The following photographs were taken either with an iPhone (the before/progress pictures) or at 2:00 this morning when we finally put construction materials away (the after shots) and thus 1) the light is really harsh or really, really dark and 2) I am way, way too tired to photo edit for color/light/blah blah. I’ve included some Before and After shots, as well as a slideshow with some progress shots, just fer kicks.
There are no pictures on the walls yet. I can’t bring myself to put nails in the walls. Also, I’VE BEEN BUSY, OKAY?
The Bathroom – Before
The Bathroom – After
What you should know: this was a total gut, with the exception of the bathtub, which I kept and refinished because of its quality. We moved the door over 10 inches to accommodate modern sized vanity (which I designed. There are sketches in the slideshow) as the original fixture was 10 inches too shallow. The color looks a little purpley here, but it’s not at all.
The Dining Room – Before
The Dining Room – After
What you should know: the dining room benches were also my brain child (and I love them) and one fine day, they will have cushions on them and my dream will be fulfilled. Scaled drawings of the benches are in the slideshow.
The Living Room – Before
The Living Room – After (sorry the light is so bad!)
What you should know: the greatest accomplishment in the living room is nothing you can see. Eliminating the dog pee smell required refinishing of the floors and window seat.
The Guest Room – During
The Guest Room – After
What you should know: We had not intended on renovating this room. However. I walked in one evening during renovations to find paint peeling off the wood paneling in this room. We had to strip, scrape and refinish which took hundreds of man hours. The design goal for this room was for it to be a sort of Caribbean guest house/B&B. It’s bright, cheery and a little cluttered. Goal achieved. I, uh, haven’t finished painting it (or refinishing that dresser, like I intended), but you get the idea.
The Hallway/Ceiling - Before
The Hallway/Ceiling - After
What you should know: *We removed an old, broken attic fan, repaired the ceiling, replaced the frame on the attic entrance, all the doors, baseboards, door frames blah blah and no one killed anyone else. MIRACLE.
* By “we” I mean, without the help of my almost-in-laws, family and the occasional friend (kisses, Amanda), NONE of this would have been possible.
AFTER the honeymoon I will get you some Master Bedroom & Office shots. They’re fun, too.
Wow – you all have done a fantastic job! I’m uber impressed with your vision/sketches/end product. The paint colors are fab as well — ! I love the slide shows… I wish I had known how to do that for my renovations. (But I have more to come, so maybe I can learn.)
SUPER jealous of your new door frames. Mine have 80 years of lead based paint on them.. they are on “the list.”
Congrats on a chapter closed — now ENJOY this week and the coming weeks of MUCH FUN!
Blessings,
Project Girl
Love it! It looks fantastic and major kudos to you (and your very important helpers) for getting this done so quickly and with so much else going on. Hope you and the Dork Lord have a fantastic wedding and an even more fantastic honeymoon, both of which, I’m sure, will kick off a fantastic life as husband and wife.
I truly LOVE everything you did. Where did you get your “Inspiration/Ideas” from?
Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. My mother is going through something similar (more problems than the inspection revealed!) and she has relied heavily on free labour from friends and family. I should show this to her to let her know that there is light at the end of the renovation tunnel!
Looks beautiful, Heather! What a joy your new home will be.
Wow! That is amazing. I am so impressed with all your hard work. And as you and Dork Lord are still alive after all the stresses and hard work that you’ve been going through lately, I am sure that you will have a long and happy marriage.
Hope that the transformation of some strips of fabric into a wedding dress goes as well as the transformation on the house did!
Your house looks amazing! I am so impressed. Beautiful job!
Look at you guys!! good work! your going to really enjoy that house that much more. When are you selling and starting the next project?
Dude, you just made me choke. NEVER SELLING. Imma die in that house, you hear?
looks fantastic! it also seemed (to me) to go super-fast. probably not to you…
We did it in 7 weeks
Love everything you guys did! No wonder you couldn’t help taking time out of your ridiculous schedule to photograph and post. I’m not sure how that level of awesome came out of the crazy that is your life right now, but I am so impressed. I think this proves the wedding is going to be perfect as well.
