On April 22, 2010 we embarked on a new journey! The journey of home ownership! We bought a foreclosure in pretty miserable shape and spent the next several months renovating it to make it livable and home. We still have lots of work left to make it exactly how we have in mind, but it’s home! Here’s a taste of the changes we’ve made:
House Before
House After
Kitchen Before
Kitchen After
Master Bathroom Before & After
Above the headboard in our bedroom
We painted every square inch of the house both inside and out as well as refinished all that cabinets in the house. We tore a hole in a wall and made a 20×20 playroom into a garage. We scrubbed all 3000 square feet of floors, walls and ceilings. Our to-do list never seemed to end, but we did get to a stopping point! Right now we’re working on maintaining the house as well as landscaping. 
Keeping Up the Villa
Repairing the Air Ducts
The Workbench
The Viewing Hole
The Inspiration for Renovating
Building the Fence Part One, Part Two and Part Three
The Villa Decorated for CHRISTMAS!
Framing the Bathroom Mirror
New Quilt and Sheets
New Couch
What a great job! My husband would love to renovate/build a home, but it kinda stresses me out too much. We’ve done some stuff to our previous houses and I always love the finished project, just not the leading up to it.
Thanks! And yeah, it can be easy to get stressed out, but knowing ahead of time that you will probably be stressed helps a lot. It’s much better to go into it knowing your limitations and recognizing that you will probably get stressed than to go into a renovation thinking that it will all be easy peasy lemon squeezy. I bet you guys would do great!
Wow! You guys did an amazing job re-doing the house!
I especially love your kitchen…so beautiful!
Our current project is the kitchen: tearing down TWO layers of wall paper, painting, countertops, laying down tile floor…should be fun! 
My family and I are working on re-doing our home, though at a much slower pace.
Thanks for your comments on my blog, and the StS blog, too! We really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us-it means a lot!
Thanks so much! And yeah, I really love our kitchen! It’s one of my favorite rooms to be in!
Have fun with your kitchen remodel! You should post pictures when you finish!
Wow! I really like the changes you made. The outside is gorgeous and I love the colour!
Thanks so much! We are really proud of all our work!
We also bought a foreclosure house. Yours looks great.
Thanks! We worked hard on it.
I love it when people aren’t afraid to be bold with colour and texture! The splashback in the kitchen is brilliant. Ahhh, love reno’s!
Thanks! That backsplash is my pride and joy!
you’re house looks beautiful! i’m living in a little shoebox of a studio right now but i’m perfectly happy although i can’t help thinking it would be nice to have a (way) bigger closet! thanks for the blog comment it’s definitely awesome meeting other Jesus girls out there
ps you have a greattt recipe list i’m going to make a ton of meals off your list particularly those involving chicken!! <3
I hear ya! When we first got married we lived in 400 square feet (with pink cinderblock walls to boot!) so we understand living in small spaces with no closet space, haha!
Oooh… whatever you try from the list, please let me know how it turns out for you! I love hearing how recipes turn out for other people.
how beautiful! i love your bathroom! =D
Thanks!
Looks FANTASTIC!! I think the bathroom looks like the most dramatic change and I love it!!
Thanks so much!
Hehehe, a tag name with a wink!
Love it! Your house looks great, btw! 
Why thank ya!
Lovely! Bold colors are such fun and you’ve made them timeless and gorgeous!
Thanks so much! We really had a lot of fun picking out colors!
you’ve done an absolutely lovey job so far! well done!!!!
Thanks so much! We’re currently working on landscaping and such so I will be updating this page soon!
I officially LOVE your site. You are great! I look forward to coming back often and seeing more projects.
YAY! I’m so glad!!
How did you refinish the cabinets? The previous owner painted ALL of ours in a high gloss paint (GRAY!) and I’d love to get them all freshly painted. Thoughts? Ideas? HELP!
We sanded them down and then stained them. It was a crazy labor intensive project, but we’re glad for it now.
You can either strip the cabinets and sand them down and then stain them… OR if you want to just paint them… girl, that’s simple. Get a paint-and-primer-in-one (I know Behr from Home Depot has them) and slap that paint on there. I’d take the doors off the cabinets and take off all the hardware as well before you paint. You might have to paint a couple of coats on the cabinets, but it’ll be worth it! 
Let me know if you need any other help! 
Wow, you guys did a lot of great work. That kitchen is really nice. We try to do one big project a year, and sometimes that’s too much!
Thanks! It was a lot of work, but most definitely worth it.
the house looks so great! I love before and after photos. where do yall live? in your travel pages you have been to several areas around where I live!
Thanks girl! We’re pretty proud of it.
And I’m emailing you about your other question! 
Y’all did an amazing job! You are such an inspiration to money conscious people (aka me). A little hard work goes such a long way! Also, blue is my favorite color so I double approve
Aww thanks Kara! We are definitely DIYers for many reasons, but keeping the cost low is pretty high on that list of reasons.
Glad you love the blues… we do too! 
oh wow i love your kitchen colors!! i love refurnishing things!
have you checked out the blog http://www.younghouselove.com/ they have really good posts on DIY renovating!
I haven’t! Thanks for the tip, going to check it out now!
oh wow, i love before n after pictures and these are very stunning !
it’s so sweet and i ‘d love the renovate my own home ( oh someday )
very lovely house there
Thanks so much! We had a great time with it.
Huge improvement Rach! You really did an excellent job of updating and making it look 1,000 times nicer:)
I know the kind of hard work that goes into a project like this, the time and thought and $$ involved. You really changed the place for the better – enjoy it in good health and with much happiness!
Thanks so much! You are so kind.
We definitely loved the process, but are glad to be finished with the biggest part of it, haha! 
Hiya! I just found your blog! Love the red front door
Thanks, girl! We love it too! I just love the classic white & black with red accents look!
Hi Rach-
Great job on the home and congrats on your anniversary! Thanks for stopping by my blog!
WOW! it looks GREAT!
Thanks!
totally love the black in the kitchen real cool!
Thanks, doll!
I just stumbled upon this section on your site! What a wonderful transformation! My fiance and I are thinking about buying a “fixer upper” as well! I’m excited to embark on home renovation!
Thanks, girl! And hey, you guys will rock it if you decide to get a fixer upper! Home renovation is so fun!
Wow I hadn’t noticed this section of the blog! I love it!! Especially the kitchen updates. Great job!
Thanks, girl! I do especially love my kitchen!
Love your house! It looks so nice! I am in loveeee with your kitchen! The teal and black is sleek!
Thanks, lady! I love it too!
Wow, fabulous reno’s. Love the kitchen!
Thank you so much! It’s one of my favorite rooms in the house!
I love these renovations, would you like to fly to South Africa and come and renovate my house? Still lots more to be done! I can’t believe you did all this in just a few months!
I’d LOVE to come help out with your house! I love renovating and I really want to visit South Africa someday!
Wow!! You are such a good interior designer
And exterior, as a matter of fact. So cozy and yet chic!
Thanks so much, friend!
Oh my goodness, your house is BEAUTIFUL!!! I love it!!
Thanks, sweet friend!!
wow!! great work indeed!! looks like I missed checking this post out somehow..I’m SO glad you put a video,it feels good “virtually seeing you and listening to your voice”! loved watching it!
Aww, I’m so glad! I really should make more videos, haha! They are a lot of fun.