Ch-ch-changes (Part II)

As I was looking back through our 2013, I reread this post HERE and it was really fun to see how different the house looks now.  We have had a lot of fun working in the house and dreaming about projects we can do.  I thought it would be fun to document what we've done so far.  Some rooms have drastic changes.  Some look very similar to the "before"(as in BEFORE we moved in) pictures.  I'm not sure there's one spot in the whole house where we can say it's completely finished, but that's part of the fun, I guess. So now...On to some pictures- for progress' sake!

Outside-
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After:

Haven't done much to the front.  We took down the old/breaking security door and trimmed the tree.  We'd like to paint the front door, add some landscaping, create a front court/seating area?, add shutters by the front window?

Master Bedroom-
Before:

After:

In my experience, the master bedroom seems to be neglected/the last thing to get any attention. Even though we put/replaced the carpet everywhere else upstairs we left the wood in the master.  One day we'd like to:
paint, put in new baseboard,  curtains, art work, new nightstands, reading lamp?, maybe bookshelves along the wall by the window?

Kitchen-
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After:

Took this picture before Christmas cards came down.  They are just so fun to see.

We are still saving up for a big kitchen update. We changed out the light above the sink and the light above the table.  We haven't painted the kitchen yet because for some odd reason there is a different texture in there than the rest of our home's textured walls.  I don't know why we have to have textured walls period but we aren't going to paint it if it doesn't match the rest of the house.  So you'll have to stay patient along with us for more kitchen updates.

Harry Potter 1/2 Bath-
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After:

I should have made a separate post for this room because it's gone through a lot of changes with a lot of help from Michael's dad.  We took down the full mirror,  had to texture the wall behind it (read my opinion on textured walls above), painted, added a small tile backsplash behind the faucet, new baseboards, added framed mirror and shelves with a few accessories. DONE!

Backyard-
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After:

The pool was a huge blessing during the intense summer and the fence is a must.  Other than that, we haven't done much out there yet.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit intimidated.  I want it green and pretty, but I don't want to plant things and have them die.  (My mom made gardening look so easy. I haven't developed my green thumb yet.) I want to create some more "privacy" but I don't want to create multiple places for scorpions to dwell.  I want some color, but I don't want messy plants/flowers to get in the pool.  So we are brainstorming what we want back there.

 Family Room-
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After:

^We love 'Daniel Tiger'

Phew! A few changes have gone on in here! ;) We had a carpenter build in the entertainment center.  Interesting fun fact: There used to be a window on that wall.  We are grateful someone walled that up so that we could put our build in there. We still need to paint the added cupboard doors on the entertainment center.  We painted, added new baseboards, got a new (to us) couch, new chair, new table behind the couch, new glass in the ceiling fan, put in a rug, added curtains, and beefed up the fireplace (for more about that, see HERE)

 Laundry Room-
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After:

Haven't done anything in here- except lots of laundry.  We'd like to paint the walls, add new baseboard, paint cupboards and add hardware, update window treatment?, and add hooks like we did in our Avondale house HERE for our pool towels in the summer.

Dining room-
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After:

Living Room/Dining Room-
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After:

Staircase-
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After:

Front door-
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After:

Upstairs-
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After:

We are in the process of updating the railing.  Hopefully it turns out.  Stay tuned.

Guest Bedroom-
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After:

Still needs: paint, window treatments, new baseboards, new light fixture.

Laila's Room-
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After:

We are wanting to make her room look like it did in our last house with a few updates like a build in bench/ princess reading corner by the window with some pretty window treatments.

Upstairs outdated bathroom...

After:

This room looks much happier thanks to my mom.  There's also a nice, new light fixture in there instead of the gold strip of lightbulbs that was previously there. There are a few more gold fixtures that need to be removed from there, some paint added, some wall molding, new countertop?, and stain or paint cabinets?

Spare Bedroom-
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After:

Again, paint, new light fixture, baseboard and window treatments are needed.  We will see what else this room could become one day.

It's fun seeing such a big chunk of our to-do list scratched off and I like seeing how we are starting to finish projects downstairs.  Our projects/updates are starting to inch their way upstairs.  Looking back at the "before" pictures was also a great reminder for me to see how great of a blank slate we had to work with.  We loved this house the second we walked into it and we knew that even though some of the things inside it might not be our style, things were in functioning condition.  So we've been comfortable as we keep loving on the house and making it our dream home.

Wow! Anyone make it through that? What do you think? Any tips?