We're moving this weekend. Our last week in our apartment, and boy is it going to be HECTIC. I think I've forgotten how to move, because I keep putting off packing. There's so much stuff. Everywhere. In every cabinet, in every closet. Stuff. We're slowly taking box-fulls of it to 2048, in hopes that it'll lessen the blow come Saturday.
Anyhow, I've been meaning to post pictures FOREVER, so here are lots! :) I only have access the pictures that I've emailed my family since I'm on my work computer. I don't have a ton of good before/after ones, but definitely enough for you to get the idea.
Enjoy!...
I stole this pic-a-lic from my sister-in-law's blog so you could see the whole outside. (By the by...visit her website...www.schusshoots.com) We're definitely cutting down the two little trees blocking the front door. That's a spring project. (Jessie, does it make it okay that I took this picture since I told people to go to your website?)
Dan taking down the foreclosure notice on 11/20/10
My car in our very own garage! Michigan winters will be made SO much easier by this luxury!
Unpainted, dirty-walled mud room...with missing hooks that the previous owners took
Finished mud room! Painted Dried Basil, new hooks, shoe rack washed, new light fixture (which you can't see)
Unpainted laundry room (which leads into the mud room), with big white spots where cabinets used to hang...owners took those too
Laundry room painted, Dried Basil
Laundry room with our very own washer/dryer! I've been looking forward to this for about 3 1/2 years now :)
Behold (*que angel chorus*) the GE beauties...
UGLY red half bath, across from the laundry room. If you're stuck with an ugly, reddish/brownish laminate counter and backsplash, DON'T paint the room this color.
Dan ripping that awful backsplash
The light fixture that was in the half bath. Yeah...that had to go...
Finished half of half bath! Shaker Beige on the walls and a new 17" elongated bowl Kohler toilet! Yeah! (Oh...and new t.p. holder. Owners took all those too.)
Other half of finished half bath! New towel ring, new backsplash, hardware on the cabinets. We took down the ugly stock mirror they had and put up this nice framed one.
My and Dan's first time tiling. He laid the tiles and I grouted. After his thinset experience, we decided it was best for me to take over the rest of the tile work in the house. (Surprisingly, I was a natural.) I love these glass tiles!
Master bathroom. It had a stock mirror, just like the half bath. Like so many things...it needed to go. We have to find a mirror to fit this awkward space. Right now we're using a makeshift one until we can get to Home Goods or The Great Indoors.
Master bath painted (Shaker Beige again), backsplash ripped, old toilet gone. (For real...those toilets were NAS. TY.)
New tile in the master bathroom. I used sanded grout and regret it. SO messy and gross to work with.
But the end result was good - just how I wanted it! You can't see it, but there's a new toilet in the master now. Just like the one in the half bath - 17", elongated bowl, Kohler.
Huge shower in the master bathroom. Seriously, it comes up to my knees. Old people would NOT do well with it. It's like doing a high-step just to get out of it!
Dan ripping carpet in the master bedroom. We put new carpet all through the house. And through ripping the carpet and seeing what was in/under it...I vow NEVER to have an indoor pet. EVER.
Looking in to the master bedroom from the hallway - to the right is the hallway leading to the entrance of the half bath and laundry/mud room. (That's my father-in-law in the knee pads, pulling staples.)
Master bedroom from the doorway of the master bath. Painted the walls Grey Horse. SO pretty. We put in the ceiling fan too, but painted the blades first. I thought they were white, but when we opened the box they were silver. Um, no thanks. Dan's dad shocked himself twice installing the fan. HA!
Beautiful trim work on ALL doors and windows. Pretty, but a PAIN to trim and tape around!
Dan, installing a new light fixture in the master closet. I like this picture :)
The hallway from the master bedroom, leading to the kitchen (on the right) and the living room (straight forward) and the hallway on the left leads to the half bath and laundry/mud room.
