Now, without any further ado, I give you the before and after pictures of our lovely home!

This is the front of our lovely home.

As you can see, we changed the shutters and added small shutters to the small window on the left, added a new storm door, painted the 144 above our door, cut down the random bush to the left of the door, and added a hanging fern, compliments of Grace Ogden, Chad’s grandmother.

Still to do: paint the door green like the shutters, paint the lantern black, and re-lay the path from the door to the drive. You can’t see the path very well from these pictures, but if you could, you would feel the need to play hopscotch from one stone to the next (not so fun in the rain).

Next, the kitchen. We made the window into a sliding glass door to give more light in the kitchen, and to allow another way to the backyard without having to go through our bedroom or the garage.

Our Bedroom. Not that this change is a huge change in function, but these old sliding doors were NOT easy to open, the only lock was the safety bar at the floor, and we found that the “closed door” that was bolted and inoperable was bolted from the outside. Anyone with a screw gun could have unbolted the door and gotten in with no problem! New french doors with built-in blinds and locks that work are a huge step up!

Lastly, the backyard.

So much difference! Both new sets of doors, a new garage door, new lamps beside each door to match our lantern in the yard, a fresh coat of paint (not a ton of difference in color, but much cleaner and brighter looking), a new swing, compliments of the Borders parents, and the green iron plant holders (also found in the kitchen next to the door).

Not pictured: the new faucets in each sink, the nursery (that’s a blog by itself), and the furniture that was brought from my grandparents’ house.

We have definitely enjoyed this updating process and are SO grateful for all the help my parents gave! There’s no way we could have done this so quickly on our own. This nesting mommy feels well prepared in her cozy and comfy little nest! Thanks mom and dad!