The road to home ownership hasn’t been easy for Kimie Halberstadt and her fiance Art Renshaw.  A process that is always lengthy and fraught with tension has been made worse by unforeseen hiccups with financial issues and paperwork, bids gone bad, and difficulties with the previous owners. “I liken it to river dancing on a Slip N’ Slide,” jokes Kimie.

But finally, late last week, Kimie and Art were handed the keys to their new digs in Pasadena, California. “Although there is still a lot of work ahead of us,” Kimie says of finally getting possession of their house, “It’s the fun chapter in this new life.  I’m able to see my life unfold before me.”

And she’s right. Celebration time has already morphed into prep work for the first few must-do projects on the three-bedroom bungalow, built in 1920.  Before they can move in, Kimie and Art want to repair the roof, sand the hardwood floors and paint.

Decoratively speaking, though, Kimie says the living room will be the first room to tackle, where the chimney will have to be rebuilt to reopen the original fireplace, and an oddly placed secondary gas fireplace will be closed up or removed.  Kimie says she has already spied a sofa she likes from Urban Home, signaling what could be contemporary taste with traditional flare.

She and Art will also each have a room to convert into personal space.  Art has claimed a sunny room on the first floor for his office, while Kimie will eventually stake out the attic space that extends over the porch for “a sewing room/library.”

The couple is maintaining a simple strategy for the renovation process that faces them: “Just do one room at a time,” explains Kimie.  “At first, I felt really overwhelmed by the amount of work and the expense it will take.  But then I decided to just take it one project at a time.”

Wise words from a lady who now has a room–and a house–of her very own.

Last 5 posts by KellyThacher

• O Tannenbaum . . . - December 23rd, 2009
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Author: Kelly Thacher

Kelly has been a writer since she was in grade school where she received early recognition for her Young Author's project. Magazines like Home Entertainment, Luxury Consumer Electronics, Vertical Living, Luxury Home and the Robb Report were happy to have Kelly's editing talents on various projects. A series of career twists and turns has offered her invaluable experience in journalism, magazine and book publishing, and fiction writing.

Kelly Thacher has written 30 articles for us.