Sweet Little Bungalow – Before Photos of My New House

I have put together some before photos of my new house! There will be lots of renovations happening.

Today is an exciting day over here.

I know you are waiting for Christmas posts from me but you might have to wait a bit longer.

I recently bought a new house and today I’m sharing with you the before photos!

I know! I’ve been waiting to share these with you for what seems like an eternity.

The renovation is going to be fun and the photos will be plenty!

I’ve named my house the Sweet Little Bungalow so let’s take a peek, shall we?

Sweet Little Bungalow - before photos of my new house with a red door and black couches.

When I bought this house, that song was constantly playing on the radio, Sweet Little Bungalow, and this house is very fitting.

It’s smaller than the house I had previously. Almost exactly half the square footage.

I’ll be heading into new territory with showing you how to decorate and organize a small space.

I still have plenty of room so it’s going to be a lot of fun to decorate.

So as you can see, this is the living room.

Excuse the realtor 😉

A man sitting on a armchair in the living room of the new house.

I bought this house from a very lovely family. They even left behind tools and a lawn mower in the garage for me. So sweet!

There is an extraordinary strong smell of incense in the house (I’ll show you why towards the end of the post) and I’ve tried nearly everything to get rid of the smell so if you have any tips I’d greatly appreciate them!

Here is the dining room that leads into the kitchen.

The dining room in the new house with a wooden table and a light fixture above the table.

The kitchen is a good size and I can’t get over how awesome the windows are. The painted kitchen cupboards have seen better days though.

The kitchen with white cabinets and a stainless steel oven.

There is a wooden floor in the kitchen.

A small breakfast table is off the kitchen with a large window.

It’s just the perfect spot to watch my kids play outside in the backyard.

There are corner windows looking into the backyard off the kitchen area.

The back patio has a table and chairs with a large grassy area.

Sliding glass doors from the family room lead off into the backyard.

A family room with a small fireplace.

Stairs from the family room lead to the basement.

A door to the basement is ajar.

The other half of the basement is unfinished which is perfect to do my DIY projects.

An empty room in the basement painted white.

Back on the main floor, this powder room is off the family room.

A small powder room with a toilet and vanity.

Next to the powder room is the small laundry room and now you’ve come complete circle on the main floor of the house.

There is a washing machine and open shelves in the laundry room.

There are shelves above the washing machine filled with laundry items.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

A shot of the stairwell leading to the upstairs bedrooms.

The master bedroom has plenty of space for a dresser and king size bed with night stands on either side of the bed.

A wooden floor is in the master bedroom.

And has a walk-in closet.

A walk in closet in the master bedroom.

The master ensuite is much smaller than my previous ensuite (sob) but it will be fine for just me.

A small ensuite.

The kids’ bathroom is the same size.

The kids bathroom.

A bamboo shower curtain in the kids bathroom.

The fourth bedroom is going to be my office with a big bright window and vaulted ceiling.

I’d like the kids to do art in this room with me too.

An office with a bed in it.

Here is a bedroom for one of my kids.

One of the bedrooms for the kids.

And finally the source of the incense, this is the second kid’s bedroom.

There was so much incense burning in this room you can see yellow marks all over the walls.

I’m going to wash them down with TSP and see if that helps.

A second small bedroom for the kids.

Sooo, now that you’ve had a chance to take a tour, you’re going to be seeing lots of posts coming up with mood boards and the renovation process.

I hope you stick around for the ride! It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Sweet Little Bungalow - A Renovation Series poster.

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37 Comments

  1. Oh I can’t wait!!! Now you’re talking, I love blogs about small houses – I need all the help I can get for furniture placement, paint colour ideas and such!!

    About the incense, was it an East Indian family who had the house? In that culture putting herbs and spices inside the door frame of the back door wards off evil spirits. If that’s not the case, maybe the scent has been absorbed by any carpeting or drapes? A good steam cleaning/dry cleaning might help!

    xo

  2. Hey Jamie,
    Congrats on your sweet new home!
    I can see you are going to have a whole lot of fun transforming room by room 🙂
    Enjoy the process!

  3. I have had grant luck with kitty litter for smells. Close off the room and put lots of chap kitty litter in containers. And I have used shellac painted on interiors to eliminate smells in old furniture and cupboards.

  4. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful hardwood flooring. It looks like it is in great condition. The view of the back yard is lovely. I can’t wait to see what you do with the house. I love renovations. I hope that you will be very happy here.

  5. Most non-bloggers live in small houses. They are more economical to run and they keep you from accumulating too much stuff.

  6. Congratulations on your new home. Did you try open bowls of vinegar to get rid of the incense odor?
    If washing the walls does not help, painting may be the solution.
    Smiles

  7. Can’t wait to see you put your stamp on the new place! Super cute!
    To get rid of smells, especially anything that is going to permeate wood, like cigarette smoke, you need to clean your surfaces with TSP and water. (Available at Home Depot and places like that). Painting your walls won’t get rid of the smell unless you have tsp in the paint or use a primer like Kilz first. Also, change out filters in your air conditioners if you have a heat pump in that as well. You can wash anything like curtains with the TSP. Also using an activated charcoal in bowls around the house with absorb odors as well.

    1. Thanks for the tips, Kim. Yes, I was thinking washing walls with TSP and using something like Kilz or Zinsser. Let the fun begin! lol
      Hugs,
      Jamie

  8. Love the new place Jamie. It looks really sweet. Cozy. And now you will have your own office with a huge window. Love it. And the kitchen is a good size, with a table in there. Perfect.

  9. Congrats on your new sweet home! I will be going into year 2 in January in my own small home with my sweet girl. Yr 1 has been all about fixing the non fun stuff (air, heat, old trees cut down, and cleaning it up). One room was a ghastly orange faux painted. 3 coats of priming! So hopefully I will focus on more fun this year! Lots of used furniture to be re-done. Have fun and can’t wait to see your process.

  10. I am so flippin excited for you, Jamie! I can’t wait to see what you do with this place. No idea how to handle the incense smell though. TSP would be my only suggestion too.

  11. Hi Jamie! What fun we all will have while you reno your sweet little bungalow!
    As for the incenses odor,you will need to repaint as much as possible with odor blocking paint,along with steam cleaning rugs and floors. The room with the temple you need to even do closet and don’t forget ceilings!

  12. Jamie! I was so busy in November/December, that I must have missed this post! I love these before pics of your place, and I know it won’t be long before you transform some of these spaces. It’s such a great space to begin with! Love the sweet little bungalow! 😉

  13. I would first remove EVERYTHING in the house that was left behind from the previous owners and open the windows. All carpets cleaned, or replaced, and floors washed using a solution of Dawn Dish soap/white vinegar and water…..wipe down every possible surface with straight white vinegar….windows, woodwork, appliances, handrails, bathrooms etc. Vinegar is a very good odor neutrilizer.

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