I’m super sore today after spending most of yesterday tackling some house projects. My amazing in-laws came to town to help us continue upgrading our garage, which was in dire need of help when we bought the house. James and his parents knocked out much of the work while I was in Europe. They added new wood to reinforce the structure (it was wobbly when they got on top to do some work) and re-shingled the roof. The last things left are repainting the garage to match our bright, yellow home and installing a garage door.

I helped a bit with scraping the peeling paint off the sides of the garage, but James and his dad did most of the heavy lifting on this project. They got the garage door track in and the door up, working late into last night. James primed much of the garage while I was at work today and it already looks so much better. Just having a door on the garage is such an improvement — now we can actually use it!

I quickly realized my skills weren’t much help with the garage, so I tackled some of the leaves in our backyard. Raking is hard work! But there’s something about owning your own home that makes simple chores seem kind of fun. You feel so much more ownership when you put some sweat equity into your home.

Our backyard is huge, so I only got about one-third of it done over a few hours yesterday. My mother-in-law helped me bag up some of the leaves and we filled ten bags! And there were still some piles of leaves left over. Maybe next time I’ll just mulch them all? I need your strategies so I don’t become a slave to my backyard! How do you tackle fall yard work?

The post Upgrading Our Garage appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

While we still have plenty on our to-do list, I wanted to give you a peek inside our home. We are so dang happy here. The home is cozy, but big enough for entertaining. And we can walk almost anywhere, which is the best part about living in this neighborhood.

We fell in love with our house from the moment we saw it. We were just starting our search and happened to drive by when my parents were visiting. The bright yellow bungalow caught all of our eyes, so we turned around to take a closer look and wrote down the address to give to our realtor. I’ve always wanted a yellow house with a front porch, so it was meant to be. From what we learned from neighbors and the seller, the house had fallen into disrepair for several years and was an eyesore on the block. A contractor and investor bought the property and did an amazing job breathing new life into the home.

Of all the things on James’ list of “wants” when we were searching for homes, a front porch was at the very top. The house we were renting had a great porch where we often gathered for hours with friends. This porch is even better! The swing is long enough for you to stretch out and prop your feet up and the wicker chair my mother recovered is so comfortable I’ve almost fallen asleep on it. The porch is my favorite place to stretch out and read while enjoying some morning coffee.

Living Room

The floor plan of the house is very open, which makes it a great place to throw parties. You enter into the living room, which opens into the dining room and then the kitchen. The hardwood floors continue throughout every room except the bathroom, which makes the home feel so much bigger. I love how much light comes through the big windows everyday. It always makes the house feel so warm and inviting.

One of the things on our to-do list is replacing the light fixtures in the living room and dining room, which we understand have been in the house quite some time. I’d like to add a ceiling fan in the living room and a rustic chandelier in the dining room.

Dining Room

The dining room is one of the features that sold us on this house. It’s nice and spacious, with a large window seat on the east side. We’re going to need more chairs for our table, because this is the room where everyone tends to congregate when we have gatherings. Aside from our dining room table, we also have a makeshift bar setup on an antique buffet table sitting along the west wall.

My mom is a saint and spent lots of time sewing pillows for our new place. She also made the beautiful blue cushions we have on our window seat, making it a much more comfortable place to sit. The cats love sunbathing here.

Kitchen

No surprise, the kitchen is my favorite room in the house. When we moved in, there were only cabinets on the left side of the kitchen so a table could be setup. Because I spend so much time cooking and baking, we knew we needed more counter space and storage. We asked the seller for information on the materials he used and were able to easily order additional cabinets.

The countertop won’t be here for a couple more weeks, so James had a friend cut a piece of particle board to fit on top so we can still use the space. It’s already so much more functional with the second bank of cabinets. I spend most of my time in this room!

Study

When I’m in the kitchen, James is often in the study editing photos. It’s the perfect space for him to plug away at work when he needs to and the cats love sitting back there with him and looking out the sliding glass door. His office doubled as the guest bedroom at our previous rental, so it’s nice for him to have a room he can work in without imposing on our guests.

Bathroom

We initially started our home search with the goal of finding a place with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but we ended up with two bedrooms and one bathroom. And, honestly, I’m so glad we ended up getting a slightly smaller place. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the one bathroom we have is spacious and beautifully done with earth tone tile. We do have guests frequently, but having just one bathroom hasn’t been a problem.

