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Decorating My HomeRenovating my House

The Before Photos of my New House

By 03/25/2012October 9th, 202247 Comments

We take possession the middle of April. This house is 21 years old and has not been touched which is exactly what I wanted. I was not interested in buying a previous homeowners choices in updates.

Here is the living room and dining room.

The master bedroom.

Master Bath

Family Room

Kitchen. The best part about this in the interim is that there is no bulkhead. We are taking out the uppers and the sunshine ceiling immediately and painting the rest of the cabinets. My plan is to do a complete kitchen reno  next summer.

Here’s the other side of the kitchen.

This is the outbuilding that will be my design studio. We are renovating it before we move in, removing the 2 sheds on either side and adding french doors, etc. It’s a sight right now! Irene and I will have the trades through this Wednesday so we can get quotes on this little reno in addition to replacing the flooring everywhere but the kitchen, family room and bathrooms.

It will be fun to see the transformation!

Update in 2019: Here is my house tour, the renovation is complete!

Related posts:

Maria’s Kitchen Breakfast Nook: Before & After

The Difference Between Sad & Happy: Before & After

How to Decorate Underneath a Console

Need help with your colours? Download my eBooks with my go-to list of 50 curated whites and neutrals categorized by undertone, here.

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47 Comments

  • Agnes says:

    Fantastic! Now *that’s* the kind of house that is fun to sink your teeth into . . . so much potential and it seems like it has such good light too. Can’t wait to see what you do with it!

  • Lori says:

    Congratulations Maria can’t wait to see what you do with it.

  • Jennifer says:

    Looks like alot of fun Maria. You will be in your element waving your magic wand. I am looking forward to the updates.

    Jennifer xx

  • Barbara@hodge:podge says:

    How exciting Maria! I am jealous as I am still renting, sigh… But with recent events our house buying has been put on hold.

    Can’t wait to see what you do with the place!

  • Great bones, you’ll have lots of room to work your magic, can’t wait to see it!

  • Shannon Fox says:

    Congrats! What an exciting new project. Look forward to seeing what you do. Love the little bonus in back. What a perfect office that will make! Lucky girl 😉

  • Nancy says:

    Awesome Maria! Thanks for sharing the photos! I can’t wait to see the changes! So happy for you!

  • Tess says:

    Congrats Maria!
    Looking forward to seeing the transformation! We just bought a new house too — and move in April 11th. Yahoo! 🙂 Tess

  • I am so excited for you! How fun it’s been watching you progress over these past few years! What a great house and the office will be to die for. You so deserve it. I’m excited to see what you will do. Xx

  • Do I see pinky beige in the master bedroom? Oh, I cant’ wait to see what you do with your new home!!! The outbuilding will be an excellent office especially once you add the French doors to bring in some light.

  • Linda V says:

    Maria you are going to have so much fun decorating your new house and office. I’m sitting here
    half a world away feeling so excited for you and your family. Best of luck

  • Claire says:

    I am thrilled for you… and, having put our own new home-build plans on hold, I’m a bit jealous as well! Looks like you have some great spaces to transform; I’m most excited to see what you do with the little office outbuilding.

  • Sue Kauffman says:

    So happy for you and so eager to see your magic!

  • Tracy says:

    I can’t wait to see your changes! Those sort of posts are not only educational and inspirational — they’re just plain fun! Congrats!

  • Donna Frasca says:

    What a cute house! Don’t you just love working with a blank canvas? My mind went crazy with ideas – the kitchen will be a project! I can’t wait to see how you transform your new home.

    Excited for you Maria 🙂

  • Cant wait to see the after photos! However it is a very bright and sunny house! Congrats on the buy!

  • Kelly says:

    I like the way the rooms are set up, especially with the fireplace and shelving. I can’t wait to see how beautiful you will make it! Blog heaven! xo

  • Fantastic, Maria! I see soooo much potential – and I am especially jealous of your office outbuilding! I cannot wait to see what you do!!!

  • Roberta says:

    Love the fireplace and mantel Maria. Nice and deep! Great bones overall and SWEET office space! Good luck.
    xo

  • Looks fantastic. So much potential and it’s light and open! Can’t wait to see your transformations!

    Ruthie

  • Brenda Thomson says:

    There is huge potential here, can’t wait to see what you put in for lighting. I love lighting it is like Jewellery for your home. That dinning room light has to go. Can you take the lighting that you installed in your rental in Van.

