Arizona Fixer Upper - Where It Began

Almost a year ago, we bought this

sweet little Mediterranean style cottage in

Arizona to make over into a relaxing

getaway, and today I want to

share some details and “before” pics

of the Arizona fxer upper so we can

appreciate the “afters.”

Another home in need of improvement

was the last thing we were considering

when we sold the big country house

in 2015 to downsize by half with

the fixer upper.

But it made good sense familialy, financially,

vacationally, and golftastically

(well aware these words

do not YET live in the dictionary).

We have lots of family in Arizona, and

while they have plenty of room for us,

it’s nice to have our own space

and experience living here

so we can decide whether it’s

where we want

to retire in a few years.

Built in 2008 and lived in only for a few months

of the year by the golfing owners who built it,

it feels like new and the idea of no structural

issues to deal with, made it a good fit.

It is a simple ranch with a beautiful

view in back, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths,

and an open concept living/dining room.

The plan is to keep as many of the

fixtures as possible to keep costs low and

get creative with making the place over on

a tight budget (in regards to both time and money).

So here’s the home’s before:

We plan to keep the existing flooring,
paint all the walls, add new light fixtures,
add window treatments, remodel the kitchen,
dream up something for the patio
and add doors for privacy in a few areas.

Oh, yeah, and we need furniture for the whole place.

The red and green? Buh-bye.

There is no door to this office/bedroom, and we
want to create privacy so this will involve some
construction and dust (oy.).

No door to the master bath, and Orange wall?

No idea what we’ll do here, but since it functions just fine,
maybe just some decor…chime in, s’il vous plait!

This bedroom has some unfortunate trims:
glued on chair rail, a faux headboard (with
more trim glued to the wall, and upside down
crown molding…all of it pretty strange in
combination with a two-toned color palette.

Anything we do in here will help.

Not too bad but needs a little decor change-up
if we’re going for Euro serene and dreamy.

I have this same set-up at the Chicagoland fixer,
and I welcome all your ideas, friends, for making
it more pleasant.

This is where I intend to spend lots of time
working from my laptop and painting my art.

Not too shabby.

Almost no maintenance is dreamy.

My favorite thing about this project has
nothing to do with drywall…this place
represents something kind we are doing
for ourselves to encourage more
days in the sunlight,
less days at work,
more unplugged family time,
and less daily grind.