Thanks for sharing!
It is amazing! Have you ever thought about pursuing a career in that line of work? Hmmmm?
good work! and congratulations!
Amazing!!!
Wow, it looks absolutely amazing, I love all the colors and the benches in the dining room rock!!!
It looks AWESOME. I’m so impressed! You did all of this AND planned a wedding. I think I’ve vacuumed twice since moving back to NY.
Awesome job!
AMAZING! I gutted/renovated my bathroom in 11 days and I thought I kicked ass. But you just kicked my ass kicking.
Love the colors! I have been searching for the perfect taupe/tan/khaki and that just might be it!
It’s so lovely in person – Behr’s Castle Path – get the Ultra Premium stuff with the primer in it. Looks like cake batter and glides on like butter. It’s dreamy to work with.
Thanks! I used the Ultra Premium stuff to paint my bedroom and I loved it! My house is concrete block with plaster over the concrete and it is nothing like painting sheetrock but Behr made the process much better than the first time we painted!
Happy Wedding!
Wow!!! Wow!! Wow!!!
This looks even better than I envisioned. What a perfect home to start you marriage in!
I am just beyond delighted for you!
Have a great wedding weekend and enjoy every minute.
All my best to you guys!
Ellen
It looks great! after the honey moon, what paint colors did you use? Especially the living room one. I love your new bathroom, with all the custom storage in the new vanity
I am so unbelievably impressed. You’re such a real adult! (That is more a comment on not feeling like one myself, rather than to say that you’re usually so immature). Congratulations on the house and that other thing happening this week. What was it again? Oh right, you’re getting married!
Wow! You have a wonderful eye for design. That bathroom is to-die-for, as is the rest of the house; but you transformed that bathroom magically. It all looks beautiful.
How did you even have time to show us a slide show?
Enjoy your special day – you so deserve that trip to Italy.
I adore your dining room. I just wonder if here is storage under those benches? Job well done though.
Best wishes for your big day.
Enjoy Italia. The Amalfi coast is by far my favorite place I have ever been.
Yes – there’s storage under the benches! That’s why I wanted them so much. Well, ONE reason.
Holy cow, I’m super impressed that you did such an amazing transformation in such a small time frame and working only in the evenings and weekends!
I actually gasped when I saw the bathroom after picture. Gorgeous! This is all really fantastic looking, but there’s just something I love about well designed/decorated bathrooms. Congratulations! The hard work is apparent in every picture! Thank you for sharing =)
AWESOME! Gorgeous! I am speechless! You did all the renovations yourself? My boyfriend and I need to remodel the condo and don’t have a lot of money to spend, and are afraid to do ourselves! I am so jealous! Congrats on your upcoming nuptials and enjoy the fabulous honeymoon! You defintiely deserve an amazing honeymoon/vacation!
OMG I love it! Fantastic job!!!
I am in awe! You all did an incredible amount of work!
I am blown away. Looks AMAZING! I can’t believe you guys did this yourselves!
Freakin’ amazing! I love what you’ve done. Have a great time with your loved ones and have an amazing time on the honeymoon!
This makes me so happy because you and I have similar taste. When I saw that dresser in the guest room I wondered why you didn’t paint it.
Love, love, love the bathroom and want that vanity in mine.
Well done.
OK, falling at your virtual feet and worshipping you. How you managed to do all that AND plan your wedding is beyond me! I can barely get myself and my kids up, dressed and out the door in the morning, lol!
Amazing! As you were updating us on your blog, I had no idea it was going to look this good! My parents PAID someone to remodel the kitchen of their house and that took 7 weeks. (Granted – contractors tend to be gone well before 2am…) Kudos to you and your army of helpers. Looks fantastic.
This is all gorgeous. I’m about to relocate and could only hope that our new place will look half as good. Also… I love that the tile you chose for the bathroom reminds me of the Infamous “WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE” Dooce Bathroom Renovation. (Not saying that’s why you chose it, obviously, just that I should probably get off the computer and go talk to some people I actually know if real life…)
Oh. My. Gosh. What an amazing job you’ve done! I love houses that have built in character like this one- you really managed to make it shine!
