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Catherine is a CPA-turned-creative entrepreneur. She is the founder of Beginning in the Middle. an interior designer, photographer, writer, and business schemer.  She loves being cozy at home, miniature everything, and has a not-so-secret dream of living on an island one day.
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New Property Tour: The Historic Townhome

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Well friends, we have a new property!  We weren’t actively looking, but when this one came up a few months ago in the fantastic location that it is, we had to jump on it. We have shared a few sneak peaks on Instagram using the hashtag #historictownhome, and are excited to give you the full tour on the blog.

The property is a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom (soon to be 2.5!) end-unit townhome that we’re hoping to renovate, furnish, and share with guests who are visiting Columbus. Unlike the last few places we’ve worked on, this one doesn’t need a full gut, but it does have its issues.

GV2Ours is on the left.  Isn’t it charming?  It’s right by Schiller Park in the heart of German Village, which is one of Columbus’ most charming neighborhoods.  GV is on the National Register of Historic Places and has brick streets, one of a kind historic homes everywhere you look, cute shops, and more.  We love it!

GV15This is the view of the living room, right when you walk in.  The walls and trim look way more perfect in the photo than in person, so we’ll need to perfect those a bit.  Our vision is to keep the trim as-is, paint all walls Benjamin Moore Simply White, and add some interest with colorful artwork, metal accents, fun lighting, and vintage pillows/rugs.

GV6.5GV7GV6Beyond the living room is the dining room and a small powder room on the left, where the closed door is.

GV6.6 GV8 GV9.6 GV9The kitchen is in the back of the house.  Although it’s not exactly what we’d choose, it does have nice features, like new shaker style cabinets, granite countertops, and stainless fixtures.  Someday we’d like to open this up to the dining room and reconfigure the space to make it more functional (note: fridge in the corner – ??), but we’re good with it for now.  We can, however, do something about those floors!

GV10 GV11 GV12

Going up, there’s a really small bathroom in the hallway with a petite clawfoot tub.

GV13

AMZN_2016-01-31_11:24:18AMZN_2016-01-31_11:24:30

We moved the tub so we could access some of the wall tiles, and found a fun surprise: massive water damage.

IMG_1300

After taking up the tile, we discovered the damage went down to the subfloor, so that all had to be taken up and replaced.  Through that process, we also discovered the old sewage pipe was cracked.

IMG_1531Instead of co-designing everything like we normally do, we decided to split it up this time.  I’ll be handling this bathroom, and Bryan gets to design the new 2nd bathroom he’s building in the master (keep reading!).  In designing the new bathroom, I wanted to keep the original charm and the black & white theme going.  We used extra tiles from Pearl St. bathroom reno on the floor, and added subway tile to the walls.  We’re keeping the tub and are reconfiguring it to go along the back wall, like in the photo above.  It’s going to be pretty!

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IMG_1470The master bedroom is at the front of the house and is a great size.  In fact, it was large enough to add another full bathroom into the space.

GV13.5 GV13.6That closet was awkward and dingy, so we made a decision to cut into it in order to add a small ensuite bathroom.

File_007IMG_1379Bryan is in charge of designing this bathroom.  He used leftover slate tile from the Pearl St. bathroom renovation, and ran it vertically in the shower to accentuate the high ceilings.

IMG_1420The custom floor is coming along, too.

IMG_1445Our plan is to make up for the lost closet by building a fun exposed wardrobe out of wood and pipe, like this one via One Kings Lane:

Grace-OPEN

If we do ever decide to sell down the line, we know we have enough space to add real wardrobes or frame out a closet in another part of the room.  For our purposes now, we knew this would be our best bet to increase the overall property value and functionality of the home.

The two smaller bedrooms have potential.  Similar to the first floor, we’re going to paint all of the walls white and add colorful art.  We’re hoping to fit a Queen bed in each, and maybe a little desk in one of the rooms and accent chair in the other.  None of the bedrooms had lighting in them, other than an old sconce, so we’ll need to do something about that, too.

GV13.3 GV13.4 Last but not least, the backyard.  With some landscaping, it’s going to be a nice little urban oasis!

GV5

We’ll be back soon with more photos.  In the meantime, follow us for daily updates on Instagram!

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  1. Rhonda says:

    I am so glad you blogged about this for your old auntie, because I cannot follow that instagram stuff. I am so lost on there. LOL

    Love you guys.

  2. Meg | Hello Farmhouse says:

    Glad to hear you’re keeping the wood trim! It’s beautiful. Can’t wait to see all you’re going to do in here!

  3. Lacey Draper says:

    Found you on Insta and you are the only account I have “turned on notifications for” because I just can’t get enough of your work! Kudos, so much beautiful (Existing and) potential awesomeness! Wish I could move in there and just commute from Columbus to KC each day! 😉

  4. Lea says:

    Just found y’all on Instagram , love your work! Being a Texan I am of course a Magnolia/Joanna Gaines fan, but gotta say, I love your flavor just as much!

  5. Tara Horsley says:

    We have an old home and are scared to tackle a project like this, would you be willing to share cost?$?

  6. Brittany says:

    What products did you use to make the old wood trim look fresh again?

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About BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE

Catherine & Bryan Williamson moved from NYC to Columbus, OH in 2013.  Beginning in the Middle is a journal of the couple's design and renovation projects, real estate investment and Airbnb hosting journey, travel, and other life happenings.

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I grew up in New Jersey and always had a dream of living in New York.  There was something about the energy of the city that drew me inOur journey started unexpectedly in 2012, when we decided to make a big move from New York to Columbus. The glamour of climbing the corporate ladder was wearing off, and we knew that renting an expensive small apartment and dealing with crowded subways everyday was not going to work forever. We wanted to start creating something for ourselves, and although we didn’t know exactly what that something was, we knew NYC wasn’t the place for it.

We decided on Columbus because Bryan grew up here, and we were intrigued by all of the development going on in the downtown area at the time. We drove through many of the neighborhoods and admired the boarded up old houses, most of which were built in the early 1900s, and started dreaming about the things we could do here.

I'm Catherine, and I'm the founder of Beginning in the Middle.

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