Blue House Project Series: 1, Views & First Looks

Image is an overlay of two collage pieces by Aleksandra Morawiak and Anna Sorokina.

I’m buying the house that I was born in. (Not literally born in, but lived there ‘til I was six months old). It also is the house that my dad bought when he was about my age and the first house my parents had together.

For. real.

After moving out as a family, my dad turned it into a rental house. Over time, the upkeep grew to be more demanding and it fell down on the priorities list for Ol’ Eddie.

It’s tarnished and dirty and completely full of character. I remember passing it on the way out of town as kids and yelling “bye old Colvin house!” in unison with our mom. Distant but pleasant memories.

So it’s been sitting vacant atop this gorgeous hill, watching the trees change each season, for over 7 years. 😱

The past decade or so I rarely thought about it (ya know, teenager/young adult things) and skimmed over it as Dad’s rundown bachelor pad.

Then a few years ago I asked my dad if I could buy it and flip it.

He said no. HA!

Though, to be fair, I’m glad he said no. I was wanting to jump into a house renovation project with my at-the-time boyfriend (HA! x2). I also recognize that my creativity and experience and style was a FRACTION of what it is today, baybay.

Over the following few years I transitioned jobs, I moved into a new apartment, and I continued flourishing on a personal and professional level. I was telling myself I should move out of Bloomington. (Still plan on this, but later on/maybe for house #2?? 😉).

Then we get to 2020. HA x20! Lots of mental shifting and reassessing…life, the future, all those small little casual things. What does “home” mean to me? If I had a year left to live, what would I want to do with my time? What do I want to put my passions and energy into?

So here we are, beginning the process of a renovation and addition project. And although I’m going into this relatively-blind, I’m going all in and I’m doing it on my terms.

If dad agreed to letting me take on the project years ago, shit would be wildly different. And I can tell you that this fresh, feminine touch will bring this house to new places.

Check out the first vlog in this series and stay tuned for more progress!