Guest Room

The guest room may be the best room in the house, to be honest. It gets the most amazing sunlight and is so spacious. We’re on the hunt for some new bedding, but otherwise don’t plan on changing much in this room.

Master Bedroom

I think our bedroom is pretty amazing, too. It’s our little zen zone we love escaping to every night. It’s super cozy — just the way we like it. We are hunting for some additional artwork to hang, but don’t have too many improvements planned for this space, either.

One of my favorite features is the white dresser that also doubles as a TV stand. James and I decided to refinish it the same week we moved. It was stressful, but so worth it! When his parents gave us this piece of furniture it was brown with outdated brass hardware and the mirror was attached horizontally to the back. We stripped it, painted it white, attached glass knobs and decided to take the mirror off and hang it vertically on the wall. I’m so happy with how it turned out!

Basement

We have a large, unfinished basement to use for storage, DIY projects and laundry. We just bought some shelves to help us keep the space organized and will eventually probably put some epoxy down on the floor. I would love to get some TRX straps down there for days when I can’t make it to the gym! It’s great to have plenty of room to store out-of-season clothes and other odds and ends.

Backyard

Once you come up from the basement and go outside, you’ll find yourself on our back deck. Now that we’ve had a few days of slightly cooler weather we are absolutely loving this space. The deck was built with pretreated wood and not ready for staining until recently, so James and I actually knocked that project out today (after this picture was taken). I’m excited to see what it looks like when it’s dry tomorrow! I’ll let you know how it turns out.

The biggest projects we have to knock out are in the yard. James is a total beast when it comes to yard work, so we’ve already made some progress. We have a huge lot, which is great, but there were a lot of weeds when we moved in. We have plans to put some grass seed down this fall and dig up some of the scary-looking bushes that are plopped randomly throughout the yard. We also need to re-roof and paint the small garage (the white building on the left in that photo), which needs some major love.

It gets a little overwhelming when we think about all of the things we’d like to eventually do to this house, but that’s also part of the fun! We are having a blast making this place our own and we can’t wait to see what it looks like years from now.

The post Our House: A Peek Inside appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

But social media can also be powerful in a really good, amazing way. I was reminded of that this week.

Our realtor sent us a text about someone who posted a photo of our new home on Facebook. The man, named Jim, wrote about how happy he was to see the former home of his paternal grandparents restored. They lived there from 1932-1953 and Jim and his brother have many fond memories of the home before his family moved out and it eventually fell into disrepair. We ended up connecting with Jim through e-mail and he sent us an impressive history of the home, along with several photos.

James and I both love older, historic houses — it’s part of what drew us to this place. The architecture and quirks give older homes so much character. So we were tickled to learn about some of the stories behind our house.

Jim sent us so much amazing information about the home and the neighborhood. But, I’m going to focus on the people. As my husband says, “Buildings are made of wood and stone, but homes are made of memories.” Here are some of the memories from Jim’s time at 322:

The home at 322 belonged to his grandparents, Harvey and Myrtle Terman, for two decades. It was built before they moved in, sometime during the 1920s, and featured white siding and a garage in what is now the full basement.

The Terman family moved from Johnson County to Bloomington after Harvey got a job working at the prominent Jewel Tea Company. They had two sons, Bill and Howard. Howard worked for Central Business College in Indianapolis and Bill joined the Indiana National Guard. By the time Bill’s unit was activated in 1941, he and his wife, Leota, had one son named James William, or Jim. They spent much of their time at 322 between assignments to army camps. During the same time period, Howard married his wife Shireen.

Bill’s unit was activated in 1943. By 1944, they were in the South Pacific. That same year, Leota went into labor and their son Phil was born in the front room of the home. The expanded family moved around the corner while Harvey and Myrtle remained in the bungalow. At times, the couple rented a room to IU students or employees.

Like his brother, Howard also spent some time in the Army, working in the finance division. He and Bill spent time together in the Philippines while deployed. They were both discharged by 1946. But, nearly two years later, Bill reactivated his army commission after tiring of his work as an accountant. He was deployed to occupied Japan in 1949, where Leota and the boys would eventually join him. Bill was transferred to a combat unit in Korea the next year and Leota, Jim and Phil headed back to the states. They stayed with Harvey and Myrtle at 322 before reestablishing themselves.

