Our New Home On The Homestead
I thought it might be interesting to some of you to show you pic’s of our new home here on our little homestead. We bought it Feb ‘08 as a foreclosure. It is a 2200 sq. ft. modular, and it came on a little piece of land. It was severely trashed when we got it. The whole place was splattered with mud, grease from a motorcycle, and who knows what else from ceiling to floor (literally)! And the smell was horrible! It wreaked of wet dog and cigarette smoke. There were holes in the doors, walls, and cabinets. The bathrooms and kitchen were beyond disgusting. And windows were broken. We all had to thoroughly sanitize our hands every time we visited the house. Little Jada nicknamed it “The Dirty House”.
It was definitely a “fixer-upper”. But, after a thorough inspection telling us that the home was in really good shape other than the cosmetic problems (it was only 7 yrs. old), and lots of negotiating with Fanny Mae, our offer was accepted. We quickly moved the home onto our own land before the owners could come back and do more damage (which did happen once during negotiations). Our cost to purchase the home was about $22,000, after selling the piece of land it had been on. Not bad, huh!
I wish that was all we had in the home, but of course we had to spend more moving and setting it up, and remodeling it. We still came out way cheaper than if we had bought any other house this size. And I pinched pennies in every way I could during the remodel, buying most of our materials from a salvage yard.
It took 8 months of mostly do-it-ourselves work before it was ready for us to move into. My dad and I spent countless hours and many, many late nights painting and doing trim work. It felt like we’d never be done! But, finally the big day arrived, and now that we’ve settled in, we couldn’t be happier. It’s quite an improvement from a single wide trailer! The Lord has truly rewarded our patience.
Okay, so here it is. It isn’t a grand, gorgeous home (though you couldn’t tell my kids anything different), but we are proud of it:
So, just for fun, here are the “Before” and “After” pictures 
Front Entry/Dining area
Before:
Filthy carpets. Mud splattered walls. Dark and dingy.
After:
Much better!!
Living Room
Before:
Notice how NASTY it was?! Evidently the previous owners let a couple of big dogs run in and out throughout the home and they tracked red mud everywhere. It was even splattered all over the walls! Along with who knows what else. Yuck! And that strange platform built underneath the windows… what was up with that?
After:
Much better, right?! Yes, I painted those walls. And my dad pulled out that hideous platform thingy. But we did hire a professional to do the laminate floors. I wasn’t about to try to mess that up!
Fireplace
Before:
After:
Just needed a little paint. I’d love to replace the doors on it one day though. I can’t stand the brass! All in good time…
Bar Area into Kitchen
Before:
After:
Kitchen
Before:
That floral wallpaper had to go. Not to mention the ugly fluorescent lighting!
After:
Not too much to change, other than a paint job and new light fixtures. We did replace the dishwasher with one I found on Craigslist for $50, and the stove with the one from our previous home. Oh, and a white, extremely heavy cast iron sink that someone was just going to donate that I was able to snag for free to replace the old one (which had a hole in it).
Family Room (across from kitchen)
Before:
After:
Obviously I made it into the kids playroom. I love that it’s right across from the kitchen, so I can always see what they are doing. This is where we do our homeschooling.
Hallway (from Play Room to bedrooms)
Before:
After:
Guest Bedroom
Before:
Just plain dirty white walls and filthy green carpet.
After:
Titus’ Room
Before:
All I can say is “Blah”!
After:
I love the green and blue colors that I painted in his room. My dad and I put up the chair rail and new baseboards (He cut; I nailed, caulked, and painted).
Jada’s Room
Before:
Nasty, nasty, nasty!
After:
If you couldn’t tell by all of the girlyness, this is Jada’s new room. I free-hand painted butterflies and flowers around the boarder. It took me forever, but I love the outcome! And the fan I just adore. I had been eyeing it for months, and one day I went into Lowes to look for other things, and I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw the exact same fan on clearance for $40! I was so excited, and scooped it up immediately! I bought Jada’s new “big girl” bed for her new room too; I got it for $30, mattress and all!
Here’s a closer shot of some of the detailing:
Jada loves her new room. She tells everyone it’s “gorgeous”! I’m so glad she loves it.
Guest Bathroom
Before:
Who puts carpet in bathrooms anyways?
