Welcome to our latest adventure: our new home in Clinton, TN! This house, built in the 90s but remarkably reminiscent of a 70s ranch, is undeniably a project. Beyond the dated facade and finishes, it’s filled with a collection of architectural quirks that spark a continuous stream of questions about its original design intent. Join us on an immersive tour as we unravel the mysteries and highlight the potential of our unique fixer-upper.
While this article provides an extensive photographic journey through our new Clinton residence, we also invite you to watch our comprehensive video tour for an even more dynamic perspective of the space.
For a full walkthrough, check out our video tour: New House Tour – Clinton House.
Exploring the Peculiarities: Light Switches, Ceilings, and Bathrooms
Our tour begins with some of the most striking eccentricities of this Clinton, TN home. The entire house, a single-floor ranch, features an acoustic drop ceiling. While common in basements or spaces with low head clearance, its presence in a home boasting surprisingly tall ceilings throughout is an unusual design choice. It creates a somewhat industrial feel, detracting from the potential grandeur the high ceilings could offer and presenting a significant aesthetic challenge for future renovations. This feature alone immediately signals that this home holds many surprises.
Next, we encounter the bewildering light switch situation. It’s an electrical enigma! We’ve counted at least a hundred switches, many of which appear to control nothing we can identify. Almost every wall plate hosts an array of eight or more switches, leading to a constant game of trial and error just to illuminate a room. This excessive and confusing wiring system is not only inconvenient but also points to a haphazard approach to the home’s electrical layout, undoubtedly a puzzle we’ll need to solve in our renovation journey.
Finally, let’s discuss the bathroom layout, which presents its own unique set of challenges. The house offers two full bathrooms, complemented by a lone toilet and sink strategically placed within the laundry room. While functional, its location poses a significant inconvenience for guests. Should visitors need to use the restroom, their options are limited: either navigate through one of the two private bedrooms or exit the house via the kitchen door, only to re-enter through the laundry room. This lack of a conveniently located common-area restroom is a definite design flaw that impacts the home’s hospitality and flow, highlighting a critical area for future improvements to enhance guest comfort and overall accessibility.
The Compact Kitchen Conundrum in Our Clinton Home
Upon entering our Clinton, TN home, you step directly into the kitchen—a space that immediately reveals several design peculiarities. From the entry door, your gaze is drawn down a narrow path leading directly into an equally narrow pantry. Initially, I speculated that this pantry might have been a later addition, but after closer inspection of the unique, somewhat irregular shape of the kitchen island, I now believe it was part of the original, albeit unconventional, design. The island itself, along with the surrounding walkways, feels remarkably constrained. Everything in this room appears to be “smooshed” together, creating a noticeably cramped atmosphere, especially when more than one person attempts to navigate or work in the kitchen simultaneously. This tight configuration severely limits movement and makes meal preparation a much less comfortable experience than it should be in a home of this size.
Perhaps the most significant functional complaint about this kitchen is the complete absence of a proper ventilation system over the cooktop. Without a range hood to draw out steam, grease, and odors, cooking smells readily permeate the entire house. This not only makes the home smell like our last meal but also contributes to residue buildup on surfaces, creating a less than ideal living environment. Addressing this lack of ventilation will be a top priority to improve air quality and overall comfort within our Clinton residence.
The design of the kitchen island further exacerbates the issue of limited space. There simply isn’t enough room for two people to comfortably sit or stand at the end of the island, despite our family’s preference for gathering and socializing while meals are being prepared. This kitchen is also largely closed off from the rest of the house, which means we often find ourselves uncomfortably squeezed into the narrow confines just to share moments together during cooking. It’s a clear indication that the layout wasn’t optimized for modern family interaction and communal living, making us eager to rethink its design to create a more open and inviting space.
As you exit the kitchen, another peculiar design element awaits: a decorative beam-like structure that protrudes awkwardly, demanding caution. It’s positioned at a height that makes it easy to bump your head if you’re not careful, serving as a constant reminder of the home’s unusual architectural choices. This minor but persistent annoyance speaks to the lack of practical consideration in some of the house’s features, further reinforcing the need for thoughtful redesigns throughout our Clinton home renovation project.
Living and Dining Room: Navigating Space and Design in Our New Tennessee Home
Stepping from the kitchen into the main living and dining area of our Clinton, TN home, the immediate sensation is one of being rather crammed. This house is approximately one-third the size of our previous Maryville residence, a significant downsize that, combined with the temporary storage of many of Julie’s belongings, means we’re currently operating with limited breathing room. For the purpose of this tour, we’ll try our best to look past the stacks of boxes and furniture and focus solely on the inherent structure and design of the house itself. (A definite regret is not capturing this footage before the big move-in day!)