One afternoon while Jim and Phil were at their grandparents’ home, a taxi driver showed up and refused to speak to anyone but Leota. The taxi driver was redirected to the home of Leota’s mother and the rest of the Termans followed. It was then they learned Bill was killed in action on August 22. It would have been Leota and Bill’s 13th anniversary.

Leota took a job at IU when she felt ready and eventually built a home of her own, leaving 322 to Harvey and Myrtle. The senior Termans decided to downsize and left the bungalow in 1953.

“Thus, after 20 years of many events and changes wrapped up with the relationship between a family and a particular residence, the connection was broken,” Jim wrote in his history of the home. “That connection, however, remains deeply planted in the minds and feelings of two small boys.”

Jim says when they last visited the home in 2012 it was nearly impossible to see from the street, thanks to overgrown bushes. It served as a rental property for some time before it was renovated.

“Overall the house looks darker, older, and more squat; in short it looks its age, which in a short time will be 100 years,” Jim wrote of the home before it was renovated. “We like to think, however, that its Terman years were its good years.”

Here’s hoping 322 sees just as much happiness during the Brosher years. As the first home of our own it already has a special place in our heart.

The post Our House: Inside These Walls appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.

It feels amazing to be in our house (still crazy to call it ours!) after months of searching and then waiting. The homebuying process was frustrating at times, but went relatively smoothly for us. The house we bought was actually the very first one we saw. We drove past it with my parents one day and fell in love with its curb appeal. The bungalow looked even more amazing inside. It was listed out of our ideal price range at the beginning of our search, but the price dropped significantly as the weeks went on and we knew it was a sign the place was meant to be ours!

We learned a lot during the search and buying process — some things we wish we would have known from the beginning. I’m far from an expert, but I thought I’d share a few tips for other first-time homebuyers now that I’ve been through the process.

1. Do your research before starting your search.

James and I started talking about buying a home in Bloomington last year when we decided this is a community we would like to stay in for a while. But, we weren’t quite sure if we were ready financially to take the plunge. Before contacting a realtor or a lender, I signed up for a free homebuying class through the City of Bloomington. The class met for several hours on two Saturdays and walked me through everything from starting the search to properly maintaining a home. There are also grants available to help with downpayment costs for graduates of the course who meet the income restrictions. I walked away knowing much more about the process and feeling optimistic about our prospects.

2. Shop around for realtors and lenders.

There are two things that will make the buying process a whole lot easier: a good lender and a great realtor. We chose to work with an Indiana-based mortgage lender and were really happy with their services. They gave us a competitive rate and promptly answered the long list of questions we sent their way. I suggest calling around to a couple of local realtors and setting up in-person meetings before deciding on one. That will give you the opportunity to get to know the realtor and how he/she works. It’s crucial to have a realtor you feel comfortable with and who prioritizes your needs.

3. Don’t be afraid to speak up.

This is something I struggled with during the process, but it’s so important. If you can’t afford a house, don’t go see the place. If the houses you’re seeing aren’t what you’re looking for, tell your realtor. Buying a home is a huge decision and an enormous financial commitment. That means it’s important to be honest with yourself and your realtor. Don’t feel bad about asking to see dozens of properties or constantly e-mailing back and forth.

4. Make a list of must-haves.

Whether you’re buying a house on your own or with someone else, it’s crucial to have a list of what you absolutely need to have in a house. It’s easy to fall in love with places quickly, but you don’t want to be seduced by how a house looks if it won’t be functional for your lifestyle. James and I sat down and made a list of what we both needed in a house and then a second list of features we wanted but that weren’t essential. As we saw more houses and learned more about the local market, our list of priorities changed. We decided we were willing to sacrifice space if it meant living walking distance to downtown.

5. Be prepared to act quickly.

We were shocked to find out just how competitive the home market is in Bloomington. We actually made offers on four houses before landing on our dream home and in some cases we were outbid with cash offers or didn’t act quickly enough. Our frustrations sparked a story at work and it made me feel a bit better to learn we weren’t alone. The number of homes on the market is extremely low, which means buyers don’t have time to go home and mull it over for long before making an offer. If a house comes on the market that you’re interested in, see it as quickly as possible. There were several properties we were interested in that sold before we even got a chance to step foot inside. Once you do find a home that meets all of your criteria and you love it, make an offer. If you don’t, it will likely be gone soon.

Feel free to chime in with your own advice for first-time buyers in the comments section — I’d love to hear what you wish you would have known at the beginning of the process. 

The post Buying Our First Home appeared first on The Broadcasting Baker.