Nostalgia? Really?

Well, the work aspect of our house project journey is finally over. I feel strange, honestly. We've spent so long preparing for this moment, it's unbelievable that it's finally here.

I've chronicled much of this journey on my Facebook page, under the album The House Project. But, I wanted to take this moment to show the before and after pictures for each room. I recently read a book called The Year of Fog, by Michelle Richmond. The book is about the search for a little girl named Emma, as told through her soon-to-be step-mother's eyes. Abby, the step-mom, is a photographer by trade, and her reflections on the medium of photography and its capacity for truth really stuck with me. Here is one of my favorite lines:

Maybe that's one reason I'm drawn to the medium of photography. Unless a photo has been doctored, if something appears in a photo, it was really there. It's a version of history you can trust, even if it's just history as seen through one person's eyes. Despite the inevitable element of distortion, despite the difference between what the eye sees and what the camera records, a photograph is still evidence, a historical record, a frozen moment whose physical veracity is more accurate than memory.

THIS is why I have spent so much time taking pictures, cataloging our every step in this grand journey. It is so easy to forget where it all started, and all of the little steps in between. Because we did (almost) all of the work ourselves, it has been a slow process. We have lived step by step, piece by piece, watching our hard work come together.

But, I know that if I hadn't taken all of these photographs, I would have easily forgotten how far we have come. We have lived with so many of these changes for so long that it just seems like they have always been there. It is so easy to forget.

Anyway, I hope you get a kick out of these. I sure am just looking back through them.

The House Renovation: Master Suite

Here are the before and after pictures of our Master Suite. Starting with....

 

BATHROOM: BEFORE

 

 

Carpet... Eww...

Love Hubby's beer bottle sitting there.

 

This type of light fixture was in every bathroom. And, they almost started a fire. The decorative part around each bulb was actually made of plastic. So, almost all of them were melted in different spots.

 

BATHROOM: AFTER

 

 

Of course, this picture doesn't tell the whole story of how this shower came to be...Let's just say, it was broken two years ago. And, hubby was able to rip it apart, down to the studs, and rebuild it in just five days. Bursting hot water lines and all!

 

Cool decorative tile.

 

 

Finished! I love that shower curtain.

 

And... now for the Master Bedroom. Oh, this was a piece of work. And, it was the first thing we decided to tackle when we moved in. 

 

BEDROOM: BEFORE

 

Yes. That is teal wallpaper, with lime green carpet.

 

Close up!

 

The grand view.

BEDROOM: AFTER 

 

We replaced that nasty carpet with bamboo wood floors, which I love. And, I love the color of the baseboards.

And, I guess I didn't get a before picture of the nursery/closet room. It really just wasn't interesting. It was just white, except for the orange multi-colored carpet. Apparently, the lady before us had used it as a painting room.

 

 

We have used it as a nursery room/little play room. I remember painting those stripes on the wall when I was 5 months pregnant with Chloe. Crazy pregnancy hormones.

 

And, that's it for the Master Suite! 



The House Renovation: Kitchen

Ooohhh... the kitchen. This room was a piece of work. And it took me a few tries to finally settle on what I wanted to do with it. The inbetween pictures are on my facebook album, The House Project, if you're interested.

KITCHEN: BEFORE

 

 

 

It's hard to tell in these pictures, but that ceramic tile is actually a yellowish color. The cabinets are a teal color. And, those door pulls... I don't even know what to say about them.

 

I think taking that upper hutch down was the next project we took on after the Master Suite.

 

The dishwasher didn't work. So, that became our garbage spot for about 6 months until Hubby could put the new dishwasher in. I was the happiest pregnant lady EVER.

 

I was so excited!

 

KITCHEN: AFTER

 

 

Hutch is gone, new bar top and lights. I LOVE this.

 

Bar top! My Hubby has serious skills.

 New stove, microwave, sink, dishwasher, AND cabinet doors! My Dad made all of them for us. Amazing.

BLUE!


 

And, of course, the new TILE! We had white subway tile put in through the rest of the kitchen. And, highlighted this section with the cool gray/silver glass tiles.

 

 

Honestly, I think this is the room I am most proud of. It could be that the newness still hasn't worn off (the majority of it was finished right around Christmas). But, I think it has even more to do with all of the blood, sweat and tears I have poured into this room trying to figure out what would work best in here.

 

The transformation is just huge.





The House Renovation: The Game Room

Here is the finished Game Room! Even though this is one of our last projects to complete, it's one I really, really love. The outcome is just perfect, I think.

GAME ROOM: BEFORE

 

We loved the old wooden floor and the ceiling beams that were in this room. At one point, we believe this was actually the garage and one of the previous owners converted it into a livable space.

 

These beams are a beautiful, dark cherry color.

 

From the day we were moving in. At some point, we removed the doors closing this room off. It may or may not have had anything to do with the fact that they were broken during a party at our house... :)

 

GAME ROOM: AFTER

 

The wallpaper in this room was actually a type of grasscloth, which, after my experience in the dining room, I did NOT want to tear down again. 

