Before and After

A month or two ago, I mentioned that painting my home was contributing to my lack of training time and dedication.  Well now I've gotten most of the painting done and have started to get into a more regular training routine.  That said, I wanted to share with you some of the results of my home improvement labors.  (Please excuse the mess in some of the photos!  The house is still a work in progress, and I did not clean just to take these shots!)

Here is the kitchen when we bought the house.  Notice the awful wallpaper and the wood cabinets and panelling.  That wood color was on all of the cabinets and trim throughout the house.  So outdated!

  

 Here is the dining room off of the kitchen.

And now it looks like this.

And this.  So much brighter and more modern!

The half bath off of the kitchen looked like this before - more wallpaper, wood trim and a piece of molding halfway up the wall.

Now it is the same color as the kitchen - a sunny yellow, which seems to have exploded all over this photograph.

The main bathroom had orange and green stripped wallpaper (e-gads! more wallpaper!), and the cabinets and trim were more of that 70's style wood.  Now it is a soft lavender with white cabinets to match the white tub.  We'll probably do something more updated with that vanity at some point.

The living room walls were an off white color when we bought the house.  There was also a hideous wood flower box with twisty polls going up to the ceiling that cut off the entry way from the rest of the room.  That was the first thing we tore out of the house the day we moved in!  Now it looks like this.  The color is called "cookie dough", and we've decorated with a black leather couch and red and cream accents.

The master bedroom was painted a deep, bright red, when we bought the house.  My in-laws surprised us when we were on vacation last spring and painted the room this color.

The spare bedroom was off white with a full wall of brown wood panelling.  How old must that have been?!  Now it is this lovely green color.  You can also see our beautiful wood floors in this shot.  Everything in the back of the house was carpeted when we bought it.  We discovered a honey colored wood floor underneath that had seen a lot of damage and stains from pets and dirt.  We had the floor refinished in this darker color that really made the wood grain pop out.

And the third bedroom that we use as an office was also painted off white.  I painted it this warm orange over the weekend.  We have a black metal and glass desk set that we plan to put in here on top of a warm area rug.

We still have to paint the ceiling in the kitchen and paint the back entry stairway.  But the bulk of the work is done.  Now it's time to add rugs, furniture and window treatments.  That will be fun!

The transformation of our home has been drastic, and I love it.  Warm colors.  Modern trim.  I can really see the fruits of my labor.  Now on to tri training!

Friday, March 12, 2010
Bike 70 minutes (approx. 14.5 miles)
Outside!  I love riding outside!
Swim 25 minutes (1000 yds)
I swam freestyle most of the distance this time.  I did 900 in 22:30.  I'm definitely improving.  But can I knock two and half minutes off of my time by race day?  We shall see!