A house becomes a home.

Our family has been bugging us for photos & updates & basically to create one of these blogs. So here we are ... caving to peer pressure!

This first post is more of a trial run; to get the hang of the ins & outs. So please bear with us. But I thought I'd put a couple of photos of before & after of our home. Here goes....

This is kind of a 'during' photo. I didn't have a great 'before' shot. But this white carpet was throughout the entire house. (Even the bathrooms!!) When we ripped it out we found that beautiful yellow linoleum that you can see under the trashcan!

Lance hard at work installing the Pergo.

We had to put in a new sub floor for half of the first level; so two of Lance's friends came over to help out. They did a fantastic job & from the squeaks (or lack thereof) you can tell where Lance & I left off & Lance, Randy & Brad began!

The three guys hard at work, out on our back deck.
The finished floor!(L) Basement before carpet. (R) After carpet.
















Lastly painting. The stairs were oh so fun! Thank goodness we had Lindsay's ladder & extension poles! (L) Lance. (R) Dad held the ladder while mom climbed up to do trim.

Well, I know I started by saying before & after shots but our realtor is coming next week to take the 'official' photos of the house for her advertisements so maybe I'll just wait until then...

All in all our home looks great! We completely ripped out the flooring in the basement & main floors. (Put in new carpet in the basement & Pergo on the main floor, along with new trim & baseboards. Thank you Brad & Randy for your help.) We painted all of the main floor & the 2 stairwells. (Thank you mom, dad & Lindsay for your help.) Put in new floors in 2 bathrooms (that was my learning experience!) We refinished the back deck as well as replaced the step for the deck. (Thank you Randy again.) All of this amongst other odds & ends.

The house looks completely different from the bachelor pad that it was & truly feels like a home now. Thank you so very much to everyone who pitched in & helped us out and also to those of you who listened to us go on about the process! Now let's just see if anyone else falls in love with the place enough to make an offer...