our house (before and afters)

 I've been looking through before photos of our house lately and thought I'd share with you how far we've come in two years! And no...we're not quite done yet. But is any homeowner truly ever done??

I can't wait to show you!!

Remember...our house was a foreclosure deemed "uninhabitable" by the bank.

Does that scare you?

Oohhhh it just made Ben and I jump up and down at the possibilities. Ok, maybe Ben didn't jump up and down...but you know, I'm sure he thought about it.

De-popcorning the ceilings.

Did you know that as long as it hasn't been painted, you can just wet the popcorn with a spray bottle full of water and simply scrape it off? Crazy easy. But a bit messy.

ahhhh....after. Doesn't it just make you want to exhale?

I just love how it all turned out.

{click here & here for more on the chevron fireplace}

Yikes. Yuck, right?!

We raised the ceiling, put in more lighting, obviously knocked out all the kitchen cabinets, and ripped things down to the studs in many areas. We put in a new sliding glass door by the kitchen table, laid dark stained hand-scraped wood floors {which we love by the way}.

{click here for a tutorial on this coffee filter wreath. there's another above the fireplace}

ALL of our appliances were found on Craigslist. Even our gorgeous Viking fridge. Yes, Craigslist people. Ben and I like our deals! We never buy anything full-price. Ok, rarely anyway.

Oh this house and it's shoddy "updates." The tiles were so easy to pull off because they were barely even held there with adhesive in the first place!

See the missing handrail on the stairs? The first time Anton toured the home,it came off in his hand. The spindles acted as dominoes and fell one-by-one off the tiled stairs. Which by the way, shifted under your feet as you walked.

Totally safe, right?

Wow, isn't this different? It's remarkable, really.

I have yet to really show those two rooms toward the back of this photo: my office and the powder bath. I've hinted at working on both of them, but am not quiiiiite ready to show them off. Still have a little more to do.

{check out the inspiration for my office and get a little peek in my post about our diy chore board}

{click here for a tutorial on this chandelier}

This is what was there before:

Ok, truthfully this photo was taken after the drywall guy retextured the ceiling {after the popcorn was scraped off}. But still, it wasn't even a cute vintagey chandelier. It just looked really cheap and outdated in real life.

There were over 300 dead moths in the master. Ohhhhh it was so gross.

{click here & here more pics from our Christmas Home Tour & our Falling for Fall tour}

The wall opposite the bed used to be a wall full of doors. Door on the left {to the bathroom}, door on the right {to the hallway}...and door right in the center {closet}.

Now however, the closet door in the center has been patched over and a wall in the bathroom has been knocked out so dressing after showering means we never have to leave the bathroom...love that. {here are some pics & closet organizing tips!}

It was so dark and dreary. The pink and brown just wasn't us. So we brightened it up.

And now Imani & Elsabet's room is my favorite room in the house.

I don't really show the big boy's room because they've gotten to the age where they hang things aaaaaall over the walls {um, hello...isn't that what those bulletin boards are for?!}. Plus, I'm still not loving the overall feel of it yet anyway.

So all I have for you is this one from Christmastime. It did look cute with the wreath and tree in the corner, though!

Hmmm...not a good look for a little boys room.

After!! Here's a little peek into Anton & Laith's "one day room redo." I'll show you more in the coming weeks.

And here's what it looked like up until a few weeks ago {click here}.

 What do you think?

Would redoing a house like this thrill you or completely freak you out?