From Hovel to Home

The last time I posted any photos of the family room it looked like this We cleaned it up a bit in preparation for the drywall And then I didn't bother to take any photos until we had the carpet installed. We're not finished yet.  We still need to finish the fireplace and get some trim installed, but the room is looking infinitely better.

 After four houses Luke and I have changed.  Our tastes and ideas have evolved.  Our abilities and budgets have increased along the way and I think this is most obvious in the evolution of our laundry rooms Rapid City, SD Before - Our first home had a large laundry room.  With so many holes in the walls we had a lot of mice to contend with at first. After - Although the room was spacious we had almost no storage.  Luke was in college and I was paying his tuition so there wasn't a lot of money left over for cabinets.  It was my first time laying tile and I was immediately hooked. Wenatchee, WA Our second house had a very small, very gross laundry room.  The wall was full of mold and the gap under the door did nothing to keep mice out.  We removed the window so we could stack the washer and dryer. The stacked washer/dryer allowed space for a few cabinets and a drying rack.  Because the laundry room was directly off th...

  Three years ago the laundry room was just a messy corner of the basement. We turned one wall into a large utility closet which made for a smaller laundry room, but left it looking cleaner. Eventually the little room got a new window, lights and insulation. A few weeks later the room was finished.  The floor tile was a clearance find for $.57 per sq ft.  We bought it three years ago and have moved the boxes at least a dozen times over the last three years.  Last year I debated buying a premade laundry room sink and cabinet from Costco but balked at the $299 price tag.  Instead we bought cherry cabinets from craigslist, a sink and faucet from Restore and I built the countertop out of sheetformica.  Total cost $245. The pattern on the formica can hide just about anything. That $245 price tag also includes the cabinet on the other side of the room over the freezer.  I had LED undercabinet lighting leftover from the ...