Remodel Complete!!!

It has taken quite some time, a lot of effort and a great deal of support from family and friends, but we have nearly completed our home remodel. Because Mark had just graduated from UH with his MBA and I am no longer teaching High School, we decided that when we purchased a home, it would need to be a 'budget' friendly home. Thus, we set out searching for a home that would fit our family's needs, but because of the soaring home prices in Utah, we were left discouraged after a few weeks of searching. One Sunday afternoon, we were walking around the neighborhood and saw a 'for sale by owner' sign. After putting it off for a few days, we finally called the owner, toured the home and discussed its possibilities. I say, 'discussed its possibilities' because at that point, that is all the house had going for it. The has was in shambles. It has been a rental for nearly 20 years and at one point, it was actually a crack house...which we feel lucky that crack was the drug of choice and not meth! The yard was an overgrown weed disaster and the home an even greater challenge. In this home, there was not one room that needed complete remodeling from floor to ceiling.



The journey was relatively short, just under 6 weeks, but the work load was intense. There were quite a few times that Mark and I both felt like giving up, but then an angel, disguised as a friend or relative, would show up and give us the energy to work another 4 hours. Most days started between 8-9am and would finish about 3-4am. We are beat and tired, but I have to admit, my house looks freaking awesome!!! The bonus is, after all that we have done, we have a great looking home, and the total amount we spent was less than what we found homes listed for when we were searching for a home in the beginning.

Before: Front room

After: Front room, in this room we knocked out the wall between the front room and the entry closet because we got rid of the closet. We got rid of the built in wall unit and replaced the drywall. We added new windows, plantation shutters, new tall baseboards and crown moulding.

Before: Standing in the entry, view to the formal dining room. Through the dining room you can see the door to the kitchen and the back door through that door way. After: Standing in the entry looking at the new dining room. We knocked out the walls around the dining room and opened the entry so it flows better. You can see that we knocked down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room and added new cabinets, countertops, windows, plantation shutters, new lighting fixtures, new hanging pendant light fixtures over the bar, new appliances, refinished wood floors, new travertine tile floor in the kitchen and new paint and baseboards. Before: Standing in the front room looking past the front door into the dining room. You can see the smaller entrys and the walls between each room. After: Standing in the front room looking towards the dining room. We have knocked out all the smaller openings and opened all the walls up. In this picture you can see the hall way on the left side of the picture that leads to the master bedroom and the new 1/2 bathroom. We changed the front door, changed the trim around all the doors and windows and changed the lighting fixtures. Before: The kitchenAfter: The new and improved kitchen. We updated the kitchen with new knotty alder cabinets, and dark granite counter tops. I added a bench under the far window to the right because it is near the back door and the kids can use it to take off their winter clothing. I added an island that has an antique destressed finish on the bottom and a solid wood surface on top that matches the knotty alder cabinets. I added lighting under the cabinets to light up the work surfaces and Mark and I laid the travertine floor. Before: Master Bedroom, looking at the master closet.

After: Master bedroom, looking at the new master closet and entry into the master bathroom. Mark added a walk-in closet and entry into a private master bathroom. We took out the old closet and added the entry into the master bath, and used the other 1/2 of the closet as part of the space for the new hallway 1/2 bathroom. The master bedroom has new crown moulding, new carpet, new paint, and new trim.