After:
I thought this light sage green would look great with my beige and white dragonfly shower curtain. I’m kinda wishing I’d gone with a different vinyl flooring though, oh well…
Master Bedroom
Before:
See how nasty it was?! Obviously the carpet had to go! Lucky for you this blog doesn’t come with “smell-o-vision”… yuck!!
After:
Clean, new carpet. We pulled the strips off the walls, filled the holes, and painted them a nice neutral shade. Add some new trim, a fan, and it’s set!
Master Bath
Before:
Check out the purple floral wall paper!
It had potential…
After:
Much better. Though I still need a new mirror to hang there on the wall.
Nothing major. Just some new vinyl flooring, and paint on the walls. (Not to mention some elbow grease!)
So, there you have it, our new home. Everything that we have in it has either been given to us, or bought super cheap second-hand. Just about all of the furniture has been given to us. We make due with what we have, and we feel very blessed to have all that we do.
I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in the future for our little home on the homestead! Thanks for stopping by!
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Wow, this looks gorgeous!! I think the thing that struck me the most is the new trim around all the windows, doors, floors, ceilings, etc. It makes it look so finished, and you can see all the detail. I’m glad to see all your hard work paid off.
Kendra! YOu did a great job! Wanna help me decorate mine? lol
Great photos. Thanks for sharing the before and after. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we have a dream and the gumption to make it happen!
Congrats on the new home, you all did a gorgeous job!
Amazing. You did a great job! I love following your adventures…I learn a lot from your posts!
Wow, I remember the pictures of your living room, on your old blog, but I didn’t realize it was a modular home. You’ve done an amazing transformation of the place. It’s beautiful.
I love the colors & decorations in both of the kid’s rooms. Great job, all the way around!
Gives me hope that we’ll be out of this single one… one day.
What a beautiful home you have created! It’s just stunning from the before to the after. I love the molding around the windows!
I have a suggestion about the fireplace if you’re interested. Our fireplace had the tacky brass doors as well which I can’t stand. We removed the doors, did a light sanding to give them some ‘tooth’ and used black heatproof spray paint on them (taping off the glass with newspaper to protect it from over spray). They look like a whole new set of doors! We live in a rental and our landlord was fine with us revamping it and he thought we’d purchased new doors he was so impressed.
April in CT,
Thanks for the tip. I wondered if I might be able to do something like that. We are looking for a wood burning stove to put in front of the fireplace, but if we don’t end up getting one, I’m going to try what you said. Thanks so much!
You did an amazing job, its very inspirational. Makes me more hopeful about my own reno’s with the baby coming
All your hard work and resourcefulness paid off! Beautiful home!! I loved your before and after pics.
It looks awesome! Your home is the same size as ours, except we paid full price for ours. You did so much better! It is beautiful!
This looks awesome. Amazing what some hard work and time can do for your home. What an inspiration!
May you be blessed in your new home!!
Wow, Kendra! All the hard work has really paid off, you have a wonderful home now and I’m so happy for you and your family!
There is one thing that I feel the need to correct and that is the term for your house. It appears that your home is a manufactured double wide and not a modular house. Many folks use these terms interchangeably but there is a difference which is easily seen in the pitch of the roof and material quality. We own a modular home on a full basement and while doing much research into manufactured homes have learned about the different building codes that are followed in construction of each type of manufactured houses.
Anyway, congrats on your delightful remodel and thanks for sharing!
Blessings,
Mrs B.
Mrs. B.
Actually, when we purchased the home we really looked into the make and model and all that, and were told that this is an on-frame modular. Similar to a double-wide, only made with much better structural quality. It’s an energy start home too, which is great! It does look like a double wide from the outside though. If only I could do something about that…
Oops! Sorry Kendra, never heard of that term but different parts of the country have different terms, codes and so on. Like yours, our home is super energy efficient too, which we’re thankful for since our winters are long and cold here in the Northeast! Spring is almost here and we’re more than ready to welcome it back!
Once again you have a very nice home and have done a fantastic job with the remodeling! Wishing you and your family much joy and happiness in your new home!
Blessings,
Mrs B.
I like it best when people “rescue” an existing home rather than building one. This is now an awesome home! I love the cute little bed in your son’s room!
This is an inspiration. Your decorating taste is wonderful. I love your bedroom furniture and the happy decorations in Jada’s room. Best of all, however, are the floors — all of them. They bring elegance to the whole house.