Wow! This is amazing! Can I please, please move into your house (NOT KIDDING)?
If you and the Dork Lord survived all of these renovations together–within a week of the wedding–you’re going to make it in the long haul!
Congrats, sweetie.
Wishing for a bathroom redesign like that, but I have no vision. I also have not storage and weird wall/window placement. If you ever want to take on projects like that for other people, you’ll probably have a whole group of us waiting.
Ha! I don’t want to pick up a paintbrush for a VERY long time but I am all about providing ideas!
Are you serious about this? I’ve got a teeny tiny bathroom in my “master” bedroom (the size of the bathroom makes it a mini master), and I’m all out of ideas.
I’m totally in love with yours!
You bet. After the honeymoon. Send me pictures and a floor plan.
Yayy!!
Will do!
Hope your wedding turns out wonderful, and more than anything, that your marriage brings you guys happiness every day.
WOW!!! That’s amazing! It looks beautiful!! The colors work so well, especially with the hardwood floors! And now you can sit back and enjoy it
OH
MY
GOD
My jaw dropped looking at your ‘afters’. You are *so* talented! Kudos to you guys–and especially YOU for persevering and following your vision. I am so impressed but more so incredibly happy for you. You made a house a home!
And have fun coming back to it after your honeymoon!
Well now that is what it is all about – taking someone else’s old crap and turning it into clean, shiny and amazing! You (and your help!) have done a wonderful job and you should be so proud of yourselves. Thanks so much for taking the time to show the photos! Well done!
Best Wishes on your wedding this weekend!! Squeeeeee!!!!
I love it, it’s beautiful. and also, have a marvelous happy wedding!
Heather, This is amazing! I can’t believe house much work you got done it such a short amount of time with a wedding coming up. I love the colors & the style & the design. Fantastic!
After your horror stories, I was expecting much worse on the before pictures. The living room, bathroom and dining room didn’t look that bad to me before (and I couldn’t smell them), but they are so sleek and clean now. And I LOVE the guest room, how fun!
7 weeks WOW!! Results WOW!!!
I noticed the beautiful new trim right away. Great choice, it looks stunning and finishes the new doors beautifully. All of it is just goregeous you should be very proud of your work.
Oh FISH! It’s so freaking awesome! Thank you a thousand times over to take the time to post pictures for us when you’re obviously busy (OMG wedding!)
You did a fantastic job, the place looks amazing, your design and hard work have definitely paid off… you deserve a huge high five!
Wow!! Just…WOW! Fish you are amazing, it is truly a dream house. Congrats on everything, you truly deserve everything wonderful in life. Enjoy your wedding, honeymoon, and gorgeous house!!
I love it! You did such a great job and I love all of your color choices. I love the bedding in your guest room. Are those hydrangeas? Where did you get it???
Funny enough – that quilt was the inspiration for the colors in the room AND… it came from TJ Maxx. One thing I’m proud of is that I didn’t buy anything new for that room except a curtain for the closet. That’s it. Everything else came from other rooms in the apartment, things that Chris and I had collected over the years.
I hate you! As in, I love you and am soooo jealous of your decorating taste. I try but am nowhere near as talented as you. Enjoy!!!
Holy ess! You have such a talent! I’m so impressed that you envisioned that whole bathroom remodel and those benches in the dining room. You must be so proud
Congratulations!
My master bath is the same color as yours! I love it! It looks awesome with your vanity and mirrors.
Random side note: I had a junk e-mail from a Heather Hunter inviting me to be “friends”.
The pictures were worth a wait!
Oh em gee, Fish, I adore your house! I can’t wait to see pics of the rest of it!
The house is beautiful!! You have made your home a showcase. Excellent job…and tons of the best and happiest wishes for the weekend. I am crazy happy for you.
Fish – I’m doing a reno right now and have questions on bathroom! 1) Where did you get your vanity? 2) What kind of tile do you have? I love your color scheme – that’s what I’ve picked out for mine except I’m having a VERY difficult time finding right vanity that fits my price range and tile that goes with said elusive vanity.
