we moved into our current house eight years ago.
we’ve done a lot of work on our home, but parts of it still need some major updating.
when we moved in, i took photos of all of the rooms in the house. i didn’t write a blog back then, but as an interior designer, i was used to taking “before” photos for client projects.
i knew that this house would be an ever evolving project of my own, so wanted to make sure i had photos.
i have written a post about our backyard using our “before” photos, but i haven’t written about any of the interior spaces with the before photos.
we are in the process of working on some additional updates to the house, so i thought it would be fun to start some “before and after” posts.
so, here it goes…

one of the reasons we bought this house eight years ago was because it wasn’t updated. yes, you read that right. we looked at houses that had been updated, but none of them had been updated the way we liked. and, even bigger than that, none of them had the lot that this house has. you can always change the interior of your home, but you can’t add to the lot it sits on!

the view from the kitchen window has changed a lot over the last eight years!

we updated all the appliances first.

then, i added our mason jar pendant lights.


in 2013, we {i} painted the cabinets…

and, we had laminate flooring installed on our entire first floor.
fast forward to twenty-sixteen…







these photos were taken at approximately the same time of day during february…eight years apart!
after living through the transition over the last eight years, i needed a side by side…







you guys, the majority of the change came from PAINT!
yes, we put in new appliances and floors, but the big change came on the walls and cabinets.
that being said, if i had it to do all over again, i would have gone about the painting differently. three years ago my kids were three and five and home with me most days. i did this all over the summer with them home! so, the paint job is far from professional, but it makes a big difference!
i cannot go into HOW to paint your cabinets…there are a lot of other places to figure that out, but what i can say is if you think it will make a difference in your kitchen {and home}, it will. there is no question about that.

well, that was a lot of fun. i am excited to visit each of the main rooms in our home {before and after} in the next few weeks!
home is…eight years and a little paint.