Our House: Before Pictures

So, like I said earlier, Taylor and I moved in 1422 17th Street on the first of the year. We had started looking for a house in September or so, but were growing discouraged when every offer we placed got turned down. Contrary to what they say, banks really did not want to negotiate on foreclosures. After looking at dozens of houses, we finally placed another offer on a short sale home in Bradenton. We had been avoiding short sales because we heard that the process could stretch on for ages. After only a couple weeks, our contract was accepted by the bank and we got the news on Christmas eve. Taylor and I rushed down to sign the papers on the 31st, and the key was ours!

We grabbed some buckets, towels, a screwdriver, and went to work. Taylor's parents came down a couple days later, but we got as much cleaning done as we could (oh--- did I mention there was no running water? Try washing baseboards using milk jugs filled with water. Not fun).

The house was painted these horrible dark colors. Midnight blue in the living room, burgundy in the back. The rest of the colors were vaguely reminiscent of vomit and mashed peas. Ick.

Notice that nasty carpet? In the incredible darkness you can't see the grossly discolored ick spot smack-dab in the center of the room. Yeah, that quickly got torn up.

Funny enough, in the before photos, the kitchen and sunroom appear to be the colors we eventually painted them. What you can't see if how vivid the colors actually were. Neon green and a nasty color that couldn't decide whether it wanted to be chartreuse or buttercup yellow.

Still, we were in love with the house. It needed a bit of cosmetic work, but some fresh paint really helped quite a bit.

Coming soon: In-progress pictures!