Our Home....A Labor of Love in Progress

I wanted an easy way to capture the journey of renovating our home so this seemed to be the best idea. We moved in the first week of May, and it had been vacant since last September, so there have been many projects just to make it liveable again that we've been working on. The first thing I did was paint the ceilings. The first thing Ryan did was tackle the leaves from the fall that were killing the grass. In the last couple of months we've really just made it "move in ready". Now the fun really begins as we get to start doing special projects along and along, like adding crown, moldings, picture framing, board & batton, built ins, etc. So these pictures show we've come a long way since we moved in, but I'll be adding as we do projects.

Here it is two months after we moved in. We have alot of plans for the exterior, but we'll get to those later down the road. 

Here it was BEFORE we moved in: 

It was a little sad, but nothing that Ryan and I couldn't handle! We were ready for a challenge and had been praying for the diamond in the rough. This was it!

It was easy to fall for the backyard. Love having all this space with little boys. These were all taken before we moved in.

Here is the master bedroom before. We loved this room from the moment we walked in because you can see the lake from these windows.

And here it is after we painted and put our furniture in. This is the same color we used in the dining room. Benjamin Moore Montpelier.

This is the before of Gabe's Room

And this is after. The is also Ben's Moore Montpelier, but we added a quart of white paint to it to lighten it up.

Here is the hall bath upstairs before: Pink walls and a hole where the medicine cabinet was??? The vanity was new, which was a score. And the flooring is a nice tile so the bones were great for this room!

And here it is after!

The medicine cabinet was a huge hole in the wall. We thought about patching it, but with little kids it's nice to have a space up high to keep bathroom items out of reach.

This is the guest room's before:

Again, loved the view! Love that all our rooms either overlook the lake or our backyard.

Here it is after: This is my favorite neutral wall color: Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter. That side table was a thrift find that I painted to spice up an area.

This is the half bath on the main level before:

And here it is now with a fresh coat of paint and new light fixture, towel ring and a temporary mirror. We eventually want to switch out the vanity, but again, that'll be sometime down the road when I happen to see the right piece come along. For now it's in the process of being painted. Pics to follow

On to the playroom...or as the amazing guys that helped us move in called it, the Yo Gabba Gabba room! Before (the owner ended up taking the red couch, which I was a little bummed about):

After: Painted same color as Gabe's room.

I have some big plans down the road for this room.

Here is the before of the dining room:

And, here it is two months after we closed. Trim and bottom half is painted Sherwin Williams Alabaster. The blue is Benjamin Moore Montpelier. Table and chairs, Crate and Barrel. Curtains are Waverly. Black distressed buffet/table is my thrift store $30 find that I painted and distressed. Still lots more to decorate, but it'll be filled over time as I find the perfect piece for each space.

Stairway and Entryway before we moved in:

Here it is after. I painted the walls Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter. I painted the railing the same color as all of my trim and doors, Sherwin Williams Alabaster. I have more pictures to add at some point.

This is the living room before. We're currently using it as our family room, as you can see in the after photos, but until we get our family room furniture, this will stay set up like this.

Kind of felt bad painting over this because I'm sure it took them a long time to do. You can see the oak railing in the back ground.

Here is the temporary after. Painted Ben Moore Revere Pewter. Curtains are from Ikea. We plan to get rid of this furniture and put a couple of lounge chairs and a writing desk with some built ins in this room.

And now for the kitchen. We're currently renovating it...and that's all I have to say about that. Ha. No, but seriously, this is super insanely time consuming, tiring and challenging to say the least. It's been non-stop work for a week around here and we've only finished the cabinets. Huge accomplishment, but now it just makes me ready to finish the backspash and the countertops even more than before the cabinets were done. Here are some before pictures of the kitchen and the progression of the renovation.

And here it is with a little progress:

Other rooms we're still working on are the office, nursery, family room, master bath room and back yard.

Here are the before's of those rooms:

Family Room off the kitchen. Please remember this was before we painted it. I'll have after pictures up soon. We ordered our sofa today so hopefully this room will come to life in about 8 weeks.

 

UPDATE: 10/2012-Family room is still a work in progress, here is an updated picture with paint job and couch. I'll post a more finished product shortly.

 

This is our office before the move in. We've since painted it and I'll post pictures soon.

Perfect size nursery! We've already painted this room too, but everytime I think about taking a picture of it the baby is in it sleeping.

So many projects...but we love every minute of it! Stay tuned for more!

Gorgeous antique table in need of restaining

Look at this beauty that I found at the thrift store on half off day! Got it for $35! It was too beautiful to paint, but could use a good coat of stain so I decided to take it on as my first staining project.

I love all the details! The top was so dingy and discolored.

And here it is after! It turned out even better than I expected. First, I sanded using a light sandpaper by hand instead of with my sander to guarantee I didn't overdo it. I personally think I could've sanded a little more now that all is said and done, but oh well...definitely too late now. After cleaning the piece and letting it dry completely I used Minwax pre conditioner. Let it dry and then Minwax stain in Walnut color. Now, the can said at least 24 hours to dry. Well I can tell ya that if it's 102 degrees outside and humid and this bad boy is sitting in your garage drying...it ain't going to happen! It sat out there for three days before I decided to bring it inside. Within 12 hours, it was dry. The last part of the process was the polyurethane, which was very simple to use when following the directions on the can. I sprayed 3 times to withstand all the craziness that goes on in our household. What a fun piece this was and so rewarding to see something come back to life.

A cute little side table in need of an update

I found this piece on half off day too! Solid, sturdy piece for $15. I could use several side or occasional tables and I've been pondering this style for several months now so I thought I'd go for it. It had a pretty hefty shiny finish on it, so my first task was sanding it down. I used the sander for this. Then I primed it and decided to paint it a barn red that I already had lying around.

To prevent brush lines pick up some floetrol. Follow the directions on it, but it's pretty easy to use.

This is how it turned out! I was very happy with the outcome and it fits perfectly in our guest room...or our family room...or maybe our living room. :)