Before and After

When our other house unexpectedly sold, we only had 30 days to find ourselves a new house and close. We were up a creek because we hadn't even started looking. But, within two weekends we had it narrowed down to two houses. Neither of which we currently live! The first house, Burr Oak, was beautiful and new. Open concept. Its problem -- I heard terrible things about the builder's quality and it had a terrible backyard. Not to mention it was at the top of our price range. The second house, Landershire, was a 30 year old home and had a great layout. Beautiful saltillo tiles. But, it had foundation issues and a filled-in swimming pool. Then, we found this little gem (forgive the bad picture).
I don't know if I was just tired of looking at houses or if this one truly spoke to me. But, we made the decision right then and there to put in an offer. Our realtor thought we were crazy because it was like a time warp back to 1978. But, I could see past all the cosmetics to know that this had that special something. We've put in quite a bit of work in the last year and a half. I am truly proud of what we have created. We have:

1. Replaced the windows.
2. Replaced the floors in the main living areas (carpet to hardwood).
3. Torn down wallpaper out of multiple rooms.
4. Painted every room the house (okay, minus laundry and the bar).
5. Emptied and painted the garage floor.

It may look like a short list, but man do those things take time and money. Not to mention the fact that we had a little boy - our man Truett - about 6 months after we moved in. I could post a ton of before and after pics ... but the living room is the place where my heart swells the biggest these days. Take a look. I still have a ways to go, but I think everyone will agree that we've made 100% improvement.

Before (it was like the Black Forest in there)

After (see how imperfect it is? just the way it drives me crazy.)