Monday, May 23, 2016

Home Renovation - 4 years in the making

Today was monumental. For nearly 4 years, Reece and I have been renovating our charming cottage in Marietta. A few months ago, we decided in order to do it right, we were going to do something drastic - move everything in our home, including us, out and in to storage (no, we aren't living in a storage unit...we have amazing family that has been hosting us).

After clearing the house, we scheduled some pretty major work to be done - drywall repairs throughout, fresh paint in every nook and cranny, hardwood floors refinished, a (near complete) kitchen remodel and a brand new deck...to name a few projects. And that's just in the last few months. Prior projects while we were living there included: a major French drain system around the perimeter of the house (which involved heavy equipment operated by my jack-of-all-trades husband), new HVAC, new plumbing, bathroom renovation, addition of a laundry closet, numerous yard projects including a new fence and front rail and and and...the list could go on for days. Most of it we've done ourselves, but some of it we subbed out - we just plain ran out of time.

Today we met our deadline - the listing agent scheduled our professional photographs to be taken today so that means within the next 48 hours, our little house will be on the market.

Below are before and after photos. It's come a long way and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I can't write this post though without thanking our incredible support system - family and friends who've donated time and furniture to get us to this day. And disclaimer, we don't magically have a small child - it's just a staging trick ;0)

Before - 2011
After - 2016 - new shutters, fresh painted foundation, new front path, 2 trees removed, misc. yard improvements
Hallway before - looking toward bedrooms (wood paneling on walls and small closet at end of hall)
Hallway after - no wood paneling and expanded the closet about 6" to accommodate washer/dryer. Major project as we expanded the closet wall to the right by 6" which impacted the bedroom...meaning we didn't just expand the closet, but the entire wall which runs the length of the back bedroom (hence the built-ins you'll see later on).
Old deck and backyard

New, larger , safe deck, fresh pine straw and debris clean up, new patio around swing


Back bedroom before the built-ins
Back bedroom - mid-renovation
Back bedroom after - Reece built the built-ins when we created the hallway laundry closet.
Front/master bedroom before
Front/master after
Bath before
Bath - mid-renovation
Bath after - new tile floor, refinished wall tile and bathtub, major drywall repair, new vanity, fresh paint
Kitchen before
Kitchen after - new tile floor, paint throughout, granite counter top, tile back splash, new appliances
Dining before
Dining/kitchen after
Front bedroom - formerly the laundry room. Where the yellow bench sits, used to be the washer/dryer unit and next to it sat a work table. The whole room was lined with wire coat racks at the ceiling. The floor in this room had not been refinished with the rest of the house so it was in pretty bad shape. We also had to replace a corner of the flooring as it was rotten perhaps from a washing machine leak. Now we've made it an office. 
Living Room - mid-drywall repair. Gives you a good idea of the amount of drywall repair. All walls were mudded where there were any imperfections and then sanded down.
Living Room - after - pretty much just paint and floors (and a new front door)

3 comments:

  1. I love the before and after pictures that you shared! Your home renovations turned out wonderful. I really like all the built-ins that you added around the home. The extra storage is such an attractive feature to many potential home buyers and renters. Good luck putting your newly renovated home on the market!

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  2. Thanks for taking the time to discuss that, I feel strongly about this and so really like getting to know more on this kind of field. Do you mind updating your blog post with additional insight? It should be really useful for all of us. renovation singapore by going to 3d innovations

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