The Backstory.

  We purchased our house from my aunt and uncle for a GREAT price and are forever grateful to them for working with us to help us get in this house. Without them, then this housecapade would have never begun.  Even though I may get frusterated sometimes, these adventures are a huge part of our memories, and that makes for a full life. Thanks J & J!

Before we decided to purchase the house, they (the aunt and uncle) had a contactor work for a year to redo several aspects of the interior to move it from 1988 into the 21st century.  All the oak moldings in the house were replaced with white wood. All the dark wood doors were replaced with refreshing bright white wood doors.  New light fixtures in the dining room, eating nook and bathrooms. New hot water heater.  All the walls and ceilings were freshly painted..and I mean ALL.  New front door. All the carpet was replaced.  New hardwood floors installed.  Basically, just about all of the interior was replaced for cosmetic purposes.  If they would not have done those things before we bought the house, we would have never been able to afford to do them all ourselves.  Even though all the interior had been redone, there were still some key things missing that we needed for this house to function. Such as blinds, a cooktop, all the towel bars and toilet paper holders, and closet doors.  We didn't really need closet doors, I guess, for the house to "function"..but it sure was nice once we put them in.  We got the cooktop right away, but still went a year without getting permanent blinds. We used those paper ones for a year...A YEAR! 

With all of those major replacements out of the way,  we could see this diamond of a house would be a very smart investment. We knew we still had a huge HUGE job ahead of us to make this house what we had envisioned and we are continually working to make our house, our home.

Here are some pics of the house when we did the walk through prior to purchasing. So much has changed since then and I can't wait to show you all that we have done, and will do in the future. 

Before:

Whew! I'm exhausted just from looking at those.  They don't look too bad right?....right????
Well, just wait until you see what we've accomplished since these were taken. I am so excited/proud and tired. 
I just wanted to give you an idea of what we started with.  I will post these Before's again when I post the After's.  Hope you want to see them! This is like free therapy for me.