We moved last Wednesday, and I took these pictures with my phone that morning. I knew the house wouldn't be presentable for awhile, so I wanted to get some shots of it to show you before we moved in! I've tried to organize the before shots with the after shots so you get the full picture of the renovations :) Even I was surprised when I looked back at these shots. It was a nice reminder of how far we've come.
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| Living Room (before) |
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| Living Room (after) with new entrance to the kitchen- Steven's idea! Also, we got to design the fireplace mantel and we love it! |
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| Living Room (after)- Now that the paneling is gone, you can appreciate the beamed ceilings! |
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| Entrance to the Kitchen from the Dining Room (before) |
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| Entrance to the Kitchen from the Dining Room (after) |
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| Old Kitchen (view from the back of the house) |
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| New Kitchen (view from the front of the house) |
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| Front Coat Closet (before)- You can barely see it because it's all paneled!! |
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| Coat Closet (after)- with a much better door! |
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| Niche (after) that leads from Living Room to Dining Room- it was paneled before. |
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| Dining Room (before)- with built-ins I originally wanted to save. |
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| Family Room (before)- beyond Dining Room |
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| Dining Room and Family Room (after)- So glad Steven convinced me to remove the built-ins! We don't think they were original to the house, and it was the single best decision we made! Thank you, Steven, for having the vision and encouraging me to see it! |
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| Lincoln's Bedroom (before) |
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| Lincoln's Bedroom (after)- I LOVE the blue! |
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| Nursery (before) |
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| Nursery (after)- with closet door that connects to our new Master Bedroom! |
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| Master Bath (before) |
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| Now it is the Hall Bath (after) |
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| Another view of Family Room (before) Now the window is gone, and there is a door that leads to our new Master Bedroom! |
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| New Master Bedroom Addition |
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| Double Closets for us and Pocket Door/Closet leading to the Nursery (I don't have to walk all the way around the house to get there!) |
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| Old Hall Bath (before) |
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| Another view of Old Hall Bath (before) |
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| New Master Bath (after) We closed off the old entrance and put a new entrance from our Master Bedroom |
There are a few minor things that did not turn out the way we had hoped, and it was a stressful process at times. But in the end, the layout and space is perfect for us, and I absolutely love our new house! I love how small it is and how conveniently located everything is. (I don't know why I ever worried about moving to a smaller house. I actually prefer it over our larger house, and I didn't think that would be the case. It's less to clean and more to enjoy.) I love that it is all on one level. I love that it has a flat yard. I love that we will soon be using all of the space once Baby Boy #2 arrives! I love that we accomplished our goal of lowering our debt and still have a nice house in our beloved Ardmore that's even closer to our church than we were before. I love that we've taken a house built in 1925 that many people would've written off as soon as they walked in, and turned it into an updated house with a modern layout that I think everyone can appreciate. I owe most of this to my visionary husband, Steven, because he saw the potential in this house, and he was absolutely right!
