As I begin to wind up this never-ending saga of my home renovation, I thought it might be cool to put up a few before and after photos, just so that we can all feel some kind of satisfaction for a job well done. Of course, it's not really before and after, more like before and close-to-done, but you get the idea. I'm starting my own blog on my also-yet-to-be-finished website, thisisauthentic.com. You can keep in touch with me there, send me e mails to keep me posted with your lives, etc.

OK, here are a few pictures.... First off, the front of the house in September 2006:

and here's the place now, a year and 3 months later:

hmmmmmm.... kind of looks worse due to the complete lack of landscaping, doesn't it? But many improvements have been made: new shingles that will become a beautiful silver grey in a year or so, a more solid screen porch with an entrance on the side, closer to the driveway, no satellite dish on the top of the place as we don't even have a TV, lovely exterior lighting plus the same big old pine tree that somehow survived all of last winter's basement digging.

Now for the inside. Here's the old kitchen:

Cute, nice white paint, old gas stove that kicked ass, ceiling so low I had to watch my head in the corner, linoleum floors, rained on the inside when it rained on the outside. Here's the kitchen now:

It's probably only 20 sq ft bigger, yet it feels massive compared to the old room. Under the counter fridge/freezer and no washer/dryer probably are the biggest help. Plus a slightly higher ceiling and a big double window where once there was a solid wood door. Eventually, the walls will be painted white as well, which should make it even brighter. Oh and we added a pantry, which really expands our storage potential!

As for the downstairs bathroom, here it is back in the day:

and here it is now:

It's the most modern room in the house, with tiled floors (and one wall!) as well as a shower stall with a glass door to replace the tiny broken claw foot tub (that had bricks piled underneath instead of feet...) The kholer hatbox toilet started us off, so we found lots of round elements to go with, like the mirror and the knob for the shower door, as well as the little cabinet that stands next to the toilet, hiding all but the most photogenic of the toiletries. One day, we're hoping to plaster the walls, so that there will be no exposed sheetrock on the ground floor of the house. With a tiny new child in our life, who knows when that'll happen...

More before/after to come in the next entry...