My First Home Remodel

I loved this house. It was our first house purchased together. I don't think I realized it at the time but this house was "happiness". This was also our first attempt at remodeling. Again, I did not take the pictures I should have. Who new?

We purchased this house in 2002 for $104,000. It was 4 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms / 1 car carport / approximately 1,700 square feet. We invested about $15,000 for remodeling and sold the house in 2005 for $205,000. Money well spent.

We did not spend a lot of money on the front of the house (oh, how I would do things differently now!). We did put on a new roof, added a new front door, added sprinkler system and some new landscaping. This is a picture of the "before", I had to get it from the original MLS report (sorry for the quality). The afters are actual a combination of several "durings."

Before

During

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Before and Afters of the Kitchen. We painted and added molding to the cabinets, tiled the countertops & floors, added bead-board to the backsplash, new lights, hardware, wallpaper, & plumbing fixtures. Byron built a pantry that housed the refrigerator & microwave.

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You can see the built-in pantry from these pictures of the dining room. I painted the walls a darker color, added a new light fixture and Byron built this really cool sliding door that leads into the hobby room.

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The master bedroom was tiny! We actually got a king size bed in the room but it was tight. I had to use a stock door as the headboard and Byron rigged this really cool corner entertainment center by attaching bi-fold doors to the wall & adding wheels to the bottoms of the doors. I painted and distressed all the "furniture". Looking back on it now, I would have used something other that black & cranberry. It looks like a bleeding animal!!

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Awe, my sweet baby boy's nursery. Byron and I loved this room. It was his first attempt at moldings (shelf molding around the room). I made the box pleat valance and the dresser was my grandmothers. Even the rocking chair got a makeover. It was mine as a baby and it was that honey oak color. I paid someone to refinish it in a mahogany stain (I did not want to screw it up!).

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The living room. Not really a before & after picture (another "during"). I don't have any "true" before pictures. I was probably still using a 35mm camera!!

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Some of the other rooms. One we used as a gym, the other a guest room and our small master bathroom. What I regret the most, is not having more pictures of our hobby/laundry room. It was killer!! We added bead-board to the ceiling, pull-down attic stairs, cabinets and counter tops. The hobby/laundry room had the animal cages out-of-site underneath the counter curtain and I had an area for sewing. Loved it!

Now that you have seen my first remodel job. What was your first?

XOXO-

Head over to ASPL for more DIY ideas!

PS. Today is my BIRTHDAY!!