Evolution of a House

Yesterday morning, Scott had to leave for a quick work trip (as in -- he's already back today).  Before he left, he hugged me tight and told me he would be praying for me.  He's been super worried about me because I've been so stressed with house stuff, and in turn, I've been super worried about him because he's had his own super stress going on with finishing up work stuff.  We've been quite the duo lately.  Haha.  As he was leaving, I told him not to worry about me while he was gone -- even though  I woke up that morning with a horrible chest cold/sinus thing and I still had to get the whole house ready for the listing pictures that afternoon -- because I said I knew there would be tender mercies.

And there were.

The first thing I saw when I looked at my phone yesterday morning was a text from a friend asking how I was doing.  Because I was in such desperate need of help, I actually told her the truth and said I was not doing so great.  Her response was an immediate call to action and she recruited another friend to come over and help me clean the house.  And she brought dinner with her, too!  Less than 20 minutes after I responded to the first friend, another friend texted and asked if I needed any help getting the house ready for pictures that day.  Once again -- I went the truthful route and told her that I would LOVE some help.  After dropping Isaac off at preschool that morning, I was able to whip the house into shape ONLY because of the help of these three friends.  They were literally a godsend.  Like for real.  When I texted Scott to tell him how immediately the tender mercies had come, he was so grateful he almost cried.  And that's saying something.  ;)

By the time the realtor came over yesterday afternoon to take pictures, the house looked amazing.  I am so truly thankful for the helping hands that have aided in this process.  The house gets listed tomorrow and Friday it will be open for showings.  It's hard to believe that we're already at this point!   

To close out this post, I'll go straight to the part you've all been waiting for -- prepare yourself for an ONSLAUGHT of before and after pictures, from the beginning of our time in this house until now.  

The Front

(The top is Before and the bottom is After -- although, it's a pretty old shot of the After.

Changes made were in paint colors -- Tricorn Black on the doors and shutters; Dover White on the skylights and window trim.  Both by Sherwin Williams.)

Front Hall View

 (All of the Before pictures are from our house hunting trip here, and thus have all the previous owners' stuff in them.  Just as an FYI.)

Paint color is Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams and that's what we had painted throughout the entire house for the sale, per our realtor's suggestions.  Before we moved into the house, we refinished the floors with a darker stain.  It's not DARK, but it's the perfect medium between dark and light to minimize the appearance of dirt and messes.  Which -- with a bunch of kids -- as I'm sure you can imagine, is an important quality.  ;)

Dining Room

 A little bare, but the realtor didn't seem concerned about staging anything.  I still feel like I should do SOMETHING.

Office

 We put hardwood floors in this room along with the Dining Room when we first moved in.

Kitchen

 The only real change in the Kitchen was new paint.

Back Room

 The room was so dark before with that maroon paint.

Family Room

 Slipcovers for the win!  Our couches are so trashed at this point, that we'll be chucking them with the move.  We didn't want to get new ones until we're in the new house and can find something that will fit the space.

 In addition to different wall color, I painted the fireplace tiles when we first moved into the house.  They used to be hunter green.  Now they're Simply White by Benjamin Moore.  Also -- the banister is painted Black Fox by Sherwin Williams.

Upstairs Hall

The molding on the bottom was painted solid Simply White by the painters.  I wish we would have done it 5 years ago.

Alex and Isaac's Room

 New paint, old furniture -- winning combination.  Hahaha.

Ethan's Room

(Ocean View by Behr was the color of Ethan's room up until this point.)

 Scott and I both joked about how spartan Ethan's bedroom looks in these pictures.  I really should have taken a before of what his room looked like before he hauled everything to the basement for the painters to get to work.

(The Many Iterations of) Grace's Room

 These Before pictures are from the previous owners.

 Bird's Egg by Benjamin Moore was the first draft of her room. 

 Dahlia by Sherwin Williams was the second.  And to be honest, I actually really loved this color.  For being so dark and bold, it was oddly relaxing.  Haha.  This paint job happened at the end of last summer when Grace decided she needed a change.

 Final draft is the Accessible Beige that's in every other room.

(And The Many Iterations of ) Sophie and Jane's Room

 The original color.

 First draft was a custom mixed color, which I liked to call Cupcake Frosting.

 When Grace decided to change things up in HER room last summer, Sophie and Jane decided they wanted to change things as well.  This color was also really lovely and relaxing -- maybe there's just something to shades of purple.  Haha.  Hyacinth Tint by Sherwin Williams was the name of this game.

And the Master Bedroom (of which I have no before pictures)

 For some reason, I never got a picture of the Master Bedroom on our house hunting trip.  And I was so anxious to change the brown-and-yellow-sponging-effect paint that was IN the room, that I didn't even stop to take a before.  

 The color I painted it originally (Antique Bone by Ralph Lauren -- a creamy beige) isn't all that different from this one, but I like this one better for sure.  I got a little burnt out on the Antique Bone after using it so much.

And that's a wrap! Once again, I didn't document bathrooms, because bathrooms are kind of gross, but you get the gist of things.  (And if you've made it through all these pictures without scrolling completely past everything, you should win an award.  Hahahaha.)  Until next time!