We had to pay to have our great room painted (bummer! We're totally DIY-ers) because the ceilings were so high. The guy did a GREAT job. I can't remember what the paint color is in the entryway, but the walls are just Shaker Beige in a matte finish...no eggshell so the afternoon glare won't reflect super bright. I think we're getting a drop-down light fixture to put over the front door, in place of that inappropriately small flush mount fixture. Boo!
Walls and catwalk freshly painted. It smelled of VOC's to HIGH HEAVEN in there.
Ceiling fan project. We painted the fan blades white - they were this awful blue-ish faux woodgrain print. It was awful. One of the light covers had a huge chunk missing, too. So we painted, cleaned, replaced glass and all bulbs.
The naked stairs, with no carpet. (Here you can see what the entry looked like before it was painted.)
The upstairs hallway. At the end, the stairs are to the left, and a little loft area is to the right. The hallway was taped to be painted. (Obviously.)
Upstairs bathroom. Painted this awful pepto bismol pink-ish hue. Gross. Also, it had the same matching laminate backsplash as the half and master bathrooms. (The kitchen does too, but we're waiting to do that until we can get new countertops too. Definitely a long-term project.) The paint swatches were for picking out the color of the accent wall for the office.
Upstairs bath with the oh-so-coveted pink toilet (and you can see the pink-ish walls here, too). We ripped the backsplash and added hardware to the cabinets, just like all the bathrooms and the kitchen.
Upstairs bath with just plain 'ol 4"x4" white ceramic backsplash. I'm proud to say I laid and grouted those puppies and they look pretty excellent.
Sadly, I don't have any before pictures of this room. It was blue with dark blue carpet and a strip of wallpaper wrapping the entire room...with a picture of a guy riding a Kawaski dirt bike that said "Team Green" all over it. So this was a big transformation. (You should see it with the blinds and carpet! I'll get pics of that soon.)
"The Purple Room" which will be our office. I'm talking to my mother-in-law about what I wanted to put on the wall.
Purple room, painted shaker beige...
...with an accent wall - color is called Brewster Grey. It was wet when I took the picture so the paint looks a little uneven, but it dried beautifully!
KITCHEN! :) Work zone at this point...I was using the ladder to wipe down all the cabinets.
Pow-wow in the kitchen much? (I cleaned all the work stuff out yesterday and it looks awesome. I'm excited to post pictures of it!)
We added all this hardware. I got these brushed nickel (solid brass underneath the finish) knobs for $1.35 apiece, when their original value was $5.90. At 52 pieces, I was pretty darn pleased with the savings! :)
Drawer pulls (pain in the BUTT to install!)
Kitchen with old, broken, sickly stained microwave
Finally...microwave gone, to make way for the new one! :)
Dan and his dad installing the new microwave. It took...a lot longer than it should have. Poor guys.
Please imagine me singing the Hallelujah Chorus right now...
Dishwasher! I haven't used it, but there are definitely some dirty coffee cups in there, just waiting to be cleaned :)
The most expensive, and most loved appliance of the house. Kitchenaid 19.7 cubic feet, french door, bottom mount freezer. It's like a dream to me. (I said to Dan, "I used to think only really rich people had french door refrigerators...and we're definitely not rich.") Really, we had to buy a counter depth fridge - which are more expensive - and this is the ONLY one that would fit the space. So it's lucky we like it, because we're stuck with it regardless :)
Dan installing our mailbox. (It's ugly and I don't really like it, but everyone else on our street has the same one...so we figure it's just a freewill sign of uniformity or we're required to have it. Even if we weren't required, I wouldn't want to be that couple, who got a different mailbox. You know?...)
Dan tirelessly working in the basement on the entertainment center that he's making us. Right here he's staining the front panel. The two sides boxes will have doors, and the middle panel will hold the cable box, sound system, etc.
Again...staining...
All of the old, dirty carpet. SICK. I can't wait to post pictures of the new carpet. The camera probably won't catch that much of a difference, but in person, the difference is amazing. There are little brown hues that work wonders with the paint colors.
