So, if you’re a regular reader you’ll have followed my Renovation Diary and Room Reveal series with interest (It’s definitely the most popular series in terms of conversations I’ve had with readers – both friends and strangers!)
There a still a few rooms I need to reveal and I will do this in time… but the truth is that this is my home, and it looks like a home. A real home, not a magazine home. You’ll probably have realised that the rooms that are “yet to be revealed” are the ones that are probably the most well used – the kids room, the scullery, the study etc.
Let’s just say I’m a bit nervous to reveal those to you 😉 They don’t look anything as organised as the previous rooms that have made it onto here do, and they certainly need a little bit of help before making them public!
What I did realise recently though is that this whole series makes absolutely no sense unless you saw the “Before” of our home. Yes, the “After” is lovely, but, when compared to the “Before”, it’s actually pretty AMAZING. And I’m allowed to say that even though it’s not terrible humble – I poured years of blood, sweat, tears and CASH into it’s transformation!
The reason I realised I needed to hunt down the “Before” pics I took the day before the renovations started was that my friend who drew up all the plans for this renovation popped in recently and even though she had conceptualised the layout and design of our new space, she couldn’t believe how different it looks now!
To give you some perspective on the total transformation of our home, and to give me some perspective too on how far we’ve come, here are my “Before” and “After” pics of our renovated space!
Front Entrance Before
Front Entrance During
Lounge Before
Lounge After
See more pics of my Lounge here
Kitchen Before
Backyard (now Kitchen)
Kitchen After
See more pics of my Kitchen here
Main Bedroom Before
Main Bedroom After
See more pics of my Main Bedroom here
Outside Before
Outside During
Outside After
See more pics of my Outdoor Living Area here
So there you have it… my “Before” and “After” post that was long overdue!
What do you think???
The most transformed space for me was definitely the kitchen area – the difference between what we had (small, dark, cramped, cluttered) and what we have is vast and completely life changing!
The rooms I’ve found the most transformational to our living space are actually both additions to our space and don’t feature in this “Before” and “After” post as they were never “Before”.
These are our en-suite bathroom (the fact that we only had 1 bathroom wsa one of the main catalysts for the entire renovation). Our renovation of the single garage (aka dumping ground) to the family room has also been so worth it. We’ve used that room every single day – and well! The kids love, we love it. It’s a great hang out space and makes our living so much more spacious and comfortable – especially when we need a bit of time together (or apart!) either way it was totally worth. The whole Renovation was! And, yes, I would do it again for the huge improvement it’s brought to our lives! So if you’re thinking of taking the leap towards renovating your own space I would encourage you to go for it, that’s provided you’ve done the numbers and have a building team you trust! I won’t lie, it’s a stressful experience, but don’t let that put you off. It’s worth it!
Read more posts about my own home renovation in my Renovation Diary and Room Reveal series.
Images: Kathryn Rossiter
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Love seeing the before with the afters! Well done on an amazing transformation.
Love it!!
All I can say is “wow” ! What a lovely home you have. The only renovation we’ve ever done has been redoing our kitchen so I know the joy you are experiencing. Love it ?
Well done – you guys have done a super job on this – the kitchen looks absolutely incredible!
Thanks so much Cindy! Hard work, but so SO worth it. We love our new space every day!!!
Wow. You have amazing taste. I have just stumbled across your blog. You have amazing style and taste. Well done.
Will visit often…got a lot of catching up to do.
Hi Lin. Thanks for the lovely comment! I’m so glad you stumbled across my space and enjoyed it. That is the whole idea!! I’m so happy to have you visiting and hope you’ll be back often as you promise!!
Wow!! Your house looks really great the kitchen and patio are to die for, how long did it take you guys to do this reno?
Wow Kathryn what an amazing transformation! I’m thinking of buying an ugly house and transforming it or building. Was googling for ideas when I stumbled across your blog. How did you replace your floor tiles with screeded floors? Was it difficult and expensive? The house we are thinking of buying and renovating also has a facebrick exterior so that’s another huge task to change. Good suggestion to dump the garage as it’s mostly use as storage. Enjoy!
Hi Kim. Thanks so much for the feedback. We are still loving our renovated space so much. It’s been more than 2 years but I’m grateful for it everyday!!! Renovating is a huge undertaking but the sense of achievement once it is done is amazing. Be prepared for a stressful season BUT know it will all be worth it in the end.
Amazing transformation. It was a great read. I loved the window blinds a lot.
I love! Thinking of buying my first home, and toying with teh idea of a fixer-upper. Good idea or not? Did it cost a ton? I’m afraid of spending 50% of the cost of the house on renovations.
Great before and after home renovation pics. Thanks for sharing!
It looks wonderful, you brought new life to an old home. We also bought an old home and started renovating it, thanks for the post and ideas.