What the Appraiser Saw...

So, I have made a radical decision.

I am NOT doing Spring Cleaning this year.  No argument is going to sway me on this.

Why, you may ask...because today I did APPRAISER cleaning.  That's right!  The Appraiser came today, I no longer have that looming over me.  Please wait while we dance around our living room singing at the top of our lungs..........................................................................

Okay, you got me.  Not our living room...but you get the idea!

Thank you!  Now on to the point of this post.  Before and After pictures!!!!  Yay!  One of my favorite things!  I am very excited.

Come on in and see the place...

The entrance to Andy's room, from the completed patio.  All of our exterior doors got a coat of Behr's Red Awning.

 Actually, let's back up and go in the front door.

Isn't it cute?!  I just love the way it looks when you drive up.

I can't overstate how wonderful John Brooks from Brush Masters painting was to work with.  He was on time or early every day, he went the extra mile...he was a joy to work with.

The paint is all Behr's exterior paint.  I'm not sure of the exact shade of white, Awning Red on the doors and Tawny Port on the trim.  I love it!

"New" mailbox

And I don't want to forget my "new" mailbox.  Our old mailbox looked so sad and abused sitting in front of the spiffy new house.  But Andy said we couldn't just go out and buy a new one.  So, first thing this morning I went out and painted it with some exterior metal paint I had left over from an earlier project.  And I painted the little "please take our mail" flag Awning Red.  MUCH better.  Although the appraiser didn't mention it, I'm sure it made all the difference in the world to his appraisal :).

Okay, old front door

Cute.

new front door:

Cuter.

 Inside the front door, is the tiny little closet that we still haven't done anything to (slackers!)

but it makes a great wood closet.

 And then you walk right into what is currently my favorite room of the house.  Be prepared, I've taken a LOT of pictures.

Straight ahead view

Looking to the right.

The mantle.

The rag doll is one of Andy's mom's

My favorite seat in the whole house.  Andy found this chair at Salvation Army!  I know!

A portrait of Andy and I, painted by Karen Grathoff.  I love how abstract and complex Andy is...pretty accurate, in my opinion.

The bookshelf is one of the cupboards that we removed from over the counter, the chair came from Good Company.  I salivated over that chair for about 3 months before Andy saw it and bought it in a matter of minutes.

The calligraphy was done as a wedding present to Andy and I from our friend, Devin Bader

Same friend, 3 different ways to look at your ordinary padlock.

My favorite hat.

Once again, our amazing couch (that we had a yard sale in order to buy), and my "pallet art"

This used to be in the staff room at our Pre-School.  There, it held coffee.

My mama.

A Birthday present from Mrs. Carol and the "GCC Kids".  The kids painted all of the paper used (including the background), and Mrs. Carol Constructed the whimsical vase and flowers.  It is so cheery!

 Before and After...

Notice the lights...that's the other project that I used the oiled bronze paint for.

 You've seen the Dining room

 But you haven't seen my present from my friend Robert Brown:

and this time I didn't have to face my fear of heights :)!

And let us not forget...

Also off of the Living room is the Guest room

 And my art room!

Remember this is what the APPRAISER saw.  If you come to my room, you will see a dog crate in the corner instead of the crate :).

by Jeydan Umberger.  She's never met my friend CarrieAnn, but to me this is a portrait of Carrie.

Gone With the Wind is my favorite movie, and this old LP  has the theme song from it.  It was a Christmas present from my brother, Benjamin and his fiance Ardilla.

One of my favorite quotes, I bought several of these cards about 15 years ago and saved this one ever since.

Back painting by Karlie Vaughn, front painting a birthday present from Nora Atkins.

Before...

Whew!  Are you tired yet?  Let's just do quick pictures of the other rooms, you've seen them before...

Kitchen

Our bedroom

Bathroom.

And some final before and after exterior shots.

I love this little detail

 And our patio

Before

With our only outdoor furniture

At night.

 I can't even begin to thank Tyler Logan and Josh Rueff enough for their generous gifts of time, brawn and talent.  Thank you to everyone that helped us, and we look forward to seeing everyone at our house one week from Saturday - details to follow.

KTV