Well, like I said, I designed it – so I didn’t really *get* it anywhere. I drew it, a carpenter built it.
where did you find your carpenter? is he inexpensive? can i have his number? i’m in dallas also
Of course! Our bathroom contractor ended up being different from our dining room bench carpenter (the bathroom guy already had another job lined up and couldn’t take the benches on). Both were wonderful. Two thumbs way up.
David Stringer – Stringer Construction. David is BUSY. Exceptionally nice, but busy with fairly large projects.
Frank deVries – deVries Integrated Services. Frank actually had a carpenter named Chris do our work. Together, they were very thorough (asked all the right questions) and wonderfully professional. Frank also did our tub refinishing.
Great reno!!!
Amazing! Congratulations and enjoy it. Just brilliant.
OMG! This is awesome! I love how ya’ll made it ya’ll’s own! As a REALTOR, I always tell clients to imagine making the home their own after the Close of Escrow and ya’ll totally owned it! Love, love, love! High fives!
Fish, your house is incredible! You did an amazing job, I love all the rooms. The wall colour in the master bathroom is divine. I am green with envy and ridiculously happy for you. Best wishes for Saturday and hope you have a great time (and lots of gelato) in Italy!
I’m beyond impressed with the great job you did!
I know you were a bit anxious about putting up the pics in case you got nasty comments (like poor dooce does) but there was no need to worry,you have done an excellent job. Well done.It almost makes me want to start re-decorating my house.
H
I don’t blame you for not wanting to hang pictures yet. Those walls are absolutely stunning! As is everything else. Just beautiful. I especially love your bathroom cabinet/vanity thingy. I’ve always wanted sinks that sit on top of the counter. Someday.. I will have them too. lol Thanks for posting pics. Job well done!
OMG, you guys did a BEAUTIFUL job! Wow, are you great in crisis situations or what!? 7 WEEKS? I am totally sitting here in awe of your remodeling prowess. It’s a special sort of gift to see the potential in something. Love everything you guys did (especially the colors! The benches! The vanity!)–it’s absolutely gorgeous!
Wow! I am soooooo impressed and amazed. Did you retile that bathroom yourself? And how/where did you learn how to do all that?
No, we didn’t – I should have made that clear! In the bathroom, we had a contractor to do the carpentry, tile work and plumbing. Although my sister tells me I could have done that myself
It looks fabulous, Fish! You have INFINITELY better taste than the previous owners! Hoping your wedding and honeymoon are wonderful and then you can relax in your beautiful new home!
Your house looks amazing, LOVE your style! I kind of want to move in with you. As someone who got married and bought a house within weeks of each other last year, I have an idea of how stressful this must have been. Congratulations, you deserve every good thing heading your way!
First, the renovations: Just STUNNING. I knew you were putting in a lot of work, but based on how you described the starting conditions, I was expecting it to go from awful (with potential) to reasonably nice. But WOW, every room is gorgeous. Wishing you and Chris many wonderful years enjoying it together. You deserve it.
Second, most heart-felt wishes for a perfect wedding day, a glorious honeymoon and the happiest of lives together. I join all the other “Fish-Blog lifers” who have been rooting for you for so long in celebrating for you from afar.
(Please let us see how the wedding dress turned out – I hope that after all the trails and tribulations it too turned out just as you hoped and envisioned).
Honestly, I’m stunned. The reno is, of course, outstanding, but that’s only part of it. Robbery, new job, house purchase, wedding planning, house reno, more wedding planning in — what? 2 months? 7 weeks? Your secret’s out. You have superpowers. You may be from another planet. I won’t tell the TSA folks.
Love! Love! LOVE!!! Great job and congratulations! Can I humbly ask to blantantly steal the dining room benches idea whenever I finally become a homeowner? They’re amazing!
Best wishes on the wedding!
Oh, you bet! You should be able to modify the drawing in the slideshow/flickr to any room and table height.
Heather,
FANTASTIC job at making your house, your home! I was thrilled to see your armless chair make an appearance in the guest room. I remember how excited you were after your move to Austin to find that and add it to your apartment. That time probably feels like a lifetime ago!
