Our Rancher: Before & After - The Guest/Hall Bath.

This before and after is a little tough to illustrate.  Our former hall/guest bath was tight.  The doorway was narrow...the vanity was too big for the space.  It was from the 1950's and not comfortable to use.

Our master bath was even worse.  It was also original to the house, much smaller, had a sink too small to ever wash your face in, the shower was leaking...and, well, I'm pretty sure you could be sitting on the toilet AND washing your hands at the same time.

So yay for having two bathrooms (we previously only had one), but booooooooo that neither worked for us.  Thankfully, they backed up to each other, and were right next to a master bedroom closet.

Here is the floorplan before:

Legend:

(1) – Stairs to the Basement

(2) – Hallway Coat Closet

(3) – Linen Closet #1

(4) – Linen Closet #2

(5) – Main Bath

(6) – Master Bath

(7) – Bedroom #1 Closet

(8) – Bedroom #2 Closet

(9) – Bedroom #3 Closet

(10) – Master Bedroom Closet #1

(11) – Master Bedroom Closet #2

And here is it is after we combined the two bathrooms and stole a little bit of master bedroom closet #1:

Legend:

(1) – Stairs to the Basement

(2) – Hallway Coat Closet

(3) – Linen Closet #1

(4) – Linen Closet #2

(5) – Main Bath

(6) – Bedroom #1 Closet

(7) – Bedroom #2 Closet

(8) – My Closet (Master Bedroom Closet #1)

(9) – Hubby’s Closet (Master Bedroom Closet #2)

(10) – Master Bathroom

(11) – Master Bedroom Closet #3

Hopefully those explanations and floor plans can help you visualize the transformation below.  And considering our renovations were done on a tight budget, I think this bath turned out great!!

Bye-bye 1950's....

I love how spacious this bathroom is now!

Make sure you're all caught up with our before and after posts here: the intro, part one, two, three, four, five and six!

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Hallway.

I'm sure some of you are thinking that a hallway does not deserve it's own "before and after" post...especially in our humble ranch.  In many homes, they are merely a walkway to get from point A to point B.  And while that is true, our view has changed quite a bit from when we signed on the dotted line.

Removing a few walls, adding some pot lights and a stencil (or two) has definitely improved our modest hall.  I still have manyyy picture frames to hang here before I can call this "complete", but it's getting there.

Not too bad, huh?  I can't wait to share our guest bedrooms and bath!

And catch up on the rest of the "then and now" series with these links...the intro, part one, two, three, four and five!

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Fireplace.

At first glance, you'd think our fireplace was hopeless.  It was like the rest of our house...depressing, drab and outdated.  I was just thankful to have a fireplace and knew, with a little effort, it wouldn't be so bad!

Truth be told, I'm hoping this isn't a true "after" for you guys.  I dream of installing a gas insert, and maybe a bit more trim.  It's already become one of my favorite focal points in our great room, but I know in my heart it can get even better!!

With a little paint and a lot of courage (to tackle my first tiling job), our fireplace went from bleh to beautiful!

Don't forget to check out the intro, part one, two, three and four of our rancher "before and after" series! Next up is our hallway...aka my stenciled labor of love. ;)

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Kitchen.

Sorry for the mini-break I took to reveal my DIY jewelry organizer...but it's back to the before and afters! (Insert round of applause here.)

This series has been a blast to put together!  I hope you guys are enjoying it too.  If you've missed the intro, part one, part two or part three, make sure you catch up!

Now it's time to show how our dark, closed-off kitchen became a bright light in our home.  I may have mentioned before that I'm so ready to overhaul our 1954 cabinets...but until we a) hit the lottery, or b) save up the funds, I, at least, have a pretty kitchen to look at. ;)

Our kitchen hasn't changed a whole lot since I revealed the renovation, right after we moved in,so here's a little refresher...

We couldn't afford a new kitchen, so I made it look as new as possible.  We painted the cabinets, added new hardware, ripped out the linoleum and continued hardwoods throughout. We removed the restaurant booth (yes, I said restaurant booth) and used the cabinet from the back side of it to create an island.  We also added lighting, new appliances, a new backsplash and countertops.  It made a world of difference, and I couldn't believe how great our 1954 kitchen looked.

What do you think...should we have just kept the old look?! ;)

DIY Jewelry Organizer.

Today I'm taking a little break from our before and after series to show off a project I wrapped up not too long ago.  Don't worry, it'll be back soon...showing off our 1954 cabinets, in all their painted glory!

If you follow my Instagram account, it's no surprise to you that I love jewelry.  I'm a huge fan of the statement necklace and I have wayyyy more than is necessary for just one person.

Here's a snap shot of my current collection, and embarrassingly enough, this is after I purged 2/3 of what I used to have.

Since we moved into our house a few years ago, I've slowly been making my way through different areas of our home and clearing it out!  I've focused my attention on my closet and jewelry more times than I want to admit, and each time, I still found a ton to sell/donate/toss.

Now I'm not announcing that I'm on my way to becoming a minimalist...it's just not in the cards for this girl (although I so wish I could do it!!), but I do find something incredibly therapeutic about cleaning up and clearing out unnecessary material possessions.  For me, it frees up space in both our house and my mind.  And hopefully what I've left myself with is a collection of things I actually use, actually want and actually love.

Then it's time to organize said things.

When it comes to my clothing, jewelry and shoes, if I don't see it, I won't wear it.  I need visual access to my wardrobe to keep it fresh in my mind.  This is probably definitely because I have too much clothing, and therefore can't remember all of my options.  What happens then?  I wear 20% of my wardrobe 80% of the time.  (FYI, I'm well aware this is a first world problem and I sound like a huge brat right now.  I'm hanging my head in shame as I type...)

So when it came time to create a jewelry organizer, I knew I needed to see it all.  And since this organizer was going to be hung on a wall in our bedroom, I needed the display to somewhat double as art.

Throughout the process of this DIY, I had mixed emotions about how it was turning out.  Thankfully, I stayed the course, kept patient and it all worked out!  I really love the statement it makes against our dark walls and the immediate access to all of my pretty, sparkly things. ;)

Stay tuned for the wing-it-as-I-go tutorial!  And let's take bets on how long it takes me to actually hang this on my wall. ;)  We all know how I feel about hanging things...UGH!

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Our Rancher: Before & After - The Dining Room.

I've talked about the inspiration behind this little series, posted part one, posted part two and now it's time for the dining room.  Like our living room, this space needed less walls, new windows, no more shag and some serious lighting.

I'm sure you can guess the next stop will be the kitchen! ;)