My First House

I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane to re-visit my first real house. The year I graduated from college, I moved back home! I'm sure my parents weren't too thrilled, but about 6 months later I bought a rent property down in the Heights.

It's a small duplex with a cottage in the back. There were tenants living there when I bought it, so I continued living at home ;) Once 2 of them moved out, I decided to do some major renovations on one side of the duplex before it was suitable for me.

I'd grown up in yuppie-suburbia, and I wanted to live in the big city. That was part of my rationale for moving "in town", but I was also interested in the property for investment purposes. My side of the duplex was a modest 500 sq. ft. or so, but I loved it!

It was perfect for me & Zoe! TV, desk, couch, closet, kitchen and awesome deck porch.

Don't make fun of my decorating or style- I was dealing mostly with hand me downs and college leftovers.

Looking back, it was a great time & I really enjoyed all my adventures down there. It was a fun time in my life & I really appreciate all the modern comfort of our home now after living in an 80 year old house for a while. Yes, it is possible to live without central heat & A/C and a dishwasher. My Jeep is much happier now that it sleeps in a garage too.

The kitchen was tiny, but perfect since most of my meal came from the microwave. I did a wee-bit of cooking, but there were many awesome take out and delivery places in the Heights.

Part of the construction and renovations we did before I moved into the duplex included adding extra storage cabinets above the stove and refrigerator and installing the microwave.

The major renovation and remodel was the bathroom. I'll have to find some old pictures of the world's ugliest bathroom every (imagine somebody puking smurf blue on EVERY surface- toilet, tub, counters.....). We added a nice stand up tile shower, put in new cabinets and some extra storage and a heater to keep warm.

The finishing touch was the addition of a nice deck on the side. I spent many hours watching all the crazy people in the neighborhood wander down my street. An assortment of cars and dogs and bums and kids would stroll by constantly. I had some great gliders out there & Zoe would enjoy sniffing all the smells of people who wandered through our yard.

Oh- some days I miss it, but I'm mostly even more thankful for our home that we have now!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Though all my years at the duplex were rather dangerous, I made it out alive- safe & sound.