I got done cleaning my lived in kitchen earlier and stepped back just to look at it. We live in an old cottage, which is a nice way of saying a small house. It's old with parts dating back to late 1800s. It has it's issues and quirks. Expensive issues. But it's ours. We own this tiny house where we get to raise our son on 3 and some odd acres.

There are so many fancy, awe inspiring houses posted on here. I start to get envious. But when I think about it for every fancy home posted there are 50 people who have a "normal" home.

This is my normal tiny house where my husband, son and I get to live. We have a dog, three cats and nine chickens to tend to. Every spring the hundreds of flowers I've planted since buying the place bloom. I get to look out my kitchen window and see my son playing in the yard. I see my chickens doing their thing, curious but cautious of a rambunctious 3 year old.

I'm filled with contentment the moment I come home. This is home.

We are remodeling our 1930’s basement and found this after ripping out the paneling! Love finding little gems like this!

We live in an old farmhouse. Much of the house has original woodwork and hardwood flooring. However, the kitchen was redone at some point, and I’ve always struggled with what to do with it. I love a mix of modern and traditional farmhouse. Originally I thought I would keep the cabinets but replace the countertops with a white quartz. With several other farm projects, replacing the countertops are not within the budget anytime soon. So the dark green quartz will stay. I’ve lately become obsessed with the dark and moody/ homey rooms. What would you do to update/ change my kitchen on a budget?
Likely will keep cabinets wood, countertops need to stay for now, and the table will stay as it’s a family heirloom (can paint base)

Hi we live in a house from 1873 in Holland

I love my modest little foyer, but 2. why didn't anyone ever put any outlets in here? I just want a freakin' night light so I can not leave the front porch light on, and the closest outlet is about 15' away. Grrr.

Our 100 year old (1923) bungalow is a very special family home since the early 50’s. It’s not our permanent home, but one where we spend a great deal of time & are keeping for family. We had to gut to the studs & renovate the entire downstairs due to an extensive water leak in the upstairs heating system 7 years ago. Tons of mold mitigation & treated home twice due to damage. We chose to open things up a bit enlarging cased openings, reusing original doors, modifying layout to make a true en-suite bath & added a powder room. These photos were from first Christmas back in the home, so very simple decor & just putting things back together. The home was originally a two bedroom & my in-laws opened up the large attic and added 2 bedrooms & a bath to create the upstairs in the mid 60’s. We’ve put a new roof on this year & repainted the exterior. Need to take some new photos for her 100th!!

Our 1817 Colonial in the snow. New Hampshire

I love my dated 1920 house

Hello! I am a partner family with Habitat for Humanity in my area. I was recently made aware that my family and I are picked to rehabilitate this old 1895 home to make our own. I am so excited to share the updates we make, while trying to keep it as original as possible throughout the next year or so. Does anyone happen to know the building style? There is original hardwood, pocket doors, and stained glass windows throughout the home. She needs a lot of TLC, but I am so excited to get a home with history that I can restore rather than building something brand new. ❤️
Update: I keep getting repeat questions, so to save some time, I will put it here.
In case you are unfamiliar with habitat for Humanity, it is a non-profit organization across all 50 United States and in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Their vision is of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. They do so by building homes for families to help build strength, stability, and create self-reliance for the families that they choose through an application and interview process.
In my situation, I applied through H4H a few years ago. It took approximately two years to be accepted as a partner family with my local habitat. I had to go through credit checks, a review for need, employment history checks, and credit and budgeting classes. I also have to put in volunteer hours, called sweat equity with my family. A board of directors comes together to make a decision to partner with a family. They only choose one or two amongst many applicants every year. I still go through updated documents at board meetings about every 3-6 months to ensure there is no change to my case.
This is a rigorous process and by no means is it quick.
I would also like to add that these homes ARE NOT FREE. This is not a hand out. I am still responsible for a 30 year mortgage. The only difference is that I pay it monthly to my local habitat and not a bank. The benefit of this is that my loan has 0% interest.
I still pay a down payment and my first year of homeowner’s insurance at closing. After that first year, everything is wrapped into my monthly payment, which sits in escrow. This include my taxes, principal, and Homeowner’s insurance.
So, technically, none of it is my my money up front to build (with the exception of my down payment), but I will pay all of it off after my 30 year mortgage.
For funding the building projects, they receive grants and donors. To keep cost low, habitat for humanity uses volunteers, including contractors, to restore and build new home. They put forward all of the money needed to complete the home, and when it is finished, the partner family that they have chosen opens a mortgage directly with H4H for the cost of the materials- not the appraisal of the home.
In my organization, there is a silent second mortgage for the first ten years. This is to deter partner families from selling to make a quick dollar. For example, if Habitat and I agreed that my loan would be $80,000, but the home appraised for $170,000. I would have a silent mortgage of the additional $90,000 until that 10 years lapses. Only after that period would I be finalized in paying that $80,000.
The costs are also kept low because we don’t pay for labor. Habitat also gets donations of building materials and discounts through home improvement stores. They are also non-profit, so they receive tax breaks to alleviate more costs. .
If you are interested in this program, you can visit habitat.org and search for your nearest habitat to get an application. You can also search their “Brush with Kindness” program if you already own your own home. You can also see what other volunteer opportunities there are in your area. I hope this helps, and I am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

