How the Bradford Street House Finally Came Together

For years, we talked and talked about investing in real estate. In 2017, that dream finally happened when we purchased a little house on Bradford Street. 

We finally finished the bulk of the planned renovations on our rental house in the Fall, and our renters quickly moved in. They were my son and his wife, who decided they wanted to rent the house after seeing our plans for it. So, after much work and long hours, I am excited to finally reveal how the house finally came together!

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Having our son and his wife be our first official renters is a blessing because we know the property is being taken care of, and we can easily make the needed repairs for the next couple of years. 

Even more importantly, we can help out our daughter-in-law while our son is away in seminary training next year. So, even though we didn’t purchase the house with them as renters in the plan, it really couldn’t have worked out better for the family and our investment. Their fur baby is loving the big yard as well.

Where did we spend the most money?

All the Bradford Street house renovations had to be done on a tight budget.

The majority of the renovation budget went to new windows, updating the electricity, and renovating the kitchen. I have created a couple of before-and-after collages to show the changes we made.

On the house’s exterior, we painted the shutters black and the front door gray. We also replaced all of the windows and resealed the air ducts. 

We also cleared out lots of overgrown bushes and trees in the backyard. In fact, we found a back gate to the fence we couldn’t see before because of overgrown brush. 

If you remember, this kitchen had a crazy layout—definitely a bachelor’s pad. After the new windows were installed, we gutted the kitchen, repaired the walls, updated the fuse box, and moved around some of the electrical plugs so the appliances could be relocated.

Here are the photos during the whole process:

Funny little side story to share with you. 

We worked on the kitchen until the morning our son moved in. 

While my husband was putting the last coat of Polyacrylic on the kitchen island, the moving van showed up.  Since I was working at my other job and wasn’t there that morning, my husband didn’t have time to take pictures of the house and kitchen BEFORE all the moving box clutter appeared. 

So I’m just keeping it real, showing you the after pictures of the kitchen with the clutter.  I hope you still enjoy them!

My husband custom made the island and the island top, which is hinged so that they can move the extension out of the way for more space if needed. This is the tiniest little kitchen, at only 9′ by 13′, so the layout and trying to fit in an 18″ dishwasher were a bit of a challenge, but it all came together in the end.

We also updated several other areas of the house that I don’t have pictures of (big blogger mistake, but I wasn’t there before they moved in and when everything was cleaned), so I will update this post once I get them.  For now, I will share a list:

• All ceilings were painted
• Every room in the house was painted a nice crisp white color
• New LED light fixtures were installed in every room
• A storage cabinet was added to the bathroom
• New mirror/medicine cabinet installed in bathroom
• The toilet was completely rebuilt on the inside, and new water lines were installed the night before the move-in, around 9:00 pm (yes, that happened)
• The bulky doors to the master closet were removed, and a new closet organizer system was installed
• Window treatments were installed for the living room and the bedroom (I was hemming them the night before, too)
• The house was inspected for energy improvement upgrades and has been added to the program for special rebates and perks for updating an older home.
• All the carpets were steam-cleaned

 Update for 2023!

Since we purchased the house in 2017, it has been occupied. Our plans to purchase another rental have changed since the pandemic and the arrival of grandbabies in the family. So, for now, in 2023, we are making some small improvements and deciding whether to keep it or sell it. More to come on that later.

“A person’s heart plans his way; but the Lord determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

Other Posts on the Bradford Street House:

Welcome to the Bradford Street House

Bradford Street House Kitchen – Part 1

The Bradford Street House

Guidelines for working with a Contractor – A Bradford Street House Story

Revisiting the Bradford Street House

Saying Goodbye to the Bradford Street House