Texas House Before and Afters Part 2

Here are more photos of the house's transformation. It's been really enjoyable being able to see the plans we had for our home come to life, though it is to become someone else's home. I feel more confident in my tastes and style decisions for a house. Now if I could do the same for my personal style...

Today we'll go through the rest of the main house, and include a few back yard and apartment photos too. Enjoy!

Den Before:

Now Master Bedroom:

Bedroom 1 Before:

After:

Bedroom 2 Before:

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Back Yard Before:

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Apartment Before:

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Isn't it amazing what some paint and tiles can do? This whole renovation was so inexpensive there at the end, and I'll have to write at some future juncture about why that worked out so well for us.

Well, that's it for now, friends and family!  All too soon we'll be leaving many of you to join many others of you. Now if I can deal with the grief of leaving such a loving community, I'll finally become excited about the adventure our family is on, and try to post some photos of the new place for you. Much love to you all! 

Texas House Before and Afters

I'm excited to share some photos of the main house with you today. The transformation of some of these is shocking even to me.  I hope you enjoy!

Exterior Before:

Exterior After:

Entry Door Before:

Entry Door After:

Bathroom Before:

Bathroom After:

Living Room Before:

Living Room After:

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After:

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen After:

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Sadly, we have no "before" of the old pantry/water heater, but it was divided into two closet spaces with wooden sliding doors. The "after" here is the little mud room my husband ingeniously crafted. He used a sliding door for the seat, and some door trim from another doorway for the trim beneath the seat. 

The best part of this renovation, to me, is that apart from major repairs (electrical, plumbing, replaced water heater, replaced appliances), the actual upgrades we installed were very inexpensive. These past three weeks' upgrades cost less than $2000. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to be beautiful! And this is just the beginning of the photos I have to share. Next up I'll share another installment of before and afters - the bedrooms and back yard. Stay tuned!

Rapid Reno: Week 3

We have some big news this week. Obviously, renovating an entire home in three weeks is not a task to be entered into lightly. Our reason is that we are moving - much quicker than planned - back to North Carolina. So our renovations are with the average buyer in mind. During the third week my husband and I worked from morning until 10pm or midnight, and most days had between one and six friends helping us for several hours. 

This week my husband tackled the task of finishing this closet at the back entry. When we bought the house, this closet had a vertical dividing wall that separates a pantry on the left from the outdated water heater on the right. When the water heater had to be replaced last year, we walled up this space to deal with it later. He's transforming it into a tiny mudroom.

We also began painting the bathroom walls. 

I tried my hand at chalk board art. This is a clearly pandering attempt at attracting a buyer. 

Our master bedroom, which is paneled in pine on four walls and ceiling, is being painted. 

The renovation is done and our house is listed. Stay tuned for before and afters!

Rapid Reno: Week 2

This week we...

Painted the front door...

And the back door...

Finished painting the kitchen, painted the laundry table legs, and stained its top...

Began scraping the exterior of the detached mother-in-law suite to prepare for painting...

Finished painting the hallway walls and trim, and laid vinyl tile...

And grouted said tile...

Painted trim in the bathroom...

Aaaaaand learned the value of thoroughly degreasing around the bathroom closet. The primer would not adhere, so great was the buildup of who-knows-what hair and skin products. I had to scrape the loose sections, sand through the finish, and prime again. We also replaced an old brass lighted ceiling fan because the wiring to the lights was bad.

Stay tuned! More to come. 

Rapid Reno - Week 1

In February I gave birth to this sweet chunk o'love (4 months old here), and as is our custom after a child is born, we mostly took a break from renovating the house. Heck, last year was our Year Of Repairs with this home, and we haven't exactly felt eager to throw more money at it. Yet here we are in June, and it is yet again time to whip this place into shape. 

So far in the past two weeks we've removed a few layers of linoleum flooring from the kitchen...

...removed a gas heater from the bathroom...

...started painting the lower kitchen cabinets...

...primed a LOT of trim and prepped the front entry and hall for tile...

...installed new dining room lighting...

...and built a table to go over the laundry  units in the kitchen. The table isn't finished, but I already appreciate the extra counter space by the oven. It's all coming together rather quickly now.

Stay tuned for more progress photos!