Summer Spotlight: Sarah from 702 Park Project

Happy Friday! It’s week 3 of our Summer Spotlight Series, and today Kristi from Making it in the Mountains is sharing all about Sarah from 702 Park Project! You won’t believe HOW GORGEOUS Sarah’s house is! Don’t believe me? Keep reading…

(If you love Sarah’s ideas, please click through to her site and pin them from the original source.)

The Summer Spotlight is a collaborative effort to showcase great ideas from a different talented blogger each Friday throughout the summer months. Follow my co-hosts and I online to see the great ideas we share year-round:

Amanda of Dwelling in Happiness

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Carrie of Kenarry: Ideas for the Home

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Courtney of Crafts By Courtney

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Ashley of 3 Little Greenwoods

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Kristi of Making It In the Mountains

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Katie of View from the Fridge

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 Hello! Kristi here from making it in the mountains and this week it’s my turn to choose our featured blog. I couldn’t possibly be more excited to introduce you to Sarah from 702 Park Project! So, grab yourself a cup of coffee and prepare to fall head-over-heels for this super sweet gal and her stunning home!

 

What first drew me to Sarah’s beautiful blog was this image …

Talk about a dreamy house!

Exuding heaps of historical charm, this gorgeous 1902 American Foursquare stole my heart from the first moment I laid eyes on it!

And let me tell you, the inside is every bit as lovely as that charming exterior! You can (and should) take the tour here.

As gorgeous as it is, this century old home didn’t always look this way! The history of this home just melts my heart and I have to say, I’m absolutely in awe of how far Sarah and her husband Charles have come in bringing this home back to life! You can read more about their incredible journey and what they’ve accomplished so far on their restoration list.

I can’t help but share some of my own favorite rooms like this stunning Master Bathroom makeover!

And this swoon-worthy porch makeover, which has come an awfully long way from where it started, don’t you think?

Incredible, right?!

I love how she filled it with tons of fun projects like this lovely DIY Window Table and these Drop Cloth Curtains!

As Sarah renovates and furnishes this lovely, old home, she’s had to become a pro vintage shopper (check out her tips here), finding a ton of beautiful bargains like this gorgeous shelf, which you will find in her incredible Living Room transformation!

With all of these amazing renovations, this girl has learned how to stay on budget – check out this amazing Laundry Room Renovation for just $30!!! I still can’t believe the transformation itself, let alone that $30 budget!

Now, if all of these gorgeous photos weren’t enough to make you fall in love, I’m absolulely dying to share a bit more about her story with a few Q & A’s with the gal behind the blog, Sarah:

one. First of all, I’m incredibly jealous of this beautiful old house you’re living in! And how perfect that it was the very house that your Father-in-law grew up in! It’s always been my dream to have a gorgeous house with a ton of history to call home! Since discovering your blog, I’ve definitely been living my dream vicariously through you! I’m sure there are a ton of things to love about your beautiful home, but I’d love to know what are some of your very favorite things about living in a historic home? Also, I’m sure the good far outweighs the bad, but what are some of the challenges you’ve faced living in an older home?

Thanks so much for your sweet words about our home! It turned out to be a much bigger project than we anticipated, but we are so happy with the finished product! I guess the thing I love most about our house is that it has a story. It’s so personal to my husband, Charles, and therefore personal to me. I never had the pleasure of meeting Charles’ grandmother, Mildred, but I feel like I’ve gotten to know her through this house. I love when people come over and share their memories of her and the house. We also have a great mix of heirloom pieces throughout the house that keep us rooted in our heritage.

As much as we love our historic home, there are definitely a few drawbacks to living in a 113-year-old house. First of all, nothing is square or uniform. Every single one of our windows is a different size, meaning we have to order custom blinds. As you can imagine, the cost adds up quickly. Another problem we’ve run into is our plaster walls. We wanted to keep the historical integrity of the home, so we stuck with plaster instead of switching to sheetrock. But plaster walls are so fragile, and hanging a simple picture frame can be a bigger task than you thought. Plus, finding someone who can work on plaster is pretty tough…it’s a dying trade.

two. I’m curious, were you able to move right into the house after purchasing it or did you have some work to do before moving in? What were some of the first things you did or changed?

I wish!! We were under contract on this foreclosed property in early February 2013 (we lived over 2 hours away at the time!), and closed around the middle of May 2013. Work began at the end of May, and we officially moved in the following May. Our “4-month project” ended up taking about 15 months total! Everything except the master bathroom was completed when we moved in…the bathroom finished up a couple of months later. Charles’ grandfather moved into a retirement home a few months before we moved to town, so we were very fortunate to have a free place to stay for a year.

The very first things we worked on were the structural things…repointing the brick foundation, fixing the electrical, and installing a new heating and cooling system. We also replaced a lot of our duct work. After that, we just went room by room and restored them top to bottom. You can see the before, during, and after shots in my Room By Room Recap series!

three. With all that work to keep you busy, where we would find you kicking back at the end of a long day?

I recently completed our two-story porch makeover for the One Room Challenge. We’ve really enjoyed sipping cocktails on our upstairs porch (which is right off the master bathroom) at the end of a long day. I also love to relax in our refurbished pedestal tub, which is original to the house.

four. Out of all of the beautiful rooms you’ve renovated in your home, which is your absolute favorite space?

My favorite room is without a doubt our master bathroom. We were getting down to the end of our budget and had to choose between adding a bathroom (in what used to be an upstairs kitchen) or renovating our kitchen. Since the kitchen was ugly but functional, we decided to go with a spa-like bathroom. And I’m so happy we did! I love everything about this space!

five. Checking out your to-do list, I am totally blown away by what you and Charles have been able to accomplish in such a short time! What are some of your favorite projects?

The newly decorated porch is definitely one of my favorites! It’s such a nice retreat. I also loved refinishing the clawfoot tub in our guest bathroom.

six. I absolutely LOVED following along with your Porch Makeover as part of the One Room Challenge! What’s next on your list of projects/ rooms to tackle?

We’ve decided to take the summer off from our projects and just enjoy the house. But there is still plenty to do! We may take a weekend or two to landscape the backyard. We are thinking we’ll put in a pretty large “natural area” to make the upkeep a little easier. In the fall we’re planning to have our chimneys swept and relined. We have 8 fireplaces, and being able to use them in the winter would be really nice. And hopefully in about 5 years we’ll be completely gutting the kitchen.
Now, tell me you aren’t dying to see more! You can follow along with Sarah as she continues to transform that gorgeous historic home!

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If you enjoyed this feature about Tasha, you may want to check out the other bloggers we’ve featured in the Summer Spotlight. You can also visit our Summer Spotlight Pinterest board to view all the great ideas we’ve shared so far this summer.