Wishing you the VERY BEST OF LUCK and goodness for your wedding day this weekend. You’ll be in the thoughts of many who adore you sharing your world and life as well as your loving family and friends.
Best Wishes,
Angela
Absolutely gorgeous. I love the color of the dining room, probably because it looks almost exactly the color of ours
I’ve been reading you for years and am so happy for you. Best wishes on the upcoming nuptials and have a wonderful time in Italy!
Wow, it looks absolutely lovely. And I’m very jealous of your doors.
OMG Heather! You and yours have done an amazing job! Completely breathtaking! Your colors are beautiful. The bathroom is “to die for”. And any guest of yours will sleep like a baby!
I wish you and DL many, many happy and healthy years in the house that you have created to be your home.
Just beautiful. So comfy lookin’!
And thank you so much for sharing.
*T-minus two days, darlin’. I’m feelin’ those butterflies for ya! Be well. Have fun.
Ok, so I love, love, love it. I am wondering where you got your doors, they are beautiful and perfect for my old home.
Great job and enjoy this weekend and the life to come.
We ordered them through the Home Depot!
Looks great! One question, a while back, you mentioned going to look at a coworkers house that they were selling (you said you weren’t even looking to buy, but it might be too good of a deal to pass up). Is this the house you ended up buying? Just curious because i was under the impression that the house was move in ready and not a fixer, but maybe I was wrong?
Same house.
AMAZING transformation. it is absolutely beautiful. happy wedding and honeymoon…… i am very excited for you!
also — i’m not certain you are even interested, but my husband and I own our own business and design interior spaces for new or remodeled homes, businesses, and churches. we have a grand format printer and several material options. we could print something on canvas for you to hang, or something to put directly on the walls with a removable adhesive. the possibilities are really endless. you could design on paper and email, and our graphics guy can create it. we could even print a favorite wedding portrait. how fun!
we would love to do something for you as a wedding present/housewarming gift. let me know if you are interested and we’ll go from there. after the wedding, of course.
I love this idea!!
for the record i think you’re certifiably insane to have done all this the month before your wedding. while still working on the wedding arrangements at the same time
no idea how you sorted out the finances. on the other hand, if your relationship made it through *that*, you guys are probably fine for whatever else life can throw at you! bring it on, right?
it looks *incredible*! except for the dog smell and sanding the floors, i probably would have moved in as it was and tried to deal with the rest more slowly.. but the upside is you have a lovely house to come home to after your honeymoon.
i’ve been shopping for a condo(in a 2 or 3 family building, common around here(Cambridge, MA)) and i’m pretty intimidated about doing renovations.. it’s so hard to look at places that are good deals but need work.
Well, insane or not (mostly insane), we could not move in until the bathroom was completed anyway – it’s the only one in the house and plumbing wasn’t finished until last week.
oh! it is really really beautiful.
Your attention to *details* was just in the right place to be, your home.
I´m sure your wedding will be as awesome as your house.
Of course now I want benches in my house
OMG…this is amazing! I honestly can’t believe you did all this in the middle of preparing for your wedding!!! The place looks gorgeous. Congrats on the house and your upcoming nuptials, once again.
Wow. This is a beautiful home. You are my hero for renovating in the middle of wedding planning. Fantastic job. I love those doors.
First of all, congrats on completing all this amazing work. It’s beautiful, and I’m jealous (of the way it looks and of your skills). You would be really dangerous as a project manager or running a political campaign.
Best wishes on your wedding. Have a safe trip on your honeymoon, and enjoy!
72 hours (or less) but who’s counting?
Wait wait wait! What about the kitchen? You can’t just go off and get married and honeymoon in Italy without showing us the kitchen, can you? Or did you not do anything with the kitchen? That’s always my favorite room in a house to see, probably because that’s where I spend a good portion of my time in my own house. I don’t remember any talk about working on the kitchen, though, so maybe it didn’t need any work. . .or you haven’t gotten to it yet.
We didn’t change the kitchen.
