My
renovation
It’s been four wonderful years since my husband, John, and I purchased our “Fixer-Upper” and embarked on a journey together that would change both our lives. At the time we had been married 28 years – had two grown daughters and were just beginning to broach the subject that most people “our age” put off way too long, “Where did we want to retire?”
Instead of heading south we decided to head west – just about an hour to be exact. Just over the NJ/PA borderline of the Delaware River we found the amazing small city of Bethlehem PA. This location was strategic for many reasons, but the top two were job related. John had just begun working from home full time, yet still needed to get into the NJ office once or twice a month AND I still wanted to be able to service my existing clientele in NJ while expanding my market into PA.
So we thought we would put our house on the market while we searched out properties in the Lehigh Valley for our new home. We thought we had plenty of time – but God had other plans - and our house in NJ sold in three days and we were forced to clear out 20 years of accumulated memories in just 45 days. (I told John there were at least some perks to be married to an interior designer!) With nowhere to go, we moved in with my sister, Sue in Princeton, NJ. After 6 LONG months of searching and 5 failed bids, we finally closed on our historic home in downtown Bethlehem.
The property we finally settled on was built in 1905 and originally a family home, but had been sold and converted to commercial use in the early 1960’s. Before even closing we had plenty of work to do. First we had to get a commitment from the city that we would be able to change the property to Mixed-Use Zoning so that it could be the new location of Bailiwick Interior Design AND our home, too!
The bulk of the renovation was done while we were living in the house and my husband and I were considered the swing shift. When the contractors went home at 4pm – we started working our second jobs – as the DIY crew. Follow us on our journey – we’ll share our little tips and tricks – where we scrimped and saved and where we splurged!
