance to show you our evolving digs…still very much a work in progress.
The CC and I bought the Regal Beagle almost 2 years ago and have been workin’ it ever since. Think cottage cheese ceilings and smelly green shag as far as you can see…yeah, baby..that’s the stuff…home sweet home. We are a little nuts like that.
We’ll start outside and work our way in, shall we?
True story: I actually met someone who came to look at this house when it was on the market and turned around and left before they ever got to the top of the driveway. Serious.
The exterior alone was enough to repel them without even looking inside. Probably because the house had several hundred holes in the cedar siding which allowed the critters in the adjacent state park some free rent. After 6 months of repeated patching and various failed attempts to repel the wildlife from the house, we knew we had to re-side. Now we have a metal fortress. Here we go…..Pictures!
We are still tackling some of the landscaping (that didn’t wash away) as we speak so, limited snaps at the mo.
It’s taken awhile to get things going inside…A lot of my old furniture was weirdly out of scale for the new house. We came from a 1912 house with small chopped up rooms to an open 70′s modern home, so it has taken some time to sell off the old and scrounge flea markets, e-bay and Craigslist for the “new to us” stuff. It’s sloooowly coming together. Here’s the living room before and now. There is no “after” in my world…it always changes. Oooh…let’s say that in a Yoda voice…“There is no after, only now.” Heh…yeah, that’s creepy.
….and the dining room…….
….and the kitchen……..this was a doozy. There’s no IKEA in Nashville, so we packed up Thing One and Thing Two and drove 3.5 hours to Atlanta to get our kitchen. For the first 2 months we lived here, we had to set up shop in the dining room on camping tables while we slowly assembled the honkin’ Swedish jigsaw puzzle that is now our kitchen. Best birthday present ever was the sink…no more showering with cutting boards! Ah…good times.
Since the dining room is RIGHT NEXT to the kitchen, we built a breakfast bar to keep the doorway clear.
Then there’s the Master Bedroom…I’m still not feelin’ it in here…
Yes, the bed is on the floor and yes, we are heathens who watch TV in bed. I don’t know what to put over the bed, I just finished painting those orange tables and haven’t gotten the glass cut yet…I don’t think they’ll stay there. Translation of rambling: MB needs tweaking all around, but it’s home and it will evolve in due time as everything does.
There’s still a LOT to do around here…namely bathrooms…back to work!
Thanks so much to Karly and Erin for having me over to hang out today!
I am drooling over your tolix chairs, your barcelona chairs and the kitchen. Lovely!
too much furniture in the Master…..looking like a furniture showroom.
O.M.G. your house is what my house aspires to — in it’s dreams at night.
(and we must be heathens too!)
I LOVE what you’ve done with your house — it’s so great to see huge transformations like that done by regular people. It must feel so great to see it all coming together!!
How about a mobile over the bed? Big Alexander Calder type thing?
Love your transformations. I’m going to price Ikea cabinets today!
The bedroom–I’m not liking the small art on the walls, and the desk spoils the nice graphic quality you have with the bed. Unclutterer and Lifehacker post great inspirational photos of streamlined workspaces….and the Barcelona chair is awesome, but isn’t as graphic as the bed–if it were black–but I like it brown, so…so maybe see if you can “marry” the elements a bit better…
I really, really love what you’ve done with your home and that you saw the potential in it – it’s stunning!
Spectacular! Wilst reading pre-photos, I could not imagine how “metal fortress” would translate into a formerly wood-sided house, but it is genius.
ps: I really like the Calder suggestion for the bedroom…
OMG, I absolutely LOVE your house! Everything about it rocks!! Your style is gorgeous. We also tackled a spacious 70′s house about 4 years ago. Unfortunately we still have a LONG way to go and are still cooking in a very dreary 70′s kitchen. I love your new Ikea kitchen!
Thanks! Mobile idea could work…but I’ve been waiting to figure out what will happen with a bed etc.. in the master before I put anything up there. Like I said…work in progress!
OMG! What a transformation. I love the exterior and what you’ve done so far. Guess I better start reading your blog on a regular basis.
Nice work! Love it!
Mod – thank you so much again for joining us, I just can’t stop looking at your awesome house. I’m so amazed at what you’ve done in such a short amount of time. I used to think I was productive…
Un-freaking-believable! I cannot get over this transformation. I’ve seen a lot of Before & After’s in my day but yours takes the cake. Well done, my dear! Really well done!
I’m in love with the exterior. Like LOVE LOVE.
And the interior isn’t too shabby either.
Amazing work, MFG!!!
you have a great house…i love the new siding. i have to show my husband your ikea kitchen, such a HUGE improvement. nice job!
wow! gorgeous transformation. love it.
Well you already know that I am a huge fan. i love seeing so much of your handiwork in one post. You are doing some amazing things here. The shot of the outside “after” is stunning. It looks spectacular. Seriously. Just gorgeous!!! More, please.
Thanks everyone…it’s been a fun journey so far and you guys’ kind words keep us going!
Holy Moly! This is so inspiring I think I am going to explode! Are you guys really handy or did you hire people to help? Adding your blog to my reader.
Wow it looks fantastic! I especially love the kitchen and the exterior. Just amazing.
wow. WOW! I am LOVING your house! The exterior and the kitchen are my faves. But it’s all gorgeous!!!
I think the wall in the master bedroom should have the same kind of motif from the bedspread painted in a tone-on-tone way…that way you don’t have to put anything on the wall…the whole wall is art.
Really love the size of the master bedroom, but space is good and maybe remove some pieces of furniture, or make them more substantial? Kitchen is perfect. Living room is bitchin! Would like to see something with the mantle though…
Wonderful job and I am glad you are not swimming and back to working on your, clearly, labor of love.
Peace.
Im so envious that you have massively transformed your home into a metal box of awesomeness and I am unable to do such a thing. I have just a few questions…. first- was it really expensive to cover your house in metal? Is it just corrugated steel? And lastly- did you just put it OVER the wood siding?
Thanks Liz! The metal was less expensive than Hardi Panel and (over time) less expensive than replacing the wood since that would require ongoing maintenance. With the metal…it’s a one time cost. ($36k including new guttering with leaf shields) We installed the metal over the cedar with a new vapor barrier/house wrap underneath. We’ve saved a lot with the added insulation..our electric bill was cut by almost half.
You don’t like the bedroom because the scale is wrong. Everything that you have is too close to the floor. With a big room and high ceilings you need pieces with a lot of visual weight. You need to raise the bed and add a big headboard, or use the Chinese screen from the old dining room. Put the desk in front of the window. Get large bedside tables, or use small bureaus. Add a big piece of art over the bed. Group the new Asian stone pictures together on the left wall with the other things. You could put the two orange little tables under the pictures, or remove them. You have four chairs in your room. Take out at least three. You could put the low modern bench that is by the window at the foot of your bed. Make a cushion for it, or get a new heavier bench. I guess the piece under the TV holds the VCR, etc. If you could paint it the wall color it might disappear. Your other rooms are great. You just have to take the same approach to the bedroom. Edit, edit. Ann
where did you get the mid century sectional..do you know the manufacturer?
I do not know he manufacturer as any labels are missing or covered with fabric. I got it on e-bay….$450!
I don’t know how I happened upon this post, but I’m glad I did. I remember seeing this home on http://www.aliceindesignland.com/blog/inside-look-modfrugal.html and coveting it. It’s really powerful to see it here with the before shots. You’ve got great style.