One of the most compelling theories regarding this central space is that the house was originally configured quite differently. I strongly suspect that a giant built-in entertainment center and accompanying bookshelves are currently concealing what was once a doorway leading into the laundry room hallway. This theory gains traction when considering the current, highly inconvenient path to the laundry room, which requires traversing through the master bedroom, its dressing room, and then the master closet. Furthermore, the fireplace’s placement feels decidedly out of sync with the room’s present arrangement, lending additional weight to the idea of a significant floor plan alteration. Such a revelation would open up exciting possibilities for restoring a more logical and flowing layout, dramatically improving the home’s functionality.
While the existing bookcases are functional for storage, their varying heights and somewhat disjointed appearance don’t quite align with my personal design aesthetic. However, in the grand scheme of this home’s many eccentricities and urgent renovation needs, the aesthetic of these bookcases ranks as one of the least of my immediate concerns. We have far more fundamental layout and functionality issues to tackle before diving into purely cosmetic updates in the living area of our new Clinton home.
The Versatile Music Room and Office Space
Adjacent to the main living area, we find a versatile room that currently serves a dual purpose as both a music room and an office. What can I say about this space? It’s generously sized, comfortably accommodating our piano along with a substantial portion of Julie’s stored belongings. Given the extensive scope of projects awaiting attention in this house, especially my primary focus on getting the workshop fully operational, significant renovations in this room aren’t an immediate priority. However, certain basic updates are essential for improving its livability and aesthetic appeal. The first order of business will be to refresh the walls with a new coat of paint and, without a doubt, remove those dated drapes to bring in more light and a cleaner look. These small, initial changes will make the room more inviting and functional, even before we embark on any major structural or design overhauls.
The Enigmatic Master Bedroom in Clinton, TN
Upon entering the master bedroom of our Clinton, TN house, most visitors tend to stop dead in their tracks, mouths agape, uttering a bewildered “What—the—heck?!” And honestly, that reaction is entirely justified. While the two unusually tiny windows are certainly odd and contribute to the room’s peculiar atmosphere, they’re far from the strangest aspect of this space. Compounding the quirks, you have to walk either to the bathroom entrance or all the way to the bedside to locate any light switches, an inconvenience that speaks to the home’s overall chaotic electrical layout. However, even these issues pale in comparison to the room’s most jaw-dropping feature.
The absolute weirdest design choice in this master suite is the “monogrammed” window integrated directly into the bathroom wall. Yes, you read that right—a window looking *into* the bathroom. This means that when the bathroom door is closed, one can literally peek through this window to see if Wes is showering or using the toilet. It creates an undeniable lack of privacy and an awkward dynamic, forcing a visual check before deciding whether to enter the bathroom. This baffling design element is a constant source of amusement and bewilderment, undoubtedly topping the list of “things to change immediately” in our master bedroom renovation plans. It’s a prime example of the head-scratching decisions made during this house’s construction, making our journey to transform this space all the more interesting.
The Master Bathroom: From Dream to Reality in Clinton, TN
After having meticulously finished and then, regrettably, never truly getting to fully enjoy our luxurious Maryville master bathroom, transitioning to this master bathroom in Clinton, TN has been quite a stark contrast. It’s a challenging adjustment, to say the least. On the positive side, there is an abundance of built-in storage, which is always a welcome feature. You’ll find storage solutions above the shower, behind a clever hidden door (where you’d typically hang a bath towel), and tucked away behind the bathtub wall. These integrated options, while not immediately glamorous, offer practical utility for organizing toiletries and linens, something we deeply appreciate amidst the home’s other eccentricities.
However, the current setup of this master bathroom still presents its own set of challenges. This is the very spot from which I “stole” the soaking tub for our previous house, a decision that now adds a touch of irony to our current situation. Despite the existence of the tucked-away storage areas, I simply cannot bring myself to utilize them due to their awkward accessibility and the general dated feel of the space. Instead, as a temporary and more practical solution, I opted to purchase a large plastic shelf. This shelf not only provides much-needed accessible storage for our bathroom supplies but also, as an unexpected bonus, offers a tiny bit of privacy from that infamous window connecting the bathroom to the master bedroom. It’s a small victory in a room that otherwise requires significant vision and effort to transform into a truly comfortable and private retreat.
