The Before

When I walked into this house for the first time, I immediately saw all the dark woodwork.  I am a fan of white woodwork so this was a huge problem for me.  This house already has less natural light than our previous home because of it's layout and window sizes.  The dark woodwork just amplifies that issue.  

As I sit here and look around I can see the changes taking place.  I can see more light.  Maybe it's my age or just the stage of life that I am currently in.  Or maybe it's the fact that I am home every day teaching my kids and working on the house.  Whatever the reason, I am definitely craving more light....more sunlight...more white...more lightheartedness.  

Today I want to show you a few before pictures of our home.  We have already made some changes but there is still so much to do.  These are some of the pictures taken when we came to see the house.  

Front Room or Formal Living Room

Kitchen

I think the combination of the dark woodwork, dark cabinets, stained carpets, and outdated linoleum paints a pretty grim picture.  It was very hard for me to imagine this as my dreamed of cottage.  That's where the visionary in me had to kick in and take over.  It was either that or get very very sad. 

Little by little transformations are taking place around here, in our home and in our family.  We have begun remodeling. We are growing together here.  That makes it worth all the effort.  I hope to show you the process as we go along.  Some things are already completed, but there is still so much to do.  It is definitely about finding balance between working, cooking, family time, household projects, outside activities, and resting.  That is possibly the biggest challenge we face.