In July 2015, Jarrod and I bought our first (and current, and maybe forever) home: a 1916 brick bungalow in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood. Buying this house was a culmination of a year-long search and five offers. Previously, we lived in a rented apartment in Lincoln Square, which was featured on Apartment Therapy – blog posts about that home are listed here.
This page provides an overview of our bungalow and rounds up posts related to each room.
House hunting
- House Hunting: How We Got Started
- Chicago House Hunting: The One that Got Away
- Chicago House Hunting: The One I Loved the Most
- Two Unexpected House Hunt Game Changers
- House Offer Number 1
- House Offer Number 2
- House Offer Number 3
- House Offer Number 4
- House Offer Number 5
Exterior, yard, and garage
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After:
Related posts:
- Front Porch Upgrades
- 2016: The Year of the Exterior
- Chainlink to Cedar Fence Upgrade
- Backyard Patio, Painting, and Landscaping
- Front Yard Painting and Landscaping
Sunroom and windows
Before:
After:
Related posts:
- Sunroom Renovation Before and After
- DIY Moulding and Painting in the Sunroom
- Sunroom Renovation – Floor Installation and Painting
- Sunroom Renovation – Week 3
- Sunroom Renovation – Week 2
- Sunroom Renovation – Week 1
- Let’s Get Into Our Sunroom Renovation
- Sunroom Renovation Plans
Living room and home office
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After:
Related posts:
- New House Tour: Main Floor
- Living Room and Sunroom: Progress and Plans
- Two-Person Desk and Gallery Wall
- Moulding and Living Room Progress
Half-Bathroom
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After:
Related posts:
- Bathroom and Stairs: Progress and Plans
- Bathroom Decision Making
- Half-Bathroom Renovation is Underway!
- Half-Bathroom Renovation: Days 1 through 3
- Half-Bathroom Renovation: Day 4 and Beyond
- Half-Bathroom Before and After
- Customizing an IKEA SILVERAN Bathroom Vanity
Entryway
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After:
Before:
After:
Related posts:
- Entryway Progress: New Chandelier and Rug
- Adding Moulding to Inside Out Bi-Fold Doors
- Bungalow Entryway with DIY Hook Rail
Kitchen and dining room
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After:
Related posts:
- New House Tour: Main Floor
- Kitchen Progress and Plans
- Kitchen Decision Making
- Kitchen Progress: Faucet, Hardware, and Window Trim
- Kitchen Progress: Butcher Block Shelf
- Kitchen Progress: New Door, Trim, and Threshold Tile
- Kitchen and Dining Room Before and After
- Kitchen Makeover Details Roundup 1 of 2
- Kitchen Makeover Details Roundup 2 of 2
Mudroom
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After:
Related posts:
- One Room Challenge Week 1: Mudroom Makeover
- ORC Week 2: Drywall Finishing and So Much Painting
- ORC Week 3: Doorway Broom Closet
- ORC Week 4: Door Trim, Window Shade, and Plant Shelf
- ORC Week 5: Shelving, Litter Box, and Light Fixture
- ORC Week 6: Mudroom Before and After
Master bedroom
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After:
Related posts:
Bathroom
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After:
Related posts:
- Bathroom Makeover Plan
- Bathroom Closet Before & After
- Bathroom Makeover: Finished!
- How I Installed an IKEA Bathroom Vanity
Guest bedroom
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After: n/a! I haven’t posted any progress shots of this room.
Related posts:
Basement and laundry room
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After:
Related posts:
Project Palermo 
Wow! Your house looks amazing! We just bought our first home- a bungalow in North Mayfair, so this is very inspiring. I love your style!
Thanks, Kate! Congratulations on your new bungalow!
I found your blog while doing a search for “basement laundry room re-dos”. Your blog is an inspiration for me who has a similar vintage home. Instead of dead birds, I found bats when we first moved in!
Would you share your white paint color? I searched but did not find an answer. My home came painted all-white, but it is a little on the yellow side. I might repaint as I work my way through the house. Your white looks perfect to me!
Wow, bats! Our walls are painted in Irish Mist from Behr. I used this color in our previous apartment and didn’t hesitate to use it again when we bought our house. It’s a great off-white — not yellow or creamy, and not blue. It has just the slightest hint of warm gray/taupe that contrasts well with pure white trim.
This is so wonderful and inspiring – thanks for sharing!
I live in Albany Park as well and my partner and I own a bungalow. We’ve owned the house for 20 year and we’ve renovated every inch of the house in the 20 years we have been here. We’ve been here so long we are about to redo/redecorate a couple of rooms. I find your posts inspiring. Love your style. Your response about the shade and brand of white you use is timely. We are about to change the color of our sun room to white! We want to avoid a white that is too yellow. Love, love your sun room windows and redo. I’m about to install new windows in my study. Best wishes with future projects. Hope you post a few more pictures of your sun room.
I’m curious, is the white you use on your trim the same white as the one you use on the walls? I assume the sheen is different, but in some of your images it looks like the “shade of white” is different on the trim as what’s on the walls.
Hi! All of our walls (except for the living room) are painted in Irish Mist from Behr. The trim is Behr’s off-the-shelf white semi-gloss.
Hello! We just bought our first home: a 105 year old bungalow in Beverly! I just happened across this blog looking up how to update our basement and am completely inspired! Thank you!!
Hello, I love what you have done with your bungalow, I especially appreciate that there was no walls destroyed you kept the true bungalow style with out turning everything into the “open concept “ and the traditional dinning room was not distributed, I also have a bungalow that I love! I have Been thinking of painting the fireplace and of course keeping the built in book shelf with the beautiful wood, love the paint colors I will have to copy cat your paint choice.
Thank you for your post ,
Lisa