On a non-house note, I made some peppermint bark the other night :)
Delicious finished product
Dan taking down the foreclosure notice on 11/20/10
My car in our very own garage! Michigan winters will be made SO much easier by this luxury!
Unpainted, dirty-walled mud room...with missing hooks that the previous owners took
Finished mud room! Painted Dried Basil, new hooks, shoe rack washed, new light fixture (which you can't see)
Unpainted laundry room (which leads into the mud room), with big white spots where cabinets used to hang...owners took those too
Laundry room painted, Dried Basil
Laundry room with our very own washer/dryer! I've been looking forward to this for about 3 1/2 years now :)
Behold (*que angel chorus*) the GE beauties...
UGLY red half bath, across from the laundry room. If you're stuck with an ugly, reddish/brownish laminate counter and backsplash, DON'T paint the room this color.
Dan ripping that awful backsplash
The light fixture that was in the half bath. Yeah...that had to go...
Finished half of half bath! Shaker Beige on the walls and a new 17" elongated bowl Kohler toilet! Yeah! (Oh...and new t.p. holder. Owners took all those too.)
Other half of finished half bath! New towel ring, new backsplash, hardware on the cabinets. We took down the ugly stock mirror they had and put up this nice framed one.
My and Dan's first time tiling. He laid the tiles and I grouted. After his thinset experience, we decided it was best for me to take over the rest of the tile work in the house. (Surprisingly, I was a natural.) I love these glass tiles!
Master bathroom. It had a stock mirror, just like the half bath. Like so many things...it needed to go. We have to find a mirror to fit this awkward space. Right now we're using a makeshift one until we can get to Home Goods or The Great Indoors.
Master bath painted (Shaker Beige again), backsplash ripped, old toilet gone. (For real...those toilets were NAS. TY.)
New tile in the master bathroom. I used sanded grout and regret it. SO messy and gross to work with.
But the end result was good - just how I wanted it! You can't see it, but there's a new toilet in the master now. Just like the one in the half bath - 17", elongated bowl, Kohler.
Huge shower in the master bathroom. Seriously, it comes up to my knees. Old people would NOT do well with it. It's like doing a high-step just to get out of it!
Dan ripping carpet in the master bedroom. We put new carpet all through the house. And through ripping the carpet and seeing what was in/under it...I vow NEVER to have an indoor pet. EVER.
Looking in to the master bedroom from the hallway - to the right is the hallway leading to the entrance of the half bath and laundry/mud room. (That's my father-in-law in the knee pads, pulling staples.)
Master bedroom from the doorway of the master bath. Painted the walls Grey Horse. SO pretty. We put in the ceiling fan too, but painted the blades first. I thought they were white, but when we opened the box they were silver. Um, no thanks. Dan's dad shocked himself twice installing the fan. HA!
Beautiful trim work on ALL doors and windows. Pretty, but a PAIN to trim and tape around!
Dan, installing a new light fixture in the master closet. I like this picture :)
The hallway from the master bedroom, leading to the kitchen (on the right) and the living room (straight forward) and the hallway on the left leads to the half bath and laundry/mud room.
We had to pay to have our great room painted (bummer! We're totally DIY-ers) because the ceilings were so high. The guy did a GREAT job. I can't remember what the paint color is in the entryway, but the walls are just Shaker Beige in a matte finish...no eggshell so the afternoon glare won't reflect super bright. I think we're getting a drop-down light fixture to put over the front door, in place of that inappropriately small flush mount fixture. Boo!
Walls and catwalk freshly painted. It smelled of VOC's to HIGH HEAVEN in there.
Ceiling fan project. We painted the fan blades white - they were this awful blue-ish faux woodgrain print. It was awful. One of the light covers had a huge chunk missing, too. So we painted, cleaned, replaced glass and all bulbs.
