Our Fixer Upper

Tales of a Renovation Junkie

Some people think we are crazy for buying the homes we buy that need renovations.  We are self professed renovation addicts though.  Jennifer is at her happiest when she is either designing remodeling projects for us or for our clients.  It all started in 2004 when we bought our first fixer upper.  It was a real dump but we saw a beautiful diamond that needed to be polished.  Ok, it was a piece of coal that needed a lot of blood, sweat and tears to turn it into something that kind of looked like a diamond.  Boy have a we come a long way since then.  Each house, gets a little bit more polished. 

Our Current Home

We are now on our 4th home in 15 years.  We bought our current home 5 years ago with the intention of renovating the entire home.  We started with the deck.  It is a long story as to why that was the first project but lets just say that Jennifer left for the afternoon and came home to find me with a crowbar and a deck that was half the deck it used to be.  That deck ended up turning into a screened porch.  The next project was opening up some walls to give the home better flow between the kitchen, dining and living rooms.  These were more band aid projects while we figured out what we wanted to do with the kitchen.  The next project was the bathrooms in the home.  Each one was original with beautiful blue and yellow tile.  You have to love the 60's.  We took down walls in the master bath to make it feel larger and to fit both a shower and a tub.  The kids bathroom had a wall as well that we took down.  Then we made the decision that forever changed our lives.  We decided to get a pool.  We have 3 kids ranging from 8 to 15 so if we were going to get a pool, why not do it now so that they can enjoy it with their friends.  I must say though, I think that I am the biggest fan. 

The pool was put in last summer and we went a whole year without any projects other than the random landscaping project or room reconfiguration.  All the while Jennifer is chomping at the bit to renovate her kitchen.  We have renovated the kitchen in every home we have owned.  I am not talking about a lip stick on the pig renovation.  I am talking about down to the studs, cooking on your camping stove for 2 months kind of renovation.  Well needless to say, I was not as thrilled about going through what I knew would be a difficult season.  What I underestimated was just how persistent Jennifer is and after months of selling me on the idea we both decided to pull the trigger.  Jennifer wanted her dream kitchen.  We have learned so much along the way about how we live and entertain so each of those lessons can be seen in our new kitchen.  She really does have a great eye for functional design. 

At the end of the day, we have a house that is perfect for our family and the only reason it is perfect is because we made it that way.  It is very difficult to find the perfect home that doesn't need some adjustments or updates.  We love to dream with our clients and help them see the vision for the what the home can be.  This also includes helping them come up with a realistic budget so that they know that after it is all said and done, they are making a good financial decision. 

Let us know if you are ready to find your dream home.  Even if it doesn't look like your dream home today, we can help make sure it does down the road.  

The Ziemers