What an incedible job you have done! The house is fabulous; with unique and distinctive touches that give warmth and reveal the unique personalities of the owners. Each room is so inviting; each has its own personal style. God bless you both as you rapidly approach your wedding day. SO exciting, this. ALL.of.this.
Truly, you are amazing.
May your marriage be the trip of your life.
You did a great job. Enjoy it. I, too, am going to steal your bench idea for some future project.
Love it, love it, love it! Everything looks FAN-tastic. Have you introduced Sir Hal to the new digs yet?
Your house looks amazing! I recently bought a 1936 fixer upper in Dallas that I’m working on, so I feel your pain and understand the excitement of seeing it all come together. Where did you get your couch? I love how deep it looks!
Looks so very good, Heather! I’m incredibly impressed in all that you guys accomplished in a relatively short time, while working too!! Seriously, looks really great.
been reading you for soooooooooo long! house looks amazing! wedding’s gonna be amazing! good luck fish!!!! xxx
everything looks incredible! hope the wedding’s amazing and that you have a fabulous honeymoon!
Loooong time reader here …
The house looks amazing … my hat is off to you! We are trying to buy a house now and it is just a nightmare, and we haven’t even gotten into projects yet (though ours are much more minor, I think/hope!)
Best wishes for the wedding!!!!! And have a lovely honeymoon!
TLEIGH –
Where in Dallas is your 1936 house? I have a 1929 one in old east Dallas, adjacent to Lakewood…
I’m in the Casa Linda/Lake Highlands area.
I’m hoping you’ve been enjoying your week with familiy and friends.
Just wanted to drop in today to wish you, the lovely couple, an amazing weekend full of love. Enjoy your day!
Also wishing you safe travels, as you eat and love your way through Italy! Ciao Bella!
Amazing, amazing job – and I really think that painted walls can be art in and of themselves (but then, I prefer curtain free windows…).
Also – all the best wishes for the wedding and have an amazing honeymoon!
Wow! The house look awesome, and I am so jealous of the fun you had (and by fun, I mean mind-numbing craziness that only renovatign and restoring can do to you). We want to attempt an entire kitchen overhaul in our built-in-1924 adorable-but-old home,and I’ve been terrified to even try to attempt it. I think seeing your before and afters have inspired me though…
Best wishes for an amazing and wonderful wedding…and an even better honeymoon ;0)
Congratulations Fish!
These are amazing! I love the bench the most (if I had to pick). I’ve always wanted something booth-ish like that. They are awesome! The colors are so nice in that corner, what with the floor and the red. Red’s a hard color to work with but that’s smashingly good.
Long time reader here, wishing you all the best! Congratulations on your beautiful house, your coming wedding and honeymoon
xo.
Just stopping by to wish you a very wonderful day today and forever…Congratulations on the house, wedding and new job…and I hope your wedding and honeymoon exceed your expectations!
Thinking of you and the Dork Lord today. I hope the wedding and, more importantly, the marriage are all that you dreamed of and more. Best wishes to you and yours!
Happy Wedding Day! Wishing you all the best! (Also, your renovations are Amazing!!)
Oh my gosh. I am astounded at the breadth of your renovating and decorating abilities! And at the visual effect of the now very obvious countless hours and blood and sweat (and probably some tears)(and a lot of muscle!) you guys put in! Your home looks incredibly beautiful and inviting.
And happy, happy wedding day to you!!!!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And I waited until Saturday night to comment so I could say, I’m sure your wedding was equally beautiful, and heartfelt congratulations to you and your Dork Lord. Does this make you the Dork Lady now?
Happy wedding day! I hope you had the time of your life and truly get to relax on your honeymoon!
YOU’RE MARRIED! Congratulations, and have a great time in Italy.
LOVE everything!! You guys did a fantastic job with your renovations.
Big congratulations on your wedding and best wishes for a happy marriage & awesome honeymoon!
Your house looks amazing. You really have an eye for design. Congratulations on your wedding!
Your home looks so cozy! What a great place to come home to. I’m so jealous of your creativity. Congratuations on the wedding, you made a beautiful bride. Hope you are enjoying your honeymoon, but can’t wait to see more photos!