We first when they were working to move into their new old house, which was built in 1900. They had bought the house in the neighborhood than once housed the workers at the Merrimack cotton mills nearby for ,000 and had plans to hire a contractor to bring the neglected space up to today s living standards. Bad news came when an expected hefty construction loan came in at just ,000 because of low appraisal the house brought.
That s when the Saffells decided to apply their joint talents Ryan is a mechanical engineer and Brittney has a degree in interior design and do the work themselves. It s been a long journey and one that s not over yet, but the couple have been in their home for more than six months now and are loving it.
Let s take a tour of the house to see where things stand. We ll begin with the living room:
What it was like: Five layers of wallpaper covered the bead-board ceiling and walls, and linoleum covered the old wood floor. The now-large room was still separated by a wall from the duplex days. Scraping the glue off the linoleum and sanding and refinishing the floors was the last thing the couple did before moving into their home in late May.
Where they are now: The spacious room is now accessible from two front doors, which would have been the entries to the two sides of the duplex. If you re entering from the south side of the house, a newly finished, Ryan-built bookcase on your left creates a foyer for the room. The bookcase, which will house Ryan s back issues of Popular Mechanic and Brittney s stack of The Old House magazines, is topped by posts salvaged from the front porch. The Saffells traded most of the posts with their go-to store, Southern Accents Architectural Antiques in Cullman, but kept two for the bookcase.
Behind the bookcase is a desk and an area set up as a home office. Across the room is the Saffell s couch, comfy chairs and built-in cabinets to house electronics. Their TV hangs above the colorful mantel Brittney found at Southern Accents, and below is the fireplace that is fitted with an insert and will one day be operational. For now, Brittney used one of their old windows as a fireplace screen, drawing a roaring fire in chalk on the chalkboard backing.
Above the built-in cabinets are two bright green shelves the Saffells created from two of the old mantles in the house.
We tried to reuse as much as possible, Ryan said.
The bedroom
What it was like: Off the living room are a half bath, an unfinished full bath and a bedroom the Saffells are currently using as their bedroom. They call this the termite room because it was riddled with termites when they bought the house.
Where they are now: Fortunately, a termite bond covered the cost of rebuilding that room, and they salvaged a layer of wood flooring covering the original floor in the living room for the bedroom. Brittney painted the floor in stripes of white and green to add character and to seal the flooring s layer of lead-based paint. This room will serve as their bedroom until the upstairs master bedroom and bathroom are finished. Plans are to turn it into a guest bedroom.
The dining room
What it was like: Behind the office area is the dining room, which had to be gutted and taken to the studs as was most of the house. Most of the bead-board walls were unsalvageable, so the Saffells put drywall up in much of the room.
Where they are now: The room now contains a large farmhouse table Ryan made from cherry wood salvaged from Brittney s grandfather s farm. Above the table are two large lanterns that were one of Brittney s first purchases for the house. They left the back of the brick fireplace exposed and the ceiling is criss-crossed with wood from studs that Ryan had to replace in the walls.
The kitchen:
What it was like: Can you say disaster? No appliances, old plumbing, seven layers of flooring that had to be removed. Off the kitchen was the house s sole bathroom, which Brittney described as disgusting.
Where they are now: Oh, wow. What a difference. The bright, open space is now equipped with stainless, steel appliances and white cabinets Brittney configured at the cabinet company where she works. A false vaulted ceiling that took two days and six people - really good friends, Brittney said to install helps define the airy space. A long island covered in a deceptively real-looking faux marble laminate provides a great space for food preparation and for entertaining.
The former disgusting bathroom is now a handy pantry with more of the cabinets Brittney picked out and open shelving. The Saffells refinished one of the former, glass-topped front doors and hung it as the pantry door.
The staircase:
What it was like: The steep staircase leading to the second-floor of the Saffells home was still separated by the wall that once defined the duplex. When we visited them last spring, Ryan and Brittney had removed the wall but the steps were had a crevasse where the wall had once stood.
Where they are now: Ryan has now put down new treads for the steps, and the couple have scraped and painted much of the bead-board walls. They ve left a swatch of some of the colors that once covered the walls of their house of many colors, as they call their home.
What s left:
While the downstairs is in pretty good shape, the upstairs still has a long way to go. They do have a functional and almost finished full bathroom upstairs and one room that is their craft/storage room is pretty much done. They re currently scraping more layers of wallpaper off the future master bedroom ceiling and they hope to have that room, the master bath and a new nursery ready to move in to by April. Baby Girl Saffell is scheduled to arrive in May.
You have to wonder how long it will be before she has a hammer in her hand.
Cool Spaces is a weekly feature looking at interesting rooms in Huntsville homes. Do you have a suggestion? Email Pat Ammons at pammons@al.com.