Before and After: Our Home

I have had a couple of people ask about our house and what we have done to it so far, so I thought I would show you! I didn't have as many good "before" pictures as I had thought, but I think you can get the idea. I would apologize for the minor messes here and there, but hey, we live here!

There are still some projects-in-process, as I'm sure you'll notice,

but between my aching wrists and the empty wallet, this is how it looks for now. :)

Kitchen BEFORE:

Kitchen AFTER:
We (by "we" I mean my little sisters Maren and Paige. They came for a "vacation," but I put them to some serious work. Not sure they'll be visiting again anytime soon....) took down the wallpaper border over the cabinets. Fortunately the paper came of easy shmeassy, unfortunately the glue stayed. So that is one of the projects in the works. I am stripping the glue off and painting the paneling over the cabinets.

Kid's bedroom BEFORE:
notice the *fabulous* fan :)

Kid's bedroom AFTER:
We decided to have the kids share a room still, since they like it so much, but Joshua wanted blue paint and Grace of course wanted pink. So I vetoed them all and we did green, with a pink side and a blue side. We just got the twin beds a couple of weeks ago and I am making them some really cute quilts. I got the fronts done but don't have fabric for the backs yet, so they are another one of the projects still being worked on. The paint is not so dark in real life. AND, no more big, ugly fan! Now we have a nice little white one. I don't care what they said on HGTV about how ugly fans are, in Texas, they're a necessity! You just have to find the least ugly one you can. :)

Living room BEFORE:
The whole far wall is wallpaper, not just the border :)

Livingroom AFTER:
We had quite a splendid time taking down the wallpaper. Actually, I cried. Really. The paper was so thick we couldn't score it and soak it with the glue remover, so when we pulled it off it tore right down through the top paper layer of the sheet rock. That is when I cried. It was a MESS! By the time we finished getting it all done there were holes all over the wall where you could see down to the sheet rock. But my dad and Sherwin Williams came to the rescue and we primed, plastered, primed, painted, and painted again and

TA DA!!
WAY BETTER :)

This is the built in cabinet next to the fireplace,

I love having the storage space there:

The Dining Area:

No big changes here, just hung some pictures. I think eventually I

will paint the paneling, but not anytime soon :)

Front Room:

This is our front room. Haven't done anything to it yet, but

I've got paint picked out for some day down the road.

Entry Way AFTER:

This was the other big project area. The whole wall here was wallpapered. Luckily the wallpaper came off really easy, but underneath it was some really funky painted paneling. I'm sure in the 70's it was Fab, but today, not so much. So my dad re-textured this wall, too, and we painted it. Like the light fixture? It's Bryan's favorite...or not...so it will be going soon, I think.

Master Bedroom BEFORE:
We had a wallpaper border, which we removed.

Master Bedroom AFTER:
We removed the wallpaper and painted.

Master Bath BEFORE:

Again, above the tile was all wallpaper.

Master Bath AFTER:
We took down the wallpaper and in a last minute decision I painted it red. Never thought I would have a red bathroom, but I really like it. I was going to paint it tan, but it was too bland with all of the other brown and white in the room.

And, just for fun, here is my Scrapbook Room!

I didn't paint it or anything because in the back of my mind I realize that I probably won't have it forever. I'm sure as we have more kids I will have to pack it all up and find a new home for my hobby, but for now I am REALLY enjoying it!

I didn't put pictures of the fourth bedroom because unless you want to see all of the unpacked boxes and unused baby furniture, it isn't much to show off. :)

Thanks for taking the tour! Y'all will have to come visit sometime!