Wow what a huge difference! You mentioned that you hate the brass on your fireplace. Look into painting it! I think they make paint for high heat use. Just a thought…
Hi there!
I found you from a friend of a friend and love all of this! GREAT JOB! Me and my hubby are trying to get debt free before we buy, but it is so good to see how the Lord has blessed you guys with being patient and working hard! I can’t wait to visit your site more often as it looks like we have a lot in common!
Blessings,
tarena
Thanks for sharing this… the trim makes so much difference!! I love how beautiful simple living can be!!! I have a friend that lives in a mcmansion… I would choose your home!! We live in a 1911 farm house.. and we have put in a lot of elbow grease and work, but our house payment is AFFORDABLE and are working to get it paid off ASAP!! LOVE our simple life!! Thanks for all you do to encourage others in this venture!!
Heather
Hi!
I just found your blog via another blog and I really enjoy it! Thanks for sharing all your ideas and info. I was wondering if you could tell me what brand of paint and what color you used in the kitchen and living room areas? It’s exactly the color I’m looking for.
Thanks!
Katie-
You don’t know how many shades of neutral beige I went through before I found the right color!! They were either too yellow, too pale, too fleshy, or too dark! Anyways, I’m glad you like it. It’s called Hazelnut Cream. I found it at Walmart… not sure which brand it was, I’m thinking it was Valspar. But I took the color card to Home Depot and had them match it with Behr paint (in Eggshell). Hope that helps!
Thank you responding to my comment. I actually found the color at Walmart and bought a gallon. I painted a test strip on the wall and so far it looks great! The beige I chose before had kind of a orange tint so this will be a huge improvement
Kendra- how inspiring!! My husband & I often(today) talk about exactly this. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to post b4 & after picts. Sharing such valuable, inspiring information is such a blessing. I sent him a link to your blog so he might be able to read up. I seldom if ever send him a link to a ‘chick blog’ as he calls them… ha.
May you always be blessed in your efforts to serve the Lord, & may your home be one that serves you in your endeavors to seek His will.
Looking forward to future posts-
Your blog has been very inspiring Kendra thank you. I need some info on your home. Is it a modular home or a manufactured home? I’m a little confused since you were able to move it to your own land. I am asking because we live in an apartment and need to move urgently. My husband doesn’t want to entertain the idea of a manufactured home at all. But I would seriously consider it since it is more affordable than our other options. We have decided to move our family to the country to raise our two kids and be as self sufficient as possible. We see the storm thats coming to this country and sense the need to prepare. Since you’ve moved here from California you are probably more used living in a stick built home so can you tell me if you noticed any difference at all? Like noisy rooms oris it harder to heat? Thank you and congratulations on your new baby.
Mel-
Great questions. I’d love to share what I can. There are on-frame and off-frame modulars. On-frame modulars are sometimes mistaken as manufactured homes, like a double-wide, so often lenders treat them as such. Off-frame modulars are built pretty much the same way, they just aren’t on a frame. That’s the best I can explain that. Ours is an on-frame modular, but we were able to prove to the lenders that it is not a double wide (manufacture home) and is truly a modular home, so they treated it accordingly. It can be hard to get a loan for a manufactured home. I would not suggest a double wide if you can help it.
Modulars are built to the same standards as a stick-built home, not cheap like a trailer. The only difference from a stick built is that modulars are constructed indoors, in two or four sections (depending on size), and then put together once on site. In my opinion it would be an advantage to have a home built inside a warehouse and not exposed to the weather. Modular homes can even be two stories high! They don’t necessarily look like a manufactured home. The structure of the home is generally very well built, depending on the manufacturer.
The downside to modulars is that sometimes the materials used inside aren’t as good of quality as a stick built. For instance, the cabinets here are pretty cheap, and some of the bedrooms did not have sheet rock but wall board stuff instead, which we painted no problem. We have not had any trouble with noises through the walls though.
Ours is an Energy Star home, with super insulation and windows. We haven’t had trouble heating and cooling. I would totally recommend buying a modular if you find one you can afford, and yes, they are less expensive than a traditional stick built! You may be able to find a really good deal on a foreclosure, especially now. Good luck with everything. I hope you are able to get some land and make that move soon
Hope that helps!!
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