Then, Our House

Nine years ago, a newly engaged couple went house hunting. They looked at home after home until they found one that no one in their right mind would want. But, they saw something in it and immediately fell in love. And slowly, they made their mark, lovingly updating each room. But, before that, it was a whole lot of crazy. So, today, a week before we move, I’m sharing before photos of our house for the first time. This is how it looked when we toured it in all its glory. Behold.

I wish this post was scratch and sniff. When we bought the house, it reeked of smoke. You can’t see it in this photo, but the formal living room had a spiral staircase tucked in one corner that was covered in rainbow shag carpeting and made of wrought iron.

Right after we moved in, we cleaned this house from top to bottom, ripped out the carpet, removed the window treatments and painted the whole thing with Killz. The shelves you see here displayed the owner’s owl collection, but were repurposed by Keegan as garage storage.

Our kitchen has probably seen one of the most dramatic transformations. You’ve seen glimpses of it for several years, but I can’t wait to show you the full enchilada tomorrow.

This is now Ellie’s playroom, but the family who lived here before us used it as a living room.

This may have been one of the scariest rooms in the house. On one wall, there were pencil drawings of Sponge Bob Square Pants and the Virgin Mary. Both had been drawn by an adult.

Until I found this photo, I’d completely forgotten the butterflies! (You can see my 26 year old reflection in the mirror if you squint.)

This is now Ellie’s room. We made a few decor changes in here……..

Oh, the master bedroom – Keegan ripped out the wallpaper almost as soon as we moved in and painted it a lovely shade of blue. It’s been the same color for the entire nine years we’ve lived here. It’s one of the few spaces that hasn’t been repainted.