I wish we would have...

Do you do remodeling in your home? Do you take "before" pictures? You really should because I regret not taking better "before" pictures of this house. In the midst of remodeling our bathroom, I was sitting here in our breakfast nook looking around and remembering the dark, dingy area it was when we moved in. Unfortunately, the only "before" picture I can find isn't really clear as to what it looked like. On the walls was a woodsy scene and I think deer were involved. The bench was brown padded vinyl.

I'm pretty proud of the things we've done with this home. With no previous experience, we two females just did stuff. We tore the breakfast nook apart and put up Wainscoting (not the real stuff that is thick, but the imitation pliable thinner stuff) around the back walls of the bench. Roni made cushions which, unfortunately, we didn't get in the "after" picture and we painted.

On a whim, I laid laminate flooring in the kitchen. Then one day I was wondering what was under the living and dining room carpet. I suspected it was hardwood so I started tearing up the carpeting and, yep, it was hardwood. I tore out the dining room first and then we rented a floor sander (I'm small so I practically rode the thing around the room), stained and polyurethaned it. It looked beautiful so I yanked out the living room carpet and repeated the procedure. After a couple of years, we realized that the dogs were too tough on hardwood so I laid laminated in the living/dining room. I think about the things we've done when we've basically gone in blind and I'm proud. Roni's Fibromyalgia worsened and I lost the mood to tear shit up so, for the last few years, we stopped doing stuff. Doing the bathroom with my dad has given me the bug again to get more stuff done.

In the spirit of documenting the remodeling process...

We only have a half wall of tile to tear off yet and we're saving that for last because the toilet and sink have to come out to do it. In the same day we have to put new flooring in. Naturally on this day I'll need to pee every 2.5 seconds because I won't be able to. Today we bought a new toilet, sink (yes, we decided to ditch the old one), medicine cabinet, faucet, light fixtures, etc. I'm getting really excited and can't wait to see the finished product.