I have been working hard this week putting away the furniture and massive amounts of house stuff my parents (finally!) gave back to me .  Then I got the house together to show to a friend of a friend.

It is finally cleaned up enough that I can post some pictures.  It is still a major amount of work to be done, so let’s consider these to be work-in-progress photos.  When possible, I am posting before and in-progress pictures.

Living Room

Changes: Floors stained & refinished. Trim Painted. Poop brown wall painted off white like most of the house.  Lights replaced (not visible).  This is the decorated half of the room. The other half is sadly decorationless.

Desperately in need of a new couch and chairs (instead of a couch and loveseat). These old couches are a disgrace.  When we are actually preparing to sell the house, I will probably us a TV armoire I have in storage rather than that TV stand.  And also, please send decorations, quick!

Dining Room

Added chandelier, floors, painted trim, etc.  Desperately in need of a rug. because there is so much dark furniture and dark floor that there is no color.  That sideboard is going to my friend Peg’s the next time I drive down south and I have a variety of plates to hang on the wall instead of what you see there.

From the kitchen doorway

Through the door on the left is what I affectionately like to call “the world’s smallest playroom.”

Playroom (formerly known as the Vestible.)

I don’t have any before pictures, but it was a very tiny room with a hallway that was a second entrance to the kitchen.

Half Bath

Off the playroom, is the downstairs half bath.  We closed off the hallway to the kitchen and moved a door, so it has a weird little antechamber, but it is a huge improvement.  I don’t have any before pics, but trust me, it was GROSS. It smelled like pee and had a nasty, stained sink that was better suited to a gas station bathroom than a house.

This is the shelf that is trying to make use of the space.  If you ever visit my house, the extra toilet paper is hidden in that box on the bottom shelf.

For as small as this room is, it was a bitch and a half to get finished.  The wall was closed with drywall, the door & frame had to be relocated, the walls had to have a weird tile pattern patched and sanded out, and a new sink and toilet were added and the whole thing was painted.  Unfortunately, it was a nightmare trying to find a vanity to fit in that tiny place and also the plumbing comes in from the side and goes out diagonally (don’t ask…old house) so I couldn’t use a pedestal.   I just went with a wall mounted sink to just get it over with.  I hate the pipes and regret the decision, but the plumber was big nightmare fiasco so I am moving on for the time being.

Kitchen

Before

Now closed off door where the fridge is.

The kitchen is a work in progress.  So far, we have added new lights over the sink, undercounter lights,new knobs, new appliances and painted it. It doesn’t look so bad in the picture, but the yellow on the walls was incredibly irritating (though it isn’t quite so bad in the pictures). It made me want to punch someone.  It is hard to tell from the picture, but the light blueish gray I painted the walls, makes the cabinets’ green not nearlyso hideous.  Also, the counters are not orange in person.  They are a light colored butcher block.

The next step is to remove a cabinet from beside the sink and install a dishwasher and new sink.  Then, we will move that cabinet and a new one to create a new counter top by the fridge.  And maybe I will add a new cabinet above and next to the stove. Then all the cabinets will be painted white. (hallelujah!) We will also need a new floor and new countertops on the new cabinets. In this pic without the green cabinets, you can see how much better the kitchen will be once they are painted white.