Upstairs Renovation Before & Afters

We recently finished the upstairs renovations! I'm using the term "finished" loosely here, since we still have a lot of paint touch ups, outlet covers to put on, floor patches to be made, artwork to hang... you get the idea. In other words, it's not really done. But I thought it would be fun to look back and compare photos of the house the first time we saw it to where we are now. Going through these, I think our mission to simplify and brighten has been successful!

Here's the upstairs hallway looking east. Can you believe the photo on the left didn't scare away us two little DIY newbies? Four years later, and here's what we have now (on the right). Much less claustrophobic, isn't it?

Here's the hallway looking in the other direction. On the left is how the house looked back in 2008, on the right is our work in progress. We moved around walls and doorways quite a bit; the new hallway is a couple of feet wider and much shorter to make space for a real laundry room (through the doorway at the end of the hall) rather than just a laundry closet (which used to be behind the double doors in the left hand photo). Et voila!

On to the office. When we first looked at the house, it was being used as a studio/workshop (left). Since we've lived here, it's gone from plaster dust pit and spider hangout, to workbench/tool storage area, to the beginnings of an office with a quirky leaded glass window (just like I pictured it). I still have to paint the window frame to the right but I'm dragging my heels on that one.

And finally - the guest bathroom! This is such a huge change, it's hard to believe it's the same room. On the left, the bathroom as we first saw it, and on the right, the big reveal!

And a couple more angles... 

Amazing how much brighter it is!