Last year, my boyfriend and I purchased our first home. We spent all of the summer remodeling. We pulled up old floors, refaced our fireplace, put in new cabinets and countertops, sanded and stained woodwork, and repainted all of the rooms. It was quite an undertaking, but we are so pleased with the results. With the help of our family and especially my step-father, we were able to pull off most of the work by ourselves. Although we went over budget, we managed to save a lot of money doing the work ourselves. I thought you would enjoy seeing our before and after shots. I love interior decorating and repurposing decor and furniture. Our style is more on the rustic side with touches of clean modern lines.

Here are some of the before and after photos so you can get a good idea of just what went into this remodel.

The refacing of the fireplace. We were hesitant to do this ourselves, but my boyfriend and step-dad tackled the job like pros.

And yours truly got a lesson in home construction

The sanding of the woodwork was the most tedious part of the remodel for me. I don’t mind painting or laying floors, but sanding was not my jam.

Choosing the flooring was very difficult. We wanted to go with something classic but we also love the distressed look. We ended up going with a wide plank dark birch with some light distressing. We would have liked to do lighter with even more distressing, but we figured this would be a safer bet in case we sell in the future.

And now for the fun part, decorating! This is where we are able to add special touches and pops of colors. We stayed with a neutral pallet on the walls so that we could always brighten things up with different colored accents.

I enjoy rustic elements like rattan and weathered wood pieces. This folding trestle table was meant for our sunroom, but we are currently using it for our dining space until we find (or build) a dining table that is the correct measurements and style we like. I found this one at Homegoods for only $300. The blown glass pendant chandelier is from Pottery Barn.

We still have some more finishing touches to add but I am very pleased with what we have done so far. Our home is a wonderful place for me to work and be inspired. I hope it will inspire you too!