"Before and after"

I've decided that I'm finally back on my "mental" feet enough to share some photos of our hard work from the past few months. We are all driven by different things. For Mel and I, we obviously have developed a pattern of somehow finding a sense of satisfaction in our lives by making improvements. I honestly can't say if we would be so driven to do so if we won the lottery and were just able to buy whatever we wanted/ needed in brand new "perfect" condition. We kind of started on this pattern early in our marriage. Our first furniture purchase was "unfinished" furniture from Fred Meyer. It was my first hands-on experience with furniture finishing. I remember our next door neighbor in our duplex ( who also was a successful bachelor/ lawyer that owned the duplex) commented that he was impressed with my little furniture project. I told him that hopefully it would mean more to me through the years than something we bought at the Bon. We do still have those lovely pieces ( that are now rec room furniture and the nightstands in our bedroom) and have added more to our collection including the bunk beds that we bought for the boys and sanded down, refinished etc. So goes the story for our homes that we have had. Somehow or other we are attracted to places ( or perhaps the price tag on it) that need some love. It's so funny because I look back on the past 6 years or so where after having Dominic, I thought I really needed to focus on finding myself and what drives me, all that stuff -- my "purpose" so to speak. I have done so many different things in those years from stay-at-home mom to part-time working mom, soccer mom, librarian, music minister, bookkeeper, and then back to full-time working mom again -- and funny enough, the one recurring theme is I like those projects that give our home(s) some love and make it ours. So here's a little gallery of our latest conquest. The 1970's split-level that we now call HOME. Before and after, of course!
I must mention that the stairs were rebuilt professionally, but guess what, that furniture refinishing experience paid off for me. We bought unfinished oak stair treads and I finished them to match the new hardwood floors. A little spray paint on the railings until we can afford something nicer and it doesn't look too bad!
Let me mention that you don't see photos of some of the areas that still need improvement. What do you do with an "avacado" tub, toilet and sink? They will be outta here eventually.

I can't close this blog without mentioning that there was a lot of work other than what you see. Mel drilled new screws into every inch of the upstairs subfloor and had to replace one whole section. He also had to scrape glue off the basement floor and seal every crack before the new carpet was laid. My brother, Mark, had to do some head-scratching to figure out how to "trim out" the stair well so it looked finished with the new hardwood floor. My mother painted, and painted, and painted. Mom and I also spent two days scraping "popcorn" off 4 bedroom ceilings. You never have really appreciated a ceiling until you've done that! And . . . . Jen was the chief wallpaper remover!

I'll close this by saying, I must have some "Bohl" blood in me somewhere except I didn't bake a pie at the end of the day.
Anyhow, aaaaahhhh home! Can't wait to work on the yard this spring.