The naked stairs, with no carpet. (Here you can see what the entry looked like before it was painted.)
The upstairs hallway. At the end, the stairs are to the left, and a little loft area is to the right. The hallway was taped to be painted. (Obviously.)
Upstairs bathroom. Painted this awful pepto bismol pink-ish hue. Gross. Also, it had the same matching laminate backsplash as the half and master bathrooms. (The kitchen does too, but we're waiting to do that until we can get new countertops too. Definitely a long-term project.) The paint swatches were for picking out the color of the accent wall for the office.
Upstairs bath with the oh-so-coveted pink toilet (and you can see the pink-ish walls here, too). We ripped the backsplash and added hardware to the cabinets, just like all the bathrooms and the kitchen.
Upstairs bath with just plain 'ol 4"x4" white ceramic backsplash. I'm proud to say I laid and grouted those puppies and they look pretty excellent.
Sadly, I don't have any before pictures of this room. It was blue with dark blue carpet and a strip of wallpaper wrapping the entire room...with a picture of a guy riding a Kawaski dirt bike that said "Team Green" all over it. So this was a big transformation. (You should see it with the blinds and carpet! I'll get pics of that soon.)
"The Purple Room" which will be our office. I'm talking to my mother-in-law about what I wanted to put on the wall.
Purple room, painted shaker beige...
...with an accent wall - color is called Brewster Grey. It was wet when I took the picture so the paint looks a little uneven, but it dried beautifully!
KITCHEN! :) Work zone at this point...I was using the ladder to wipe down all the cabinets.
Pow-wow in the kitchen much? (I cleaned all the work stuff out yesterday and it looks awesome. I'm excited to post pictures of it!)
We added all this hardware. I got these brushed nickel (solid brass underneath the finish) knobs for $1.35 apiece, when their original value was $5.90. At 52 pieces, I was pretty darn pleased with the savings! :)
Drawer pulls (pain in the BUTT to install!)
Kitchen with old, broken, sickly stained microwave
Finally...microwave gone, to make way for the new one! :)
Dan and his dad installing the new microwave. It took...a lot longer than it should have. Poor guys.
Please imagine me singing the Hallelujah Chorus right now...
Dishwasher! I haven't used it, but there are definitely some dirty coffee cups in there, just waiting to be cleaned :)
The most expensive, and most loved appliance of the house. Kitchenaid 19.7 cubic feet, french door, bottom mount freezer. It's like a dream to me. (I said to Dan, "I used to think only really rich people had french door refrigerators...and we're definitely not rich.") Really, we had to buy a counter depth fridge - which are more expensive - and this is the ONLY one that would fit the space. So it's lucky we like it, because we're stuck with it regardless :)
Dan installing our mailbox. (It's ugly and I don't really like it, but everyone else on our street has the same one...so we figure it's just a freewill sign of uniformity or we're required to have it. Even if we weren't required, I wouldn't want to be that couple, who got a different mailbox. You know?...)
Dan tirelessly working in the basement on the entertainment center that he's making us. Right here he's staining the front panel. The two sides boxes will have doors, and the middle panel will hold the cable box, sound system, etc.
Again...staining...
All of the old, dirty carpet. SICK. I can't wait to post pictures of the new carpet. The camera probably won't catch that much of a difference, but in person, the difference is amazing. There are little brown hues that work wonders with the paint colors.
On a non-house note, I made some peppermint bark the other night :)
Delicious finished product
Okay. Whew. More house pictures to come - of window treatments and new carpet - and moving day! :)
Side note - on the 26th I'm going home. I can't wait to be in NC for the near-Christmas season. It's been years since I was. Every time I hear some song about being home for the holidays, (especially Celebrate Me Home...the title of the post) I start crying a little.
2 comments:
This is ALL SO exciting!!! I love the place! So happy for you and Dan.
You did so much work! I'm so proud of you! If you had gotten that done, it would have cost you a fortune. And you did a great job taping the trim!
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