    • Maria Killam says:

      I said they were welcome to take any of the lighting already in the house. That was what they had bought to replace their dining light fixture because they were worried that the new owners would want it. Likely not in my case! Maria

  • Maureen says:

    You will be living my reno dream. Have fun!

  • Cindy says:

    Maria,

    I can see why you bought it. It has good bones! Can’t wait to see the before and after, room by room!

  • Bonnie says:

    Congratulations on your new home. I’m so happy for you to be able to make it your own. I’m so happy for us as you share the process.

  • i am doing the exact same thing right now…we just bought a house that has not been touch since it was built in 1972…oh the oak…everywhere…we have the same cabinets in our kitchen…i will be following our remodel with vigor!!!

  • Wow…so much potential here! It is going to fabulous and I think we’re all waiting with baited breath on what you do with it! I love how you will have your own separate office right on your property…exciting and congrats!!

  • Heather says:

    Can’t wait to see what you will do with it, Maria, and I am totally envious of the soon-to-be-office! I love the idea of having a bit of separation between work and life, but still an easy commute. Have fun!

  • Amanda says:

    What a great house, Maria! It has great bones. Those kitchen cabinets are going to look great painted white! Can’t wait to see the transformation unfold. Thanks for sharing!

  • Shawna says:

    I can’t wait to see the transformations! Like you, I would want to buy a house untouched as I don’t want someone else’s idea of an update. If you watch HGTV though you’ll notice an alarming number of people want an already done house as they seem to have no taste of their own. So long as it has a “nice open floor plan”, “granite counters” and “high end appliances” they are happy. They want it “move in ready” so home owners wanting to sell are encouraged to make these changes. That means it will be harder to find the kind of untouched house you and I would prefer. Congratulations on finding yours!

  • Elara says:

    It’s a great house, Maria! Nice to see the before pictures. I look forward to seeing how it transforms!

  • That’s very exciting. It looks like a house with great potential. It’ll be fun to see what you all do with it. I hope you and your sis have similar decor tastes.

    • Maria Killam says:

      Hi Lisa,
      My sister lives 2 minutes away (not with me) but she has her own house to decorate 🙂
      x
      Maria

  • Wow! I know my head is spinning with ideas. Lucky you!

  • P. Mithiran says:

    You will work your magic on the house! I look forward to every step of the transformation.

  • Sarah says:

    Looks amazing – such potential. I especially like the outbuilding that you will use as your office. Such a special place! Look forward to the transformation.

  • Cindy says:

    I can’t wait to see the transformation! We are planning a reno also on our kitchen and guess what! We have the same exact cabinets in our kitchen! Our plans are to update the kitchen and baths some and then sell it. We plan to move to the farm. Can’t wait to see what color you paint your cabinets!

  • That is SO exciting! Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to see what color you pick for your kitchen cabinets 🙂 LOL

  • I’m so excited to see what you do with each room. I just want to come out and help you paint (haha).

  • Mary says:

    I can see why you bought the place. It has a lot of potential.
    Are you sure you want to go through all the work of painting your cabinets just to pull them out next summer? I could live with them for a year knowing they will be replaced.

  • Paula Van Hoogen says:

    Hey Maria, you probably have the painting thing down, and maybe a guy to do it…
    I thinking of the kitchen…. but…we found that removing all the doors, taking them to garage or someplace & spraying them works faster–had a auto body company spray some once–they came out super.
    Then all’s I had to do was the frames & insides–that’s a bear–but so worth it.
    I too love the idea of the separate office—it’ll be a doll house with your sophistication!
    WHOOHOOO!

  • Leigh says:

    Congrats! You are right about being lucky to not have bulk heads! That will save you much $$$ next summer. Question…if you did have bulkheads and you painted your cabinets what color would you paint the bulk heads? Paint them to match your cabinets in hope they blend/assimilate with the cabinet or paint them whatever color you paint your kitchen even if it is blue or yellow….. what the heck they are your bulk heads celebrate them. What do you think?? Thnx

    • Maria Killam says:

      Hi Leigh,
      No I would not try to paint them out the cabinet colour, that would still not hide them enough 🙂
      I would keep them the colour of the kitchen.
      Maria

      • Leigh says:

        Thank you Maria! This is very timely as we are just about to give our kitchen a facelift and found out our bulk heads are fully loaded up and must stay in place. Darn! but I now plan to paint them a lovely greenish gray=) thnx and enjoy your new home!

  • Marija Peljhan says:

    You have my kitchen!!! California ceiling and all! All I keep thinking is, “What were they thinking?” Have fun!

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