In the 51 year history of our house, we’re only the second owners. The old couple before us had the house built in 1960. We’re fortunate enough that they left a few pictures and the original, hand drawn floor plans. Because we’ve had a few requests to add a floor plan, I thought it would be fun to show you a few pictures of the original layout. First, here’s the kitchen:
The sink, stove top, and refrigerator are roughly in the same place, but you can see there was a wall oven on the left side by the stove. Where our peninsula now sits formerly was a wall with 24 inch deep cabinets.
Originally, our main level consisted of three bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths.
The main bathroom is the same, but we’ve altered the master bathroom by closing off a doorway and removing old duct work. I know the plans are difficult to read, so I made a few digital versions. Here’s the floor plan when Ben bought the house.
In 1997 or so, the old owners remodeled the kitchen. They added a peninsula with cabinets above, but that was kind of the extent. Before I met Ben, he had already closed off the door to the bathroom by the back door and added a shower. In 2008, we converted the 3/4 bath to the full bath we have today.
As you already know, we’ve been working on renovating our kitchen, which included knocking down a wall. Specifically this wall.
With the wall down, the whole living space feels open, airy, and modernized.
Our living room (and kitchen) before knocking down the wall:
And after:
Of course this picture is a few weeks old because we now have the new cabinets and counter tops in.
Emily @ The Diligent One
/ November 15, 2011Okay, Amanda, this is kinda weird. I think we have the same house! Mine is a rancher built in 1957 in Maryland. Could it be?! At this point, we have a bump out off the back of the house that is the width of the kitchen, which is a breakfast room. Aside from that, I seriously think we have the same layout, for sure, even if the dimensions are a tad different.
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 15, 2011Hey Emily! That would be too funny! Do you happen to know the overall dimensions of your house? Ours is 48 feet wide and the longer bedroom side is 28 feet. That would be crazy, but a few houses in our neighborhood have the same layout.
Emily @ The Diligent One
/ November 15, 2011I’m at work (yes, reading your blog), but I will take the measurements when I get home. Looks like yours is a touch larger- I seem to remember ours is 1200 sq ft without the bump out breakfast room. We also do not have a direct entry to the kitchen from the living room. You have a doorway to the left of the hallway to the bathrooms, I see. We don’t have that. But, we do have the same funky short closet above the basement steps. Haha!
Emily E
/ November 15, 2011How fun to have the old floor plans! It’s really interesting to see how houses evolve over time. And, I’m obsessed with following your kitchen makeover!
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 15, 2011Hi Emily E, It really was fun to look at the old plans and just see how they had to make plans before computers. Haha. And thanks for your compliments about the kitchen!
Thanks!
Amanda
Emily @ The Diligent One
/ November 15, 2011Amanda- I have a brand new baby blog, and I haven’t blogged about our living room yet really nor do I have a house tour. But, here’s a link to 2 quick shots I popped up to photobucket. One of the living room (we have a fireplace), and one showing the dining room, too. Okay, now- back to work for me! http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/nn170/rudy_tudy/House/
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 15, 2011Hey Emily, Yeah, the measurements might be a little different, but based on the pictures, the living and dining do look very similar! Crazy!
Hi Gabbi! You’re totally welcome! I can’t believe it took this long to get a plan up. The shame! And, your floor plan changes look fantastic! I really love the layout so much more with three bedrooms rather than the original four.
Thanks!
Amanda
Gabbi
/ November 15, 2011thanks for the floor plan comparison! it’s so great to see where your house started and what it turned into.
i really enjoyed putting our floor plans together too. it helped to have them down on paper and to make sure that our contractor was on the same page as us!
http://retroranchrenovation.blogspot.com/2011/09/4-1-more.html
melissamevans
/ November 15, 2011this looks GREAT! Wow!!
kristy
/ November 15, 2011You should make some art with the old blue prints!
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 15, 2011Hi Kristy, I thought about that. It might be cool to change out the large art at the center of the stair gallery. We’ll see though. They’re pretty tattered…
Thanks!
Amanda
my honest answer
/ November 18, 2011Thanks for doing this! It all makes a lot more sense now. It was the back door area that was confusing me! How great that you have the original plans.
ourhumbleabowed
/ November 18, 2011Hi My Honest Answer! You’re welcome! Thank YOU for getting my butt in gear to get a floor plan up.
Hunter
/ December 7, 2011Amanda,
What did ya’ll use to make the floor plans?
Thanks,
Hunter
ourhumbleabowed
/ December 7, 2011Hi Hunter, That’s a great question! I’m so comfortable with Photoshop, so that’s what I used. But, I’ve heard great things about Floorplanner.com so you might want to check that out if you’re going to make your own floor plans.
Hope that helps!
Amanda