The BEFORE & AFTER

Well, I've decided to finally post some before and after pictures of our renovation.  I took the after pictures a couple weeks ago when we still had our Christmas decorations up so I had to move a couple things around.  I didn't even get a picture of the great room because of our ginormous Christmas tree.  Maybe I'll add those later (or maybe not given how infrequently I update this blog).  Ok, so here's what I do have.

MASTER BATH
Ahh...the master bath.  Notice the gold everything in the Before Picture..  That was so the style in the early 90's when mom and dad built this house.  Although, the glass blocks between the shower and tub almost scream 80's Miami Vice to me.  Mike, our handy-man, ended up taking the jetted tub and gave it to his ex-wife.  It's nice to know some of this stuff is being re-used.  Also, the HUGE mirror was removed in one piece and I listed it on craigslist for free.  Some guy came and got it and is using it in his basement for a dance studio.  Used http://www.vintagetub.com to order my claw-foot tub.  Free shipping!  If you Alpharetta/Roswell people are thinking of renovating your kitchen or bath, go to Ferguson's to pick out what you want, but then order it from vintage tub.  You will save SO much money! 

Master Bath Before

Master Bath After - soap stand is actually antique ash tray, crystal chandelier was a wedding present

Master Bath Before

Master Bath After - notice our sweet dog in the background on her bed

MASTER BEDROOM
The Master Bedroom only needed some hardwood floors, new windows, trim-work on the ceiling, and, of course, our barn door (again, found someone on craigslist to make the door for me).  Mike hung it for us - something he's never done before but did a great job.  The hardware that came with the door was wimpy so I raced off to Tractor Supply Co. and bought the hardware pictured.  The rustic piece of wood holding the door is from a tree in lower pasture.  The lamps are Jamey's grandmother's (Helen), and the sconces came from Pottery Barn.

Master Bedroom Before

Master Bedroom After

KITCHEN
The Kitchen ended-up taking longer than it should have.  A must-have for me was the same farmhouse sink we had in our old house.   Again, I ordered it through Vintage Tub and Bath and saved a fortune (an additional 8% off if you also go through Ebates.com first).  So with the sink, we had to have the granite re-cut.  That proved being more difficult than you would think.  They ended up using granite from the desk area to make it work out.  What that meant for us, was weeks of no counter top and using a hose outside to wash pots and pans.  NOT fun.  The cook-top, fridge, and dishwasher are new.  We kept the ovens and under-counter microwave.  We also ended-up keeping the cabinets and just panting them.  I want to switch-out the pendants but as of yet, I still haven't found the perfect ones....still on the look-out!

Kitchen Before

Kitchen AFter

MUDROOM
 The mudroom is probably my favorite change to the house.  It used to be a laundry room and a hallway.  We removed the walls so when you walk in, it's just one big room (well...not big but bigger room).  The laundry room we moved to a 2nd half-bath over by the Master Bedroom.  The thing I like most about the mud-room is the rustic wood we had put on the back wall.  Years ago my dad had an oak tree taken down in the lower pasture and this is the wood from that tree.  Dad had it planed out thinking he would one day make a table or something out of it. Well, it sat in the basement for 10 years so when we bought the house, I asked that the wood be included with the sale.  Originally I thought it might go in the study but, because we didn't have enough, we used it in the mud room.  The other thing I like is the sink I had made out of a copper pot I bought at Queen of Hearts.  I also got the sink stand at Q of H.  My plumber, Terry, kept asking if I was sure I wanted him to cut into the antique dresser for the drain and plumbing pipes.  "Cut Away!" I said.  Terry did a great job.  The cowboy on the horse painting was actually painted by one of my father-in-laws best friends, Dave Barrett.  Love it!

Laundry room Before

Mudroom After - The chicken pictures were a wedding present (thanks Becky Conners Neece)

Laundry Room and Hallway Before

Mudroom After

Desk Area

Since we used the granite from the desk in the kitchen to go around the farmhouse sink, we had to put a new counter top.  We decided to raise it up, do away with the desk area, and add drawers for storage (Jamey still has not added the hardware to the new drawers - I don't expect he ever will).  We had a lady come paint the cabinets to look like wood.  You can barely see the rope chandelier over the kitchen table in the after picture.  It's actually the first thing I bought for the house (and yep, I bought it at Queen of Hearts).  Also notice the wall paper.  There were TWO layers I personally removed through out the whole kitchen.  My fingernails suffered greatly from that (as did my spirit).

Desk Area Before

Desk Area After (we call it the Bar now)

THE STUDY

The study (or TV room as the kids call it) was by far the easiest room.  All we did was paint the walls, put in hardwoods, and add glass french doors.  DONE.

Study Before (I should say during...this is where we hid while work was going on in the rest of the house)

 

The Study After

That's all I have for now.  Like I said, no current pictures of the Great Room.  I guess I could go downstairs and take one now (since the Christmas Tree is gone) but that would involve removing laundry from the couch and I'm just not feeling up to it.  I equate living through a renovation to giving birth.  It's extremely painful but once you are holding the beautiful results in your arms, you almost forget how hard it was to get there (almost).  The difference is, I would give birth again (and did!) but I pray that I will NEVER live through another renovation!! (especially with 2 young children).

Hope you enjoyed!