House Befores and Afters

So I have a confession to make, and for those of you that know me well this is no confession at all, just the truth:  I'm terrible at keeping house.  I would have been an absolutely AWFUL 1960's wife.

We clean our house for events:  parties, family coming over, the night before the cleaning lady comes, and most recently for a house appraisal.

Since our house was nice and clean, I wanted to take a few pics and compare to "before" (pictures taken from the house listing website).  I know I've done this before, but seems like our house is in constant flux and I wanted to capture what it looked like September 2011.

OUTSIDE BEFORE: We thought it looked pretty nice when we first moved in, and it did!  See the two bush things on the left?  The tall one we just called the "bush tree" b/c we had no idea what it was.  Well, it blocked the view to the driveway from the inside of the house, there's a window that you can't even see from this picture.  Also note: old windows.

OUTSIDE AFTER: new windows, cleaned up the landscaping, added a front yard tree.  You can't see it in the pictures but to the right we also planted a redbud.  And to the left of the driveway is a type of japanese maple.  It had been planted 1 foot away from the garage and was having growth issues. 

FORMAL LIVING DINING BEFORE: Nice condition, just decorated for a granny and gramps.

FORMAL LIVING DINING AFTER:  Added ceiling fan/light, replaced chandelier, and most importantly- added wood floors this past Memorial Day.  I can't express how much larger the room seems now that it's wood flooring.

DEN BEFORE:  It's.All.Wood.  Seriously- wood floor, wood wall panel, wood bookshelves, wood blinds, wow.

 DEN AFTER: We painted the trim white, bookshelves white, added the mantle, replaced gas fireplace with woodburning stove, primed and painted walls.  I like having a little more contrast.

GUEST BATH BEFORE: ugly.

GUEST BATH AFTER:  Took fluorescent light off and replaced fixture, elbow greased the wallpaper off and painted a neutral.  We still have lots of plans for this bathroom, so I can't wait to someday show you the FINAL after picture.

 There are some days that I definitely wish we had a new house that didn't require so much work.  But most days I really appreciate our home and love the fact that we've put so many personal touches into this home.