Merry Christmas from the eastern end Long Island. This is our house, built in 1920 by my grandfather’s brother when he was getting married. We’ve had it since 1979

Finally getting some snow in Ohio this evening so I thought I would share a picture of my home. We bought it from my husband's dad 9 years ago and we have put alot of work into it including the porch because when we moved in it was literally falling apart and was not safe.

My old house is only 50 years old but I could no longer stand the pine construction basement stairs. I recapped them with red oak, fun project

As promised, here are the photos of our completed English Cottage kitchen!!! That is so crazy to even say, some days I thought it would never end.
Fun fact: the arch of the range alcove matches all the original arches in our home!
I just posted the reveal on my instagram as well!

Hi! I'm new to this group ! I recently joined because my husband and I bought a home that was built in 1905 ! Has all original wood work through the home that has never been painted! Beautiful 😍 ! Thought it would be fun to see how everyone brings light into beautiful homes like this wood work

Purchased this “house” back in August. We are about to start construction and design work for the inside. It’s 153 years old. Started as a residential home and later on became a funeral home.
I am curious on what everyone’s thoughts are for the style of the architecture as it’s been through many decades of different styles

Some people have asked about saving an irredeemabe floor…stencil it. It will only take one year. 😉
I’m just a scatterbrain so it took me a year to do this floor. But I ordered a stencil off Etsy and everytime I had a few hours free I would work on it.
*I used paint samples from Lowe’s hardware store for the paint. And matte water based varathane to seal. I tried several sealants in small patches and sanded them all off. I wanted one that didn’t yellow or make it slippery.

Grandmas house built in 1936 that I bought in 1997. It’s very small but we make due just like Granny did. She dresses up nicely. Merry Christmas folks. May God bless you all throughout the holidays and the new year

Our old house ... was built in 1907 as a school in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

The renovation on our 1939 Georgian revival is complete! The previous kitchen was an add-on in the 90s by the previous owner , and although beautiful at the time, was not in keeping with the rest of the house. We also relocated the garage door to the laundry room, doubled the size of the window, and removed an unnecessary hallway. I’ve included after and before pics

Our dog had a big poopy accident on the carpet in our guest bedroom. Instead of cleaning multiple large poo stains out of white carpet, we opted to rip it all out. I don't have a full before photo (you wouldn't wanna see it, trust me) just some progress and finished-for-now pics. We used a spray bottle with water and a bit of dish soap, a scraper, and a scotch brite pad to remove the sticky underlay residue. Looks like the floors were sanded down and painted prior to the carpet going in. They're in pretty good shape - better than most of the rest of the house - so eventually we'll remove the paint and finish them with some poly

I’m certain this is going to cause an epic war and I’m sorry but I really want your amazing knowledge. My next step is to grout. I have premixed. The instructions for this say 24 hours to let sit but I’m hearing to never leave it that long or you’ll have a cement disastor. Experience is usually the advice I follow. How long should I let the grout sit in there?? Much love!

Paula M McIntyre-Mccormick