In September of 2002, I purchased a run-down house that had been abandoned for over a year. After eight months of renovation, it was finally habitable. I have continued renovations and improvements over the last six years. After the wedding, Joanne will be joining me here. We hope we will one day be able to afford to build a new house outside of town.

Brandon

Rear of the house before the renovation, showing rotted wall,  broken windows, and hot water heater on back porch. You can't  see it here, but the wiring for the washroom and third  bedroom is stapled to the back of the house.

 Back corner of the house before the renovation.

Third bedroom (off the washroom) before the renovation. Currently filled with shelving and used for storage.  

 View from office into the kitchen before the renovation.

 View from office into the hallway, showing wall heater, ceiling fan with bare bulb, and indoor/outdoor carpet. 

Front of the house on the day we put in our offer. The house was on the market for less than 15 minutes. We went through the first time in the dark with half-dead flashlights, then made an offer 
the moment it was available. They made a counter-offer and gave us 24 hours to make a decision. That let us go through it in the daytime. It looked much better in the dark. 

Another photo from the day we made our offer. Notice that most of the front of the house had sort of been painted. It was slathered with dark brown paint in most spots, but some window sills were 
only partially painted, and the back and parts of the sides hadn't been painted at all. 

The kitchen before the renovation, showing the lovely atomic yellow cabinets. It took two coats of primer and at least three or four topcoats to cover the yellow. The counter looks like it is in good shape, but it was rotten all the way around the sink. I originally intended to try and save it, but I had to replace the sink and faucet, so it had to go.  

 The living room and dining room before the renovation. The house sat vacant for more than a year during the foreclosure, and the carpet had gotten wet from condensation. The whole house smelled of mildew, and it didn't get better until all the carpet had been removed.

Washroom before the renovation, showing the lovely 70s vinyl floor, which was also in the kitchen. This room is the least changed of all. I had the hot water heater moved in here, replaced the floor, and added a ceiling fan with light kit.  

The before photos don't come close to capturing just how dirty and worn out everything was. I patched more than 90 cracks in the drywall, ripped out yards and yards of moldy carpet, refinished the wood floors, had central heat and air installed, had most of the window panes replaced, ripped out both toilets and replaced them, repaired and refinished the cabinets, had all of the light fixtures replaced, had a new hot water heater installed inside the house, had new vinyl floors installed in the kitchen, washroom, and bathrooms, replaced most of the closet doors, and rebuilt a wall between the washroom and back porch that was so rotten you could walk through it.

Our Kitchen during the renovation.

Kitchen after the renovation.

Living room during the renovation.

 Living room after the renovation.

Master bathroom after the renovation. My girlfriend at the time called this one the "Neopolitan" Bathroom, after the ice cream. We eventually intend to have the tile painted white and have the bathtub refinished.

Half bath after the renovation. My girlfriend at the time called this one the "Mint Chocolate Chip" bathroom. To be able to get the gas turned on, I had to remove the heaters from both bathrooms. Eventually I will build magazine racks for both. I've had the wood to do it for almost a year. 

Master bedroom after the renovation. It's about 12' x 17', so we will plenty of room.  

Guest Bedroom after the renovation.

Washroom. A large 3rd or 4th bedroom (formerly a garage) is attached to this room, off the kitchen. We currently have the whole room full of shelves for all our excess stuff.

Dining room. We can seat eight fairly comfortably. 

 Christmas Tree 2005

Our cluttered home office, where I spend most of my time.

Our office, looking out the back window.

Poppies in the backyard.

Front porch.

 Lantana in the front yard.

Iris and yarrow off the driveway.

 A basil plant in the back yard.

Iris and larkspur in the back yard.

 The back yard, showing our non-functional hot tub.

The front of the house after cleaning up the yard and planting the front beds, but before painting. 

The front of the house after painting.  

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