Let the makeovers begin...

Hi all! If you're still here reading my blog I really appreciate it. It's no secret we've been trying to sell our house. It's been going on for 2 1/2 years. We've worked with several different realtors and we've tried to sell by owner. Nothing is working and things in the housing market are just getting worse in our area and there is no end in sight. We have put so much money into this house on things like the roof, furnace, water heater, sump pump, well pump and tank not to mention all of the general fixing around the house that we just can't sell the house for $50,000 like the realtors want us to like the foreclosures are going for.
So, what's next? I'm on a painting/redecorating kick trying to make it our own again, trying to make us a little more comfortable. I am done living out of boxes and if it doesn't fit in this tiny house then I guess it's time to get rid of it.

First up is getting rid of the 2004 bathroom. This is the first thing we touched when we moved into this house in the summer of 2004. I have been digging and digging trying to find a picture of the bathroom from when we first moved in but I haven't found one yet. So this is what it looks like today and what it has looked like since 2004... Don't you love my yellow sponged walls? Hey, it was better than the ivy wall paper that was there before.

I even got Lidia to willingly help take down the fishing wall paper border. A little hot water in a spray bottle and a lot of peeling and it was off in no time.

And this is where I'm headed. Something bright and clean. Lots of white and some classic bead board for this 1946 house.

Budget Kitchen Makeover

It's no secret that I hate our kitchen. I know hate is a strong word but it has just never worked for me. Two major appliances randomly on walls by themselves is the biggest problem on top of no counter space. Over the weekend we made one of these worse and one better.

My kitchen on Sunday:

My kitchen on Monday night: 

Oh my gosh, despite losing half of my counter space, I am in love!! It feels more like a kitchen already. The fridge is opening the wrong way which has been very annoying but it's not randomly off on a wall by itself anymore!

Here are another before and after shot, real life dishes, messes, Elephant & Piggie posters and all....
Before:

and after:

Our table is temporarily in the living room and the big brown cabinet we borrowed from another room to hold what was in the cabinets we took out until we work everything out.

Mudroom Makeover: Part 1

Last Thursday I decided I really wanted to take the old ripped indoor/outdoor carpet off the mudroom stairs and hopefully paint them. That little simple idea turned into a full fledged budget makeover.

The mudroom serves several purposes in this house. It is the closest entrance from our detached garage so we never use the front door because it would involve passing the side door, walking halfway down the driveway, up the porch stairs and in the front door. The mudroom also houses the basement stairs and like any mudroom, it is our general storage area - coats, shoes, dog food, etc.

On Thursday, the room looked like this after we took the carpet off the stairs and found a mess. This is at the bottom landing by the side door. Lovely paneling huh? It goes so perfect with the peel and stick red brick linoleum don't you think?

 View from the kitchen looking back down the stairs. Our general catch-all room.

A different view looking into the kitchen.

 This is how it looked on Friday after I pulled the baseboards off and started priming. I would have much rather hired someone to completely gut the room and drywall but we're trying to keep this a budget makeover so yes, I painted the paneling. The mudroom is also known as Crystal's room (the dog that keeps showing up in the pictures.) She lays on that little bench in the window and watches the world go by. She's not too happy about being displaced from her room for the weekend.

 This was the view Saturday after more painting and pulling the carpet up on the top landing. The bad and the ugly. More dirty, brittle, broken peel and stick laminate tiles.

Sunday involved more and more painting and more cleaning and prep work.