Our Rancher: Before & After - The Fireplace.

At first glance, you'd think our fireplace was hopeless.  It was like the rest of our house...depressing, drab and outdated.  I was just thankful to have a fireplace and knew, with a little effort, it wouldn't be so bad!

Truth be told,

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Kitchen.

Sorry for the mini-break I took to reveal my DIY jewelry organizer...but it's back to the before and afters! (Insert round of applause here.)

This series has been a blast to put together!  I hope you guys are enjoying it too.  If you've missed the intro, part one, part two or part three, make sure you catch up!

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Dining Room.

I've talked about the inspiration behind this little series, posted part one, posted part two and now it's time for the dining room.  Like our living room, this space needed less walls, new windows, no more shag and some serious lighting.

I'm sure you can guess the next stop will be the kitchen! ;)

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Living Room.

The curb appeal and entrance were certainly not the only areas of our home that needed a total overhaul.  In part two of my little "before and after" series, it's all about the living room portion of our great room.  The wall...the outdated doors...the old windows...the shag carpet...it all had to go!

If you missed the intro and part one of the series, you can catch up here and here.  Next up is our dining room "then and now"!

Our Rancher: Before & After - The Entrance.

I know the title reads "before and after", but the series of posts coming your way are truly more of a "then and now".  Why is that?  Well because I'm never done re-decorating and styling our home. I mean, you already heard my dreams to renovate our 1954 cabinetry.  Yes, one day I will see my kitchen dreams come to life!!  But, anyway, I digress...

Back to the fun stuff...the transformation thus far!!

Our home was a little...ummmm...frightening when we bought it.  "Hot mess" is a phrase that also came to mind.

Ahhhh, our diamond in the rough!  Our home was so far from welcoming.  We took it from dark, overgrown, stained, cramped and closed off to happy, light and bright!

Much better, don't you think?!?

Next up...the living room portion of our "great room"!

Our Rancher: Before & After.

Quite often I find myself daydreaming about changing/fixing/renovating aspects of our beloved home. If hubby had it his way, we'd re-side the place, add some stone detail and take care of our cracking front steps.  I don't mind the charm of our 1950's wood siding and focus my thoughts on things inside our house.  I'd love to install a gas insert in our fireplace and finish our icky basement...but mostly, I dream of renovating our kitchen.  Don't get me wrong, our kitchen has come so far from it's dark beginning!  We fixed it up as best we could, with the budget we had.  I love it's charm, but hate it's function.  Unfortunately, the original 1954 cabinets are showing their age and I find myself planning a kitchen reno that might not happen for quite some time.

It's so easy to get caught up in all the work left on the to-do list, that I like to remind myself of just how far we've come.

And our ranch has come a long way, baby!  The first time we laid eyes on it, I saw potential...and hubby saw a nightmare.  Actually, I think his exact reaction involved letting out a few expletives and a refusal to even tour the whole house.

It was dark, closed off and smelled.  The kitchen and baths were original to the 1954 house...and the master bath was leaking and no bigger than a postage stamp.  BUT, it had potential.

It was a 4 bedroom house in a neighborhood of mostly 3 bedrooms.

If we removed all the walls, we'd have a perfect open layout.  

If we combined the two bathrooms into one, we'd have a huge hall bathroom to accommodate guests and future kiddos.  

If we closed off the third bedroom, I could create a great master ensuite.

If we refinished the original hardwoods, they'd look like new.

If we replaced all the doors and windows, it'd update the look and efficiency of the old home.

If we replaced the roof, we'll be good for the next 25 years.

If we threw a fresh coat of paint on, well, everything...it'd look like a million bucks.

If, if, if...

For a house that was priced way too high considering it's condition, I was throwing around a whole lot of if's.  BUT, the price dropped...and the day it went down, I made sure we were there to see it.

Thankfully, hubby trusted the vision and the house was ours.  We bought our green monster.

My next few posts will be a "then and now" series showing our home when we bought it and how it looks now.  I started this series on Instagram (#RRRbeforeandafter) and loved it so much, that I couldn't help but want to post it to the blog too!  I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! :)

Now, what renovations are you guys daydreaming about?!