"The next house I buy will be move-in ready."

Progress. It's being made, and despite feeling like we're never going to be finished with this project that has convinced me we are not "do it-yourself-ers," these photos suggest that we are getting there.

Before: The kitchen had some NICE wall paper. Enough said.

Now: Yes, I realize that the kitchen looks like more of a mess than before, and it is, but the wall paper is gone. A lot of dish soap, water, fabric softener, and putty-knife scraping made that feat possible. Also, you'll notice there's a new wall where there used to be cabinetry. That made a laundry closet possible in the hallway. A loss of some counter space, but completely worth it.


Before: The master bedroom had a "lovely" wall-paper border, and the walls were a cool shade of BLAH.Now: Wall paper border gone. Walls? A warm amber.


Before: The living room matched the dining room in a bright fuchsia. A fireplace attachment made a nice addition to the space, and our floors glistened like a gymnasium.

After: Walls a warm neutral. Fireplace attachment non-existent. Mantel being prepped for paint. Floors refinished, but covered until all the painting's done (but don't worry . . . the shiny finish is gone, and they're a beautiful shade).


Before: The breakfast room had, yet again, a fantastic border, which concealed a nice patch of water damage. Carpet that looked like it had seen some better days.


After: Border gone. Water damage fixed. Carpet out, and floors awaiting tile. Walls? A shade of green that was meant to be sage. It's not. It's a beautiful color, but it looks nothing like the sample I put on the wall. It might be changing. We shall see.


Before: The guest bedroom had a vine growing through the window, and was an unidentifiable shade of dirty white.

Now: Plant and air conditioning unit have been removed, and the wall color is a deep taupe.


Oh, and P.S., the bedspread that will be accompanying this room looks like this:
Despite finding a shower curtain that looks like this:

I decided against going with that wild horses theme we discussed in a previous post.

Before:

The previous owner had planted spruce trees right next to the house. They were obviously much too large to be so close to the house, to the point that one was about to block the front door. Chad's dad was kind enough to rip them out for us one Saturday while we were working inside.

Here's the result:I think it's a huge improvement! Plus, you will notice that all of those ugly papers announcing to the world that our house was a foreclosure are now also gone. The yard is obviously far from done, but at least you can see our front door now.

Before:

An obnoxious flower border wrapped around the entire dining room, in between cheap molding to create a make-shift chair rail.


Now:

The wall paper border has been removed, along with the cheap, imitation chair rail.


And, the outrageous fuchsia has been replaced with a classy, deep red.


Before: The laundry area was an accordion-doored closet with exposed piping that could only house a stack-able washer and dryer.



Now: Not at all a photo that really shows the progress that has been made, but do you see those little folding doors jetting out in the hallway? Those one up to a full-size laundry closet.

More improvements not yet pictured coming soon. All the ceilings are painted. All the hardwood is refinished. Bathrooms are prepped for the final renovations. Crown molding being installed this week. We're getting there!