 

It was actually in really good condition. So, I googled ways to paint over it, and found out that if you prime wallpaper with an oil based primer, you will seal it from the effects of moisture. So, that is exactly what we did!

I'm actually not a fan of wainscoating, especially when it is a wood color. So, we painted that white, and the walls this really pretty French Grey color. It really makes those ceiling beams pop!

Looking into the Kitchen and Dining rooms. I think the result is a perfect hang out room that can be kept as a game room, or used as a den.

 

We also had the floor sanded down and refinished to get a solid color throughout. It is beautiful now!

The House Renovation: Main Floor Bathrooms

Unlike the Master bathroom upstairs, the downstairs bathrooms were in pretty good shape. They mainly just needed a facelift. So, here is what we did!

 

HALL BATH: BEFORE

I really thought I had taken more pictures of some of these rooms. If I find any more later, I'll definitely add them.

 

This bathroom not only had carpet, but, a really ugly decorative gold wallpaper. It was pretty hideous.

 

HALL BATH: AFTER

 

We ripped the wallpaper down. And, I hand-textured and painted the walls a light brown color. We replaced the light fixtures, and the cabinet hardware.

 

Even though you can't tell from these pictures, we did tile the floor in a tile that is similar to the Master bath. All in all, it's a very neutral, inviting bathroom that works perfectly.

 

BACK BATH: BEFORE



Ha, again... I really thought I'd taken more pictures than this. But, the tile in this bathroom is actually a speckled blue tile. It had the same wallpaper as the Back Bedroom in here. And, a REALLY ugly mauve toilet. So...

 

 

BACK BATH: AFTER

 

We torn down the wallpaper, hand-textured the walls and painted them a really pretty lavender/silver color.

 

We also replaced the light fixture. Nothing fancy. But, at least it isn't a fire hazard anymore ;)

The House Renovation: Living & Dining Room

Honestly, these renovations were the most difficult ones we accomplished. They did take a while to do. But, I'm happy with the results.

DINING ROOM: BEFORE

 Looking into the Dining Room from the Kitchen area. Nasty carpet (it smelled like cat), dark green and blue grasscloth wallpaper, light pink wainscoating, and very interesting window treatments.

 

Close up of the wallpaper and window treatments. Pretty sure there were chickens or birds on the valances. It was strange. And, by strange, I really mean, it was a disaster.

 

 

Looking into the Kitchen from the Dining Room.

 

DINING ROOM: AFTER

 

New, simple window treatments, the grasscloth is gone. The wainscoating is white! We tore down that upper hutch, and it completely opened the room up. There is now a lot of light, and the space just feels huge. I love it.

Looking back toward the Kitchen and Game Room. It's almost like a Great Room, but they are still three distinct rooms.

 

 

LIVING ROOM: BEFORE

 

 

Dirty, blue fireplace, same nasty cat smelling carpet, ridiculous window treatments just like the Dining Room. It was a mess.

 

 

This built-in bookcase was a tough one to figure out what to do with it. Other than that, this room was pretty straightforward. There was only a small, although very ugly, border around it. So...

 

LIVING ROOM: AFTER

 

 

 

We painted the fireplace a normal color, like red; added a mantel (that my Dad also made); and, replaced the carpet with real bamboo wood floors. I figured out that the best way to deal with those funky shelves was to create a background that would distract from their oddness.

 

I just realized recently that I was painting these stripes when I was about 4 months pregnant with Logan. :)

 

New window treatments and some small bookcases made this a cozy little nook.

 

Because this room was so big, we decided to divide it up into an entertainment space and a seating space. So, this is the entertainment area.

 

Grand view.

 

The House Renovation: Main Floor Bedrooms

Here are the downstairs bedrooms. Although the back bedroom really wasn't that bad. The front bedroom was...an entirely different story. It still baffles me that people could have lived with the ugliness. And, it completely befuddles me that we saw ANYTHING of value in the house when we first started. HA!

FRONT BED: BEFORE

 

 

This was, by far, one of the most poorly decorated rooms in the house when we first moved in. Gold and teal striped wallpaper, bright teal painted walls and trim, and disgusting golden window treatments. It was a mess. This was actually the second to last room that we redid, as it was our staging room for about 3 full years.

 

There virtually wasn't any closet in this room before. So, around Christmastime, we hired a contractor to come in and build a wall, to create a closet. The room was big enough it did not hurt the size of it at all. *shivers* this room still grosses me out.

 

FRONT BED: AFTER

 

Because we didn't really need it for a bedroom, we have been using it as a toy room instead. But, either way, you can see that we replaced the carpet, tore the wallpaper down, painted everything a silver/lavender color and all of the trim is now white.

It is a bright, inviting and open space now. And, the kiddos absolutely love their toy room!

 

BACK BEDROOM: BEFORE

 

This room actually wouldn't have been terrible, but the wallpaper was in horrible condition. Also, I don't know if this picture is clear enough, but if you can make out the little object hanging on the wall above the left window, let me know. That is an interesting story.

 

 

BACK BEDROOM: AFTER

We tore the wallpaper down, painted the walls that lavender/silver color, put in new window treatments and new carpet. 

 

All in all, I think it's a perfect little bedroom.