Our House: Before & After

May 28th will mark the 2 year anniversary of when we sold our old home (those of you who've been following this blog for a while will know why that is practically a HOLIDAY in our household), and this month also marks one year of us being in our new home. 

When Aunt Janet and Cousin Ali visited our home this past weekend, they were very impressed with all that we have accomplished here. I confided in them how stressed I was with how much work we still have, and before Aunt Janet left, she told me not to lose sight of all that we have accomplished in a year!

I really needed to hear that. 

Really. 

Lately I have been so stressed about getting the downstairs ready, the outside properly landscaped...I've been using a power sander with a baby strapped to my back (she still won't be put down...I'm actually typing this out with her crying on my back!) and I've been staying up late practically every night painting the downstairs, putting up switch plates...the list goes on....

Days here are spent lugging mulch with the baby on my back, making sure the boys stay in the driveway on their tricycles and don't wander into the road...tending to my garden....it's a lot of work!

And I have days where I just look around and wonder how I am going to accomplish all of this with three little ones since it seems like the day-to-day "stuff" around here, that comes with having 3 children so close together, takes up the entire day!  So I think to myself, how am I going to accomplish these "extras?"

But even though it takes Ben the better part of an entire day to mow our property (and less when Boppy helps - thank you Boppy!), there's not a single day that goes by here where Ben and I don't look at each other and say how happy we are here, what a good buy this was, and what a peaceful place this is. We are so blessed! 

So today, in honor of our one year anniversary living here (and 2 year anniversary selling our house), and in honor of taking Aunt Janet's wise advice to heart...I've decided to post BEFORE and AFTER pictures here on the blog...

Special thanks to Boppy, Grandma Jeannie, Jimmo, Auntie Josie, Uncle Mike, Cousin Greg, Cousin Joe, Uncle Matt and Uncle Buddy for all of their help - we truly couldn't have accomplished this much in a year without their help.

So are you ready?

Here we go...

Note: You can click on the photos to scroll through larger versions of them...

EXTERIOR

BEFORE

AFTER

LIVING ROOM (I don't have any before shots, but believe me, it was really bare...)

AFTER

 

CLOTH DIAPER SYSTEM - Just because I'm proud of it, and I like showing it off!

GUEST SUITE #1

BEFORE

No, I don't know what they were thinking either...

AFTER

Special thanks to my Stepfather, Jimmo, for help painting this room and for getting rid of the infamous, nasty, pink polka dots!

GUEST SUITE KITCHENETTE

AFTER

I'm kicking myself for not taking "before" pictures, but if you can picture the ugliest 1960's watery pea soup green, then you'll get the idea...I painted the walls light blue, and took each cabinet down, sanded it, and painted it white. I also took off the hardware and painted it black. I'm about 90% done with the guest suite. We were able to find a vintage 20 inch stove on Craigslist (I'll try to post a picture later!) and a cute refrigerator in really good condition from a second hand store. I love the look of the kitchenette, but the work was so time consuming!

GUEST SUITE PLAYROOM 

BEFORE

I can't find a photo, but the walls were a weathered white, and there was just a bare concrete floor. Thank you Jimmo for painting, and Cousins Greg & Joe for tiling! 

Oh yes, I almost forgot...Ben helped too!  :-)

AFTER

Once Ben seals the grout, we'll move some toys in here and some bunk beds. This will be a room in the guest suite, located off the kitchenette and the light purple room with the Queen sized bed in it...so the idea is that our visitors whom have children can stay comfortably down here in this 2 bedroom suite. Stay tuned for more pictures - I'm ordering the bunk beds tonight! We were able to find 2 twin sized mattresses for cheap at a local going-out-of-business mattress shop sale - there are some things I just refuse to buy used...my list is small, but mattresses are on it!

STAIRS TO THE GUEST SUITE

BEFORE

GOAL

A work in progress - I'm about halfway done!

BONUS BEDROOMS

We still have 2 bonus bedrooms, another kitchen, and another bathroom we haven't touched yet...I think the goal down here is for this to become my office where I can teach my childbirth ed classes...there's a separate entrance and everything, so the space would really be perfect!

BEFORE (bonus bedroom #1)

BEFORE (bonus bedroom #2)

KITCHEN

BEFORE

 

AFTER

This was ALL BOPPY! Thank you Ben's dad! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. One year later, and I still pinch myself every time I walk into my kitchen. I feel like it's out of a magazine! It is a gift that keeps on giving!

This really is my favorite area of the house...

And thank you Grandma Jeannie for the lovely honeycomb shades which we have all throughout the house. I receive countless compliments on them, and they get used every single day!

MASTER BEDROOM...

BEFORE

AFTER

BOYS ROOM

BEFORE

AFTER PAINTING...

AFTER DECORATING...

FIRST FLOOR GUEST ROOM...

Warning: If this picture haunts you, luckily, we have other guest rooms in the house (i.e. the guest suite) which we'd be happy to have you stay in...

BEFORE

This guest room, a.k.a. "the boogy room," required Ben's brother and father an entire day of sanding the floor on their hands and knees to get the black-tar-gunk (carpet adhesive?) off of the hardwood floors. The graffiti from the previous occupants featured strange fairies, curse words, and freakish caricatures...

AFTER PAINTING

AFTER DECORATING

I love this room. It has truly become one of my favorite rooms in the house. 

We bought this property as a foreclosure, and despite its interior appearance which was unloved, we bought the house for its location, which thankfully, we didn't have to change! I'll admit it - if it weren't for my husband, I wouldn't have gone for it...I didn't see the potential...I didn't "get it."  I didn't think we could do it, especially with three babies in tow...

I'm so glad we did.

And I thank God every single day...

Every day when I drink my coffee, sitting at my window, seeing this...

Every day when the horses walk by....

Every day when I stare at the beauty of the old tree in front of me, studying how it's changing through the seasons...

Tending to my vegetable garden, and enjoying the pride and satisfaction that comes from feeding my family from the earth, as a result of my efforts and hard work...

And seeing this, knowing that this will be what their childhood memories are made of...

I am so blessed.