An Amazing Home Remodel Tour – Part 1

My friend Amanda is an attorney by trade, but has the heart of a designer, and it shows in this amazing home remodel that she and her husband tackled with gusto.  I ran into her at the Salvation Army earlier this year, and she told me about their remodel back then, and I’m so thankful that she opened up her home to me and let me tour it and share it with you!  I think you’ll be as impressed and amazed as I was when I saw the transformation.  It’s an absolutely amazing home remodel, and proves that if you have some vision and don’t mind some hard work, you too can transform your home.

There is so much to share, that I’m going to break it down into a couple of posts, and I promise I will include a color palette as well, because I know you’ll be asking about the paint colors, just as I did. 🙂  Let’s get started – I have lots of before and after photos to share with you!  (Some of these photos are listing photos, some are screen shots from the original video tour).

For starters, the exterior has seen some dramatic changes, and Amanda and her husband tackled it themselves.  I love to paint, but painting exteriors is a whole different ballgame.  If you need a refresher, you can find my exterior house painting project here and the paint picking process here.  Here is the exterior before:

And now:

The front porch also got a makeover.  Here it is before – 

And now:

Now let’s get inside!  

Once inside, here is a shot of the original entryway area.

And here it is now.  New flooring and paint on the walls and trim.  What a difference those two things make in a home, yes?  And those floors – so gorgeous.  Would you even believe that they’re (wait for it) laminate?  I’m telling you, from the look, the feel (I touched them) and the sound – you would never guess that they weren’t the real deal.  It turns out that Amanda and I shop at the same flooring place, and work with the same “floor guy”.  She was able to put these floors throughout her home, whereas had she chosen real hardwoods, she would only have been able to do the first floor.  Something to consider if you’re in the flooring market.  Along with the idea of luxury vinyl flooring that I talked about here.

If you continue straight ahead, you’ll see the breakfast nook.  Here it is in its original state:

And here it is now.  I know – I just can’t.  It’s so gorgeous, isn’t it?  And the chandelier is from Ballard Designs.  I’ve always loved this chandelier style, and it’s even prettier in person than I would have imagined.

To the right of the breakfast nook is the kitchen, and it’s gotten a complete overhaul.  

Before:

I don’t quite understand the camera angle on some of these photos, so bear with me.

And yes, that’s carpet in the kitchen.

Can you even believe it’s the same house?  I had to pick up my jaw off the floor.

Off the breakfast nook is the family room.  Good bones to work with in here.

Super cozy and welcoming now, don’t you agree?

I love this little desk area, and had to laugh when Amanda pointed out that one of her three boys wrote the work “poop” on the calendar.  And I don’t think it was with a chalk pen.  Gotta love boys, don’t you?

Off of the family room is the laundry room with a bathroom – 

New flooring, paint, and a light fixture. Cabinets replaced with open shelving.

From the laundry room, you can go out to a beautiful enclosed porch.  Before it had red carpet.

Now it’s luxury vinyl and a gorgeous gray on the wall.

Now, we’re tracking back through the house to the dining room that’s off of the kitchen.  I don’t think I fully appreciated its metamorphosis – all of that wallpaper.  You really had to have vision to see the potential here.

Those drapes are just perfect, aren’t they?  She scored them at Restoration Hardware Outlet for a song.  They really kick up the custom factor in here, don’t they?

Then there is the living room which is off of the dining room, but also off of the entry when you first enter the house.  Here is the view from the dining room:

And here it is now:

Another view – from the front door:

And now:

I realized I didn’t get any photos of the bathrooms on the main floor – one is still under construction, and the other one I forgot to photograph.  I promise there will be some bathroom photos in part two of the tour, along with a paint color palette.

What do you think?  Are you as blown away as I am?

Jenny

SaveSave

SaveSave