The before and after and after after

I've moved a lot and know how busy and tiring it is, but this is the first time that I've bought a house and this has felt at least 10-times more exhausting than a normal condo purchase. The combination of dealing with the contractors that sold me the house and that fixed up the house (a frustrating experience worth a full other post), buying the stuff to use and maintain the house, moving, then fixing/maintaining the house is a lot of work. Especially for one person. And especially when there is a time deadline.

I'm finally at a point where I can now relax and fix/arrange things at a leisurely pace. Now is the time to finally post some pictures!

This is what the main floor bathroom looked like when I closed on the house. The wood floor was rotting and the countertop was cracked all the way across:



This is what the main floor bathroom looks like now. I picked the finishes from the contractor, but didn't see the actual cabinet until after it was installed. It's a little too big for the bathroom, but works well for now:



The house was missing a lot of the 'finishing touch' woodwork. The crown moulding did not go all the way to the ceiling and the bookcases had been painted grey and the detailwork was missing. These are some pictures from before the contractors started, during the process of adding additional moulding, and after painting and moving in:









And these are some photos of the final results. I posted more pictures in my Picasa account of the before, during, and after for those of you who are curious (just e-mail me for the link).





The kitchen and dining area:



The main floor bedroom (a.k.a. guest room):



The top floor bedroom and bath after new carpet, paint, and adding 3 solar tube lights:








The entrance from the driveway and the ground-level basement (disregard the boxes which need to be unpacked/put-away):









And finally, the flowers that my mom planted in the front are still alive. Yes, Mom, I have been watering them:



Next steps: The new windows are supposed to be installed in September. Then I will get new curtains and window shades. And I also plan on adding a carport to both provide some shelter from the rain and increase resale value of the house (which might not mean much if the economy keeps heading down the current path).