The making of a home

It's been a little over a year since our home remodel was complete, and as we are about to start on finishing the basement, I needed to remind myself that all the mess and destruction is actually worth it. I can't find the pictures of the destruction, the piles of rubble that filled the dinning room, the layers of dust that covered everything, our makeshift kitchen that consisted of cereal, chips, and bottled water in a rubbermaid bin in the living room... it's probably good that I can't find those pictures or I wouldn't let Isaac tear down the garage wall. At least that mess will be mostly contained to the basement, right?

We bought our house from the original owner. She moved in right after the home was built in the 1940s and paid $3,ooo for it. She kept great care of our little house, but didn't do a single thing to update it!

The kitchen before. Notice the lovely contact paper on the walls, the two cabinets above the sink (that's all, just two cabinets) and zero counter space, due to the huge cast iron sink.

Voila! The kitchen after:
Isaac tore down the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room- and with such a small kitchen, it made a huge difference! Thank goodness for Ikea where we got our cabinets, thank goodness for dishwashers, and even thank goodness for my ugly brown stove. Isaac's mom keeps telling him to buy me a new one, and I think I'm about ready for! For my birthday last year, Isaac put in a TV under the cabinet that flips down. It sure makes doing dishes a lot more bearable.

The view from the dining room into the kitchen (yes, that is a shower curtain):
when Isaac got done with it:

As much as we loved her carpet and linoleum...
we changed things to suit our taste a little bit more.
Besides knocking out the wall and opening the room up, Isaac made the hall closet smaller, moved the fridge, and put in pantry shelves. Our little lady must not have eaten anything- there was zero room to store anything!
You could barely get downstairs with the fridge in the way. Smarty pants Isaac thought up this design. (Yes, those are license plates above the door- Illinois & Wisconsin. And goodness, my fridge looks cluttered. If I had Photoshop at work, I would make it look much better!)


The dining room then:
The dining room now:
View from the kitchen to the dining room then:
and now:
In the living room, we painted and removed the carpet. Just recently Isaac put shelves in the alcoves- now I have a place to put all of my decorations!
Our Home:

Okay, I think I'm ready to tackle the basement... (P.S. that is the tree skirt I made. Thanks to my mom for walking me through it over the phone!)