The Curious Dressing Room in Our Clinton Home
Next to the master bathroom lies a space I’ve affectionately dubbed the “Dressing Room.” This area features a double vanity, which serves as our primary spot for washing faces, brushing teeth, and where I typically do my hair and makeup. The most striking feature of this vanity is its extraordinarily low height. It literally comes up to my mid-thigh, making even simple tasks feel awkward and uncomfortable. My husband, Wes, who stands at 6’5″, often jokes that he could use his sink as a urinal, a humorous but telling commentary on the impractical design choice for anyone of average or above-average height. This low vanity is a constant source of both amusement and minor irritation, clearly not designed with user ergonomics in mind.
The original purpose of this room remains a mystery, but I am strongly convinced that its current vanity setup and overall configuration were an afterthought, a later addition or modification to the home’s initial design. This theory is heavily supported by the peculiar placement of the light switches for the master bedroom. Unintuitively, these switches are located *within* this dressing room, requiring you to enter this space to turn on the bedroom lights. Based on this illogical switch placement and the general flow of the master suite, I’m fairly certain this area once served as the main entrance to the master bedroom itself. The urge to rip into that wall and uncover the original layout is incredibly strong, as it feels like solving a historical puzzle that would drastically improve the functionality and sense of flow in our new Clinton, TN home.
The Functional Master Closet (Despite Its Flaws)
Connected to the dressing room, the master closet in our Clinton home is quite generously sized, and credit must be given for the way every inch of available space has been utilized. The designers certainly maximized storage potential within its footprint. However, the choice of materials reveals another area where practicality trumped aesthetics and durability. The shelving and framework are constructed from rough plywood, a rather unrefined material for a primary closet. This choice likely explains why carpet was laid down and/or stick-down shelf liner applied throughout – an attempt to soften the crude finish and make the space more palatable. After experiencing the meticulously designed master closet in our previous home, it’s undeniably difficult to feel truly excited about this one. Nevertheless, we are committed to making the most of this space, recognizing its inherent size and potential for organization, even if it requires a significant aesthetic overhaul to meet our desired standards.
The Utilitarian Laundry Room and its Hidden Surprises
At the very end of what we’ve termed the “Master Corridor”—a lengthy passage leading from the bedroom suite—you finally arrive at the laundry room. This is a highly functional space, packed with practical elements that serve the home’s operational needs. Within this room, you’ll find a series of strategically placed closets dedicated to housing all the essential mechanical systems: the air handler, the crucial water shut-off valve, and the electrical panels. These hidden compartments keep the home’s infrastructure neatly tucked away. At the far end of the laundry room, a door provides direct access to the outside, offering convenience for yard work or utility access. Further adding to the room’s unique layout, a tiny, secluded room to the left of that exit door contains the only guest-accessible toilet and sink. As noted earlier, this placement makes it quite inconvenient for visitors, requiring a rather circuitous journey from the main living areas. This combination of essential utility functions and an awkwardly placed guest bathroom highlights both the practical and peculiar aspects of our Clinton, TN home’s design.
Why This Property? Our Vision for Clinton, TN
Given the litany of quirks and challenges within the house itself, it’s a fair question to ask: Why did we buy this place? The answer is simple and profound: the house, in its current state, was not the primary driver behind our decision to purchase this remarkable property in Clinton, TN. Our true affection and excitement lie with the expansive and beautiful 11 acres of land that come with it. This acreage is a dream come true, offering diverse landscapes and incredible potential. Five of those acres are wonderfully flat and feature a tranquil pond, perfect for serene moments and outdoor activities. Beyond the impressive workshop building, the terrain gracefully transitions into what is essentially a small mountain, complete with a natural walking trail. This blend of open fields, water features, and forested hills provides an idyllic setting and boundless opportunities for enjoyment and exploration.
And, of course, the crown jewel that truly sealed the deal for us is the magnificent workshop building! This structure represents the core of our “big plans” and our vision for the future on this property. It will serve as the heart of my creative endeavors and projects, a space where I can truly bring my ideas to life. My immediate focus, therefore, is entirely on setting up and optimizing this workshop. Consequently, we aren’t planning any extensive renovations to the house right away. The house will undergo a phased transformation, but for now, the workshop takes precedence. While I’m incredibly enthusiastic about these workshop plans, I’ll be truly, profoundly excited when we’re finally ready to dedicate our full attention to making the house truly great, transforming it into a home that perfectly complements its stunning surroundings.
For now, my efforts inside the house are focused on implementing basic, functional improvements and infusing a bit more of my personal style, starting with simple yet impactful changes like painting the walls a crisp white. This journey of transformation, from tackling the peculiar to realizing grand visions for both the workshop and eventually the house, promises to be an exciting one. I am thrilled to bring you along every step of the way as we turn this unique property in Clinton, TN, into our dream home and ultimate creative sanctuary!