House Tour

Here are some photos of where we started and where we are now.  It's not pretty yet, but we're getting there.

To give you a better idea of house our house looks, here is the lower and main level floorplan:

And here is the upper level layout:

The outside of our house has a very bland color scheme.  The creamy-yellow paint just doesn't look right with the baby blue shutters.  Not to mention the previous owners painted the gutters, fascia and stair fronts.  The flower beds are a mess, and the shrubs are in serious need of pruning.  And what is up with that fence?

 

The Living Room and Dining Room Before: 

 

We painted, added new trim, and put up dividing trim to define the spaces.

The stairs are a mess.  They are stained and look constantly dirty.  The railing is old and rusted and hasn't been updated since the house was built.  In the corner you can also see the shutter doors that were between the living room and kitchen.  Taking those down was one of the first things we did.

The kitchen had poorly installed tile counters and backsplash.  While the cabinets were newer and in good condition, the uppers were installed crookedly.  The previous owners had also neglected to install the bracket on the microwave, and instead thought it would be a good idea to install metal screws straight into the sides. 

So far we have made significant changes to the kitchen (see the full makeover).  We straightened the cabinets, painted (Valspar's "summer gray"), got a new countertop, and installed new tile backsplash.  We also added a new base cabinet to extend the counter space, and converted a tiny pantry into a build-in bookcase.

The bathroom was a mess.  The vanity was cheap laminate, the bathtub was dull, faded pink and the walls were... yellow.  We had the tub refinished, painted, and installed a new vanity and new hardware.

 

We've made some progress in the bathroom so far, but we have a lot more to do. 

The master bedroom was painted ugly yellow and had the same shell trim as the rest of the house.

Old trim and yellow paint in the office.

More of the same in the guest room.

 

The family room has newer trim (yay!) but severely scratched laminate flooring.  Same yellow paint as the rest of the house.

The band room is a jumble of wires and more yellow paint.

The half bath on the lower level has an interesting mix of 1'x1' mirror pieces, fleur de lis hardware, and the tiniest sink ever.  And yellow paint.

The laundry room is just... gross.

So there you have it: the whole ugly house.