Our family of 4 moved from hot Phoenix to cold Flagstaff in 1988 and found this 1977 spec-built, 2×6 frame w/mill finish dual pane aluminum windowed home in a nice neighborhood for what we could afford. It was a dark brown outside with 1970s finishes inside. Gold shag carpet, gold formica countertops, etc. You know what we are talking about. We said to ourselves that we would take this and in a few years we would buy a lot and build our own custom home. Within a year we found a great lot but it was way too much, $20,000 for 8000 square feet, typical for the area. As the years went by we realized what a gem we had. As Donald Trump said, “location, location, location”. We have great neighbors, we are within walking distance of a great downtown and shopping for everything we need. We eventually decided this is where we stay, but we would need to transform this old brown slug to make it ours. We started with the Kitchen, modernizing it and adding insulation to the walls. Bright orange and rich red colors livened the space up. We have been living with this kitchen for over ten years and still love it. The linoleum was replaced with saltillo tile, the plywood cabs are now cherry and the formica is now tile. The bathrooms were next and the fiberglass showers and tubs are tiled in and the vanities are site built pine with redwood face frames or maple with South African paduk touches. You will see that we have not carried a theme through the house, we have created a place with a variety of finishes. Much more interesting. The drywall was stripped from all exterior walls and 1″ rigid foam added over the repaired batts. The orange peel was smoothed over for a more pleasing hand done texture. Saltilo tile floors and base throughout. Knotty alder doors with bullnose trim replaced the plain hollow cores with streamline trim. We have added a murphy bed and built in desk/storage to one room and carved out a bookshelf/entertainment nook in a living room wall. All windows are now Pella Designer Series, some with three panes and integral blinds Oh, did I mention, the dingle balls on the ceiling are GONE!
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The finished front exterior with stone, stucco and cedar trim details.
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The year we moved in. 1988. Yes, it snows in Arizona!
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The new kitchen
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The 1977 kitchen we replaced
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When we did the kitchen remodel, this is what we found under the drywall. We fixed this and screwed the new drywall through 1" rigid foam to create a thermal break.
