I know many of you have been asking to see some progress photos of our lovely home. I have always wanted an older home and this was more than I could have hoped for! We purchased it just over 2 years ago. It was during hunting season in November and I called my husband to come home asap! I just HAD to look at this house. I’m sure you can imagine how happy he was, ha! We actually looked through the house with a flashlight at night because there was no electricity. We only had a short window (10 days to be exact) to place a bid on this home. Not knowing exactly what we were doing, we just put some numbers together that reflected our daughter’s birthday and surprisingly we won!

As much as I’d love to take credit for the renovations, my handy husband did 95% of the work. Everything had to be updated and that’s just what we did. From plumbing and electrical to windows and doors, this house got a huge overhaul. I often forget how much work he put into this house until I took a second look at the photos. Granted the before pictures aren’t edited, you can imagine what it was like. There are a few things I’d still love to update, like spruce up the curb appeal with some beautiful flowers this summer, but all in all, it’s close to completion. It will be hard when we have to leave this beautiful home!

Below is what the home looked like when we first bought it. Overgrown trees and shrubs, terrible roof and windows. Basically, the folks prior to us neglected to take care of it and then it sat vacant for nearly four years. Here are the updates made on the exterior:

• new roof and gutters
• new windows & added shutters
• updated cracked siding
• updated front screen door & replaced side door
• repainted front porch
• new steps
• replaced all plumbing leading to the street under the driveway
• new driveway & walkway
• added a backyard patio
• updated garage doors
• new fence
• updated landscaping
• regraded entire lawn & replaced

Below is the before picture and progress in our main living room. Why anyone would ever cover beautiful wood floors with carpet is beyond me! It just had to go. There wasn’t a ton that had to be done in here:

• ripped up carpet and tile to refinish wood floors
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

Our cute baby girl sitting on all our kitchen cabinets! 🙂

This is what it looked like when we actually moved in. I can’t believe we lived like this! Can you spot her? 😉

so big and growing by the second! adorable even with bed head and pjs 🙂

Below is the before picture and progress in our dining room. There was no carpet, but the wood floors were pretty worn. Here’s the list of renos:

• refinished wood floors
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• took off chair rail
• skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

Below is the before picture of our toy room. It’s the fourth bedroom in our home and thought it would be most useful to use as a toy room/office space. Here is the list of updates:

• refinished wood floors
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

Below is the before picture and progress in our family room. We were lucky to have this addition already on the home. It really makes a huge difference in the space! There wasn’t a ton that had to be done in here:

• replaced carpet and tile
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• services and updated the fireplace
• skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

Below is the before picture and progress in our kitchen. Besides the exterior, the kitchen and first floor bathroom required the most renovations. It was a challenge working with the space we had, but we wanted to make sure there were plenty of room and storage. Here is the giant list of updates:

• ripped up linoleum flooring (there were 3 layers!!)
• replaced the floor boards and added new tile floors
• replaced plumbing and updated electrical
• new cabinets, counters and appliances
• replaced light fixtures
• took off wallpaper (such a pain!), skip trowel & painted ceiling, walls and trim
• replaced broken built-in’s with custom locker and pantry

He seriously was such a trooper. I don’t give him enough credit for all he does. Thank you Eric!! xo

I’m pretty sure the porch swing and exposed brick is what sold me when I first saw this house! love <3

Below is the before picture and progress in our first floor bathroom. This was another challenge. There was an awkward entry and the build-in’s didn’t function properly. As much as I love those old characters of this style of home, it wasn’t functional for our family. Here is our updates:

• ripped up linoleum flooring (there were 3 layers!!)
• replaced the floor boards and added new tile floors
• replaced plumbing, moved the bathtub and updated electrical
• new vanity, toilet and tub
• added ventilation
• replaced light fixtures
• skip trowel & painted ceiling, walls and trim
• replaced broken built-in’s with custom pantry
• added a wall for a new entry to the bathroom, making the pantry part of the kitchen more than the bathroom

look at that subfloor – so gross! You could literally see through to the basement.

Below is the before picture and progress of the steps. Even though there was wood under the carpet, it made more sense to replace it than refinish the wood. You wouldn’t believe how much quieter they are now! With little kiddos, it was worth it. Nice railing they had, right? haha!

Below is the before picture and progress in bedroom one. I wish I would have gotten a better picture of how bad the walls were! It was the strangest thing. Plus that creepy painting. Needless to say, I was scared to go upstairs alone until we refinished most of it, ha! Here’s our updates:

• ripped up carpet to refinish wood floors
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

You can see some of the walls in the photo below. Isn’t it weird?

Below is the before picture and progress in bedroom two. It’s really big for an older home! All the bedrooms are. We were lucky enough to have walk-in closets for every room too. Because of the space of this room, we added a closet that we thought was more functional for us. Here’s our updates:

• ripped up carpet to refinish wood floors
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• added an additional closet
• skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

Below is the before picture and progress in the master bedroom. This was also part of the original addition to the home so we were fortunate to have a master bath. Here’s the list of updates:

• replaced the carpet in the landing & bedroom
• ripped up the linoleum and replaced with tile in the master bath
• updated plumbing, shower, toilet and vanity in the bathroom
• updated electrical & add additional outlets where needed
• replaced light fixtures
• removed wallpaper, skip trowel & painted ceiling and walls

This is our home. It’s a work in progress, but we’ve come so far already! It’s lived in, loved and will be so hard to leave when the time comes.