It’s almost been 6 months since Eric and I bought our first home. Still, even tonight, we talk about how huge of a blessing it is that we have a house at 22 and 23 years old. We know that we know-that we know-that we know…. God gave us this house as a gift and a tool to use for ministry and we are so incredibly humbled and thankful for him entrusting us with a home. We don’t deserve it. We didn’t earn it. But we couldn’t be more proud to be the stewards of this earthly gift.

When we moved into the house, we were well aware that it was an old fixer upper. It was build in 1972, the first house on our street. When we first saw it, we had VERY open minds and the ability to see past so many “opportunities” that buying this house would bring…. So, in the first 6 months of living in our new home, we have slowly been working on enhancing its “inner (and outer) beauty.” We’ve mostly done decorating and painting, but it has made the ugly duckling turn into the pretty swan and we are so incredibly proud of our house! So, I thought I would show some before and after pictures so you could see what it looked/looks like! Also, I want to give a HUGE thank you to my mom and dad for helping us paint the outside of the house. It was no easy task, but they stuck it out with us outside all day in the heat, and what amazing results it yielded! Thank you soo soo much. I have the best parents in the WORLD. So… enjoy the before and afters! (I LOVE Before and After… I think that’s why I’m addicted to HGTV!!)

Outside of our house when we were getting it inspected in February. Can you say, “Hidden Potential?”

Our house TODAY! :)

The paint is not quuiiittteee finished… but it’s an amazing transformation!

Our walkway to the front door! Can you spy Hazel?

The front room BEFORE: (Notice the green AND purple in the room)

The front room AFTER: It’s now my Photography Studio!

There was a cute round rug in the room to cover up the ahem… interesting floor. BUT, Hazel was quite the stinker her first week in our home, so we had to remove it. Literally. She was a stinker. Oh, well.

Our kitchen BEFORE:

Another view with little Romie!

Our kitchen AFTER: It’s GGGGRRREEEEEENNNNN!!!!

And don’t you like the little Bistro table in the corner that Eric brought home for me one day?

And finally, our living room BEFORE we even moved in:

Same view AFTER (today):

Here is another view with the furniture we had when we first moved in…. the apartment furniture didn’t quite furnish our home the same as it had before! lol!

Another shot of our old furniture. I can’t help but have sweet thoughts of our $100 table from walmart, 2 hand-me-down couches, and ottoman that was half off at Target because there were a couple rips in it…. it’s all we could afford when we first got married and it was PERFECT for us while we were trying to finish up school. Such sweet memories.

View with our new furnishings!

Do you spy something cute hanging on the wall???? I DOOO!!!

Here’s a close-up of the 20X30 Canvas Gallery Wrap print I got of my precious niece and nephew. I LOVE this picture!

Also, I thought I’d throw a picture up of our bedroom. It hasn’t changed much, but I wanted to share it. If you want a tour of the upstairs, I guess you’re just gonna have to come over and let us fix you dinner!

That’s it. That’s our home. We are so thankful. It’s perfect for us and we are determined to give back out of the overflow of what God has given us!