House Updates

Here's a progress report of where we are with the house 1 month in. I think we've made a lot of progress, although the to do list is till pretty long! The before pictures are not mine, they are from the listing or appraisal report. I never did find the time to take pictures before we got to work.

Outside before:

Outside After: We were hoping to paint the exterior this year but it got bumped. Luckily a good pressure washing made it look quite a bit better so we aren't in as much of a rush...which is good cause we are worn out on picking paint colors. (plus it gives me time to convince pat that we should go dark as in navy) We also swept up all the dog hair, years of cobwebs and fixed the screen door that I LOVE. I'll try to get a shot of the whole house once it stops raining but I love the little covered porch area transformation.

Playroom Before: I love that the room with all the guns became our playroom. The previous owners had adult children and therefore didn't need a play/family area so it became their dining room.

Playroom After: Now it's a crazy place just for the kids! We eventually want to move our big sectional and tv in here so its more of a family space and not JUST for the kids. Plus the acoustics in the living room where the tv currently sits are pretty bad. For now, having separate spaces works for us. And yes, this is as clean as it gets.

Bedroom #1 Before: Just a little outdated, but nothing too bad. The carpets are pretty sad and will need replacing.

Bedroom During:

Nolan's Bedroom After: He requested a green bedroom which haunted me for weeks. Green is so hard! Either it's too green or too yellow. I finally found this color (dill pickle by Benjamin Moore) and was pretty happy with it. The during picture is much more accurate to its real life color, I guess its not quite so bright. Nolan was happy too, although he also asked for a rainbow ceiling and was mad that we didn't deliver on that.

Master Bedroom Before: 

Master Bedroom During:

Master Bedroom After: This room makes me incredibly happy. As promised we worked on this room first because we usually leave it for last and it never gets done. Therefore our room is the closest to being done, minus some finishing touches. The color is Sparrow by Benjamin Moore and it came out perfect. I love deep colors for bedrooms as it makes it feel like a cozy cave, perfect for sleeping. I would like to add crown moulding and possibly paint the ceiling down the road but that would be way down the road. We took out all the lighting in the bedroom and bathroom as it was so terrible. I mean, I sure it was amazing in the 80s but pink glass lights just aren't for us so they were the first to go. I installed the light fixture that used to be in our old house's dining room bought a few new pieces like the lamps and curtains. Everything else was already ours. It came together so nicely...I regret not doing it sooner! Again, the during photo is more accurate to its real color, blasted rainy days ruining my pictures!

Master Bathroom Before: There are 2 pictures so you can really enjoy the lovely floral wall paper that was promptly removed.

Master Bathroom After: The color is called Smoke by Benjamin Moore and is a light but not baby blue. This room still has a ways to go, although I've hit the decorating equivalent of writers block...I'm uninspired I guess you can say. The pink counter top is in need of some love as well as the beige toilet and bath tub surround. But the vanity was painted white and I have hardware to install soon.

Side yard Before: This is Pat's baby. What originally we planned to use as extra parking quickly converted into a covered play area.

Side yard After: Pat threw this together on Friday night, I was pretty impressed! The kids have used this area a lot already so I am grateful to have a place for them to play even when the weather isn't so great. We want to paint the beams, shed that is next to this area and pressure wash the roof so it really shines but for now it looks pretty good for a former tractor shed. 

The rest of the house I will have to wait for a sunny day to get pictures as the ones I took came out all wrong. So this is half the house, 1 month in! :)