Home Improvement

It has been nearly a year since Anthony and I moved into our home and the transformation is incredible. It took four people working 12 hours a day, 2 weeks straight for the inside of the house to become livable. We were so focused on getting the house up to code, we didn't think to take before pictures. We've got great after pictures though!
The bathroom had a huge makeover. The tub was so worn the bottom felt like sandpaper, and no matter how hard we scrubbed it was a permanent gray/brown color. The faucet in the tub and the shower nozzle were rusted out, and neither Anthony nor I wanted to touch them. Turns out there was no insulation in the shower, which explains why we would freeze in the middle of June. So we installed insulation, put in a new backsplash, replaced the window (so the neighbors couldn't see us and we wouldn't have metal blinds in our shower), put in new hardware, and refinished the tub. We also put in new lighting, a new vanity/mirror, new baseboard trim and re-painted the whole bathroom.

This is our guest bedroom, and it was in the best shape out of all the rooms. It had brand-new carpet when we moved in, which was a definite plus. After patching a few holes and repainting the whole room, it was good to go.

Our living room required even the ceiling to be painted. The bookcase had wooden doors and non-functional shelving that we removed/replaced. There were holes all over, especially around the heating vents. Since our house doesn't have air-conditioning we put a new window on the front of the house. The old picture windows were installed poorly, had paint on them, and wouldn't open, so at least one new window was essential. Of course painting the walls and baseboards were necessary.

As far as the kitchen goes, we have a brand new one! The only things that remain from the old kitchen are the sink and the stove. Even the windows are new.
We don't have any great pictures of the old kitchen, but if you look in the background of this you'll get the general idea. When we pulled the drawers out to begin sanding, we found there were 7 different layers of paint on them.

We had the entire kitchen redone about a month after the wedding. New cabinets, backsplash, countertops, lighting, windows and refrigerator. We also added an island along one wall to add some storage space. Oddly enough, the kitchen looks bigger now.
The outside was pretty bad too. There was no landscaping at all, and the yard was in rough shape.

The Front Before
The Front After

The Backyard Before
The Backyard After

We planted three "flower" beds in the back, put in fencing to hold Lucie, planted trees and added flagstone (by hand) to the end of the patio. The biggest chore was weeding through the lilac bushes in the back. Vines had grown over them and killed about half the bushes, but we pruned them enough that the lilacs are actually blooming this year! It may not look like much, but we've worked so hard and are proud of the change!