Our Rancher: Before & After.

Quite often I find myself daydreaming about changing/fixing/renovating aspects of our beloved home. If hubby had it his way, we'd re-side the place, add some stone detail and take care of our cracking front steps.  I don't mind the charm of our 1950's wood siding and focus my thoughts on things inside our house.  I'd love to install a gas insert in our fireplace and finish our icky basement...but mostly, I dream of renovating our kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, our kitchen has come so far from it's dark beginning!  We fixed it up as best we could, with the budget we had.  I love it's charm, but hate it's function.  Unfortunately, the original 1954 cabinets are showing their age and I find myself planning a kitchen reno that might not happen for quite some time.

It's so easy to get caught up in all the work left on the to-do list, that I like to remind myself of just how far we've come.

And our ranch has come a long way, baby!  The first time we laid eyes on it, I saw potential...and hubby saw a nightmare.  Actually, I think his exact reaction involved letting out a few expletives and a refusal to even tour the whole house.

It was dark, closed off and smelled.  The kitchen and baths were original to the 1954 house...and the master bath was leaking and no bigger than a postage stamp.  BUT, it had potential.

It was a 4 bedroom house in a neighborhood of mostly 3 bedrooms.

If we removed all the walls, we'd have a perfect open layout.  

If we combined the two bathrooms into one, we'd have a huge hall bathroom to accommodate guests and future kiddos.  

If we closed off the third bedroom, I could create a great master ensuite.

If we refinished the original hardwoods, they'd look like new.

If we replaced all the doors and windows, it'd update the look and efficiency of the old home.

If we replaced the roof, we'll be good for the next 25 years.

If we threw a fresh coat of paint on, well, everything...it'd look like a million bucks.

If, if, if...

For a house that was priced way too high considering it's condition, I was throwing around a whole lot of if's.  BUT, the price dropped...and the day it went down, I made sure we were there to see it.

Thankfully, hubby trusted the vision and the house was ours.  We bought our green monster.

My next few posts will be a "then and now" series showing our home when we bought it and how it looks now.  I started this series on Instagram (#RRRbeforeandafter) and loved it so much, that I couldn't help but want to post it to the blog too!  I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! :)

Now, what renovations are you guys daydreaming about?!