Our Home: A Journey of Renovation and Renewal

As I walk through our front door, I'm greeted by Vicki, my partner in life and home renovation. We've lived in this house in Pasadena, California since 2008, and over the past four years, we've dedicated ourselves to transforming it from a fixer-upper into a beautiful and functional home for our family of five.

We started with a small task that would set the tone for our entire renovation journey - tackling the bathroom. It was a daunting project, especially since we moved in with three young children and were still working full-time. The first challenge we faced was mold growing under the floors and a leaky pipe that had broken during the move-in process. We knew it wouldn't be an easy task, but we were determined to get it done.

The renovation took us a year and a half to complete, with Vicki taking the lead on many of the design decisions. I remember our approach being quite organic - we started collecting pieces and materials before we had a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve. Our favorite feature in this bathroom has always been the tub, which I've always dreamed of having in our home. It's been a game-changer, providing us with a relaxing space for the kids (and me!) after long days.

One of the unique elements in our bathroom is the built-in cabinet we salvaged from a thrift store. We had to completely strip it and repaint it to bring out its original beauty. Vicki loves saying that our home is full of "new old things," like this cabinet, which has become a beloved feature in our space.

Our floor tiles are probably the most admired aspect of our bathroom, and they're all thanks to my DIY skills (or lack thereof!). I remember hand-laying each tile, trying to create a cohesive pattern that would define the space. We used black tiles to add a pop of color and visual interest, which has really made the room feel more spacious.

Another highlight of our bathroom is the shower we built under the staircase. The tile work took some time, but it was worth it in the end. I have to admit, I often find myself stumped when faced with a problem or project I don't know how to tackle. But over the years, Vicki has taught me how to search online and tap into my inner resourcefulness (and sometimes stumble upon old house tutorials!).

We've had ideas for our home come from all sorts of unexpected places - old houses on websites, magazines, and even the occasional inspiration strike while browsing social media. It's been a slow but rewarding process, with many long hours spent renovating and experimenting.

As I look around our home now, I'm filled with gratitude for this journey we've taken together. We've faced so many challenges, from mold to leaky pipes, but it's all led us to where we are today - proud homeowners with a beautiful space that feels truly like our own.

We're grateful for the opportunity to share our story and our home with others, and we hope that by doing so, we can inspire others who may be on their own renovation journey. It may not have been easy, but it's made every sacrifice worthwhile, knowing that we get to enjoy a space that reflects our love and creativity as a family.

So, thank you for joining us on this journey through our home. We're thrilled to share it with you!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi i'm tim peterson and i'm vicki peterson and we live in pasadena california welcome to our house let's go in we bought this house in 2008 and we've spent the last four years living in it and fixing it up at the same time while raising three kids and working full-time this particular bathroom we did when i was pregnant with my third child there was mold growing under the floors there was a big leak growing from the house shifted and broke a pipe when we moved in that was first thing we fixed it took a year and a half total to do the bathroom we actually started collecting pieces before we knew what the actual design was my favorite feature of this bathroom is the tub and i've always wanted a large deep tub and it's been fantastic this built in here is something that we got out of a salvage yard and it was all painted over and it ended and so we had to completely strip it and repaint the whole thing and this we got out of a hotel in long beach for 200 one of my favorite features is the hardware we took it to a shop and had it all recoated and we put it back on here the floor is something that we get the most compliments on and that was done entirely by tim hand laying each tile we realized it would look really nice to sort of have a throw rug pattern to define the space and that's what we ended up doing with the black tiles my favorite compliment is when somebody looks at the floor is that original i really love the shower we built it right underneath the staircase the tile work took a long time but it actually came out really nice when it comes to doing something that i don't know how to do i go online and i do a search and you know most of the time i ended up on this old house it had all the tools and all the resources i needed to figure out how to do things right all over our house we have ideas that we ripped off from from the magazine and from the website you know it's been four years of us living in squalor and you know finally we have something to show for it and it just it makes it all worthwhile it makes all of the sacrifices that we had to make for our family worth it because now we can show all of you and we have something to be proud of and we're just really grateful for that opportunity thank youhi i'm tim peterson and i'm vicki peterson and we live in pasadena california welcome to our house let's go in we bought this house in 2008 and we've spent the last four years living in it and fixing it up at the same time while raising three kids and working full-time this particular bathroom we did when i was pregnant with my third child there was mold growing under the floors there was a big leak growing from the house shifted and broke a pipe when we moved in that was first thing we fixed it took a year and a half total to do the bathroom we actually started collecting pieces before we knew what the actual design was my favorite feature of this bathroom is the tub and i've always wanted a large deep tub and it's been fantastic this built in here is something that we got out of a salvage yard and it was all painted over and it ended and so we had to completely strip it and repaint the whole thing and this we got out of a hotel in long beach for 200 one of my favorite features is the hardware we took it to a shop and had it all recoated and we put it back on here the floor is something that we get the most compliments on and that was done entirely by tim hand laying each tile we realized it would look really nice to sort of have a throw rug pattern to define the space and that's what we ended up doing with the black tiles my favorite compliment is when somebody looks at the floor is that original i really love the shower we built it right underneath the staircase the tile work took a long time but it actually came out really nice when it comes to doing something that i don't know how to do i go online and i do a search and you know most of the time i ended up on this old house it had all the tools and all the resources i needed to figure out how to do things right all over our house we have ideas that we ripped off from from the magazine and from the website you know it's been four years of us living in squalor and you know finally we have something to show for it and it just it makes it all worthwhile it makes all of the sacrifices that we had to make for our family worth it because now we can show all of you and we have something to be proud of and we're just really grateful for that opportunity thank you\n"