How sweet would it be if Brit Arnesen channeled Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas and said of her home in Kokomo, Indiana: "I never thought it was such a bad little house." Truth is, she always did. "I used to ride past it on my bike when I was little-my best friend at the time lived down the road-and I remember thinking it was the ugliest house I'd ever seen," Brit says.
When she and her husband, Derek, a manufacturing engineer, bought the 1960s ranch in 2015, it was even worse off: foreclosed, forlorn (uninhabited for five years), and lacking the prerequisite good bones, charm, architectural details and "potential" that buyers often claim to see through their rose-colored remodeling glasses.
But the home was in a nice neighborhood with good schools. And having flipped one foreclosure already, the couple could sense more tangible potential in this one-income for their growing family if they fixed up the place to resell at a profit. So they gutted the house and worked on it themselves for a year before moving in. "Everything that I did to the house, I had selling it in mind," Brit says.
PARK YOURSELF HERE
This story is from the Winter 2024 edition of Midwest Living.
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This story is from the Winter 2024 edition of Midwest Living.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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MAJOR KEY
HUNDREDS OF SMALL ISLANDS TRAIL LIKE STEPPING STONES OFF OF FLORIDA INTO THE GULF OF MEXICOAND THE PATH LEADS TO KEY WEST.
cream of the crop
IN A TINY TOWN OUTSIDE MADISON, WISCONSIN, A CENTURY-OLD CREAMERY HAS BEEN REVIVED AS A BOUTIQUE HOTEL AND CULINARY DESTINATION. FOR VISITORS TO PAOLI, SEVEN ACRE DAIRY COMPANY ANCHORS A SWEET WEEKEND GETAWAY. FOR SMALL DAIRY PRODUCERS, IT'S RESHAPING THE FUTURE.
HOME BAKED
ON A TREE-LINED RESIDENTIAL STREET IN DES MOINES, A BAKERY DREAM HAS COME WRAPPED IN LOVE, UNEXPECTEDLY TRUE COMMUNITY AND ALL-BUTTER PASTRY.
POST MODERN
AN INDIANA DIY'ER STUMBLES INTO SOCIAL MEDIA STARDOM BY SHARING HER HOME'S EVER-CHANGING STYLE.
POUR ME A DOUBLE
COFFEE BY DAY, COCKTAILS BY NIGHTTHESE HYBRID CAFES OPEN EARLY FOR CAFFEINE FIXES AND STAY UP LATE FOR LIBATIONS.
HOT IN HERE
THE UPPER MIDWEST (AND ESPECIALLY MINNEAPOLIS) IS FIRED UP OVER SAUNA CULTURE. HERE ARE 10 WAYS AND PLACES TO GET YOUR STEAM ON.
SHOP THE BLOCK
FOR MORE THAN 15 YEARS, ST. LOUIS' ANNUAL PRINT BAZAAR HAS TURNED CHEROKEE STREET INTO A BUSTLING, MAGICAL MILE OF ART AND HOLIDAY CHEERTHE PERFECT KICKOFF TO A WEEKEND EXPLORING THE LOU.
EASY SQUEEZY
THIS LITTLE LEMON LOAF HAS A SOFT TEXTURE AND A PUCKERY, BUTTERY GLAZE THE PERFECT AFTERNOON BAKE FOR A SNOW DAY.
WINTER RESET
THESE WARMING, SPICE-FORWARD MEALS PROVIDE A HEALTHFUL RESPITE AMONG (OR AFTER) ALL THE HOLIDAY INDULGENCES.
DARK ARTS
WITH HER DRAMATIC COLOR CHOICE AND SECONDHAND TREASURES, INTERIOR DECORATOR RUTHIE JACKSON BRINGS THE MOOD WHEN HOSTING FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND BEYOND.