Another Whole-House Refresh Done, Here Come The Before-And-After Photos!

Whew. That was an unexpected marathon. What I thought would be a quick 2-week refresh on a dated rental house turned into more of a 5-week deep dive, and worse, most of our work barely even shows. There were so many little repairs: removing an old security system, moving A/C vents around, running new wiring, installing new exhaust vents, painting closet shelves, etc, that just don't show up in before-and-after pics.

But of course all the new paint and fixtures still make quite a difference, so I still have some fun stuff to share. C'mon, I'll give you the official "B&A" Tour.

BEFORE:

That A/C closet on the left got a complete overhaul, then we painted all the walls, trim, and doors, refinished the chandelier, and added some pretty light-blocking curtains to the sliders:

Ta-da!

How 'bout those black doors, eh? I love them so much, y'all. As a nice bonus, they pick up the black window frames throughout the house, so everything flows a little better. We also changed to daylight bulbs, which helps neutralize some of the warm pink tones in the tile and makes everything look all cool and de-saturated.

Thanks to the new A/C return vents on the left there's no more air coming in at ground level, taking in all the dust with it. Should keep the closet and whole system much cleaner.

Same space from the other side:



Remember that chandelier?




It's like new again!

I was surprised how many of you were intensely interested in a grout-cleaning update, so here's my long awaited review: baking soda & peroxide - the combo the entire interweb recommends -  didn't mix well, is a HUGE pain to clean up since it's so gritty, and made very little difference for us.

A $7 bottle of ZEP from Home Depot, on the other hand, only took a few swipes with a toothbrush and made a huge difference for most of the grout:

(Sorry, filthy floor - this was before mopping.)

Some grout lines were too stained to lighten up completely, but most of the floors throughout the house looked significantly better, going from solid black back to a midtone gray. Here's a closeup where the Dep spilled into a dirty area - this was just the cleaner hitting it, no scrubbing!

The Zep bubbles up and foams like peroxide, which is fun, and the smell wasn't terrible, kinda minty:

So yeah, from our experience, skip the homemade recipe and grab some Zep instead; it's well worth it.

K, enough dirty floor photos, back to the house!

The kitchen was perfectly fine before - it's only about 10 years old -  except for some wall repairs and all the cabinet hardware, which was starting to corrode. So we replaced the knobs, refinished the handles, patched up the walls, painted, and updated the faucet:

Again, I'm loving how the black doors & fixtures pick up the window frames. It all feels so cohesive now! Plus the cooler gray tone on the walls feels more modern.

Other side before:

The fridge was a lot of work: mostly cleaning, but also touching up a hundred tiny scratches and scrapes with epoxy paint.

Again, not a huge difference, but nice.




I know you're going to ask about this next Before shot, so let me start by saying yes, that IS a live lizard on the toilet seat.

Welcome to Florida.

Both bathrooms in this house didn't have exhaust vents, so EVERYTHING was rusted. All the fixtures had to go, and the rusted out mirror, but I managed to salvage the light fixture.

(Rest assured both baths have shiny new exhaust fans and dedicated switches now.)

This After turned out extra pretty. Ready?

OooOOOooh.

Now Lizard-Free! I think. Probably. Maybe.

We found the mirror on FB Marketplace for $10, like new from a remodel. Always check your local Marketplace or Craig's List for things like ceiling fans, lights, mirrors, and even vanities and cabinetry; you can really save a bundle.

In fact we scored some gorgeous brand new wall cabinetry for the laundry room, all leftovers from a custom cabinetry shop and going cheap on Marketplace.

So we got to replace this nastiness that's been there since 1963:

Yowza.

With these!

Plus there are more on the other side. ::happy dance::

Here's an example of one of the bedrooms before; the doggos had done a number on the lower walls:

Fresh paint and twice-shampooed carpets later:

Ahhh. That's the stuff.

Here's another room with double closets, so I can show off those fabulous doors again:

I also love the hallway view:

Last thing, the tiny en suite bathroom:

In addition to being a swampy green, it had more rusted out fixtures and a disintegrating medicine cabinet.

The cabinet was another like-new Marketplace score for just $20. All the fixtures, faucets, and door hardware throughout the house came from Amazon.

Last thing, we did a mini makeover on an old backyard shed that desperately needed one:

The last owners screwed scrap plywood to a screen door and called it a day. Oy.

After a little brainstorming, we decided to salvage the metal frame and build a slatted wood door around it. We also added decorative lattice panels, so now the shed looks about a thousand percent better:

You can't really see the door slats, and it needs another coat of paint... but trust me, MUCH BETTER.

And now the urge to add a wreath... is strong.

Hopefully the next people to live here will add some pretty climbing plants. And a wreath.

 I hope you had fun taking my Before & After Tour! John and I are so happy to be done, and super excited to get back to working on all the other projects for friends and FOE that have been building up in the meantime. It'll be nice to tackle a few smaller projects for a while, methinks.

Let me know if you have any questions; you know John and I love talking about house projects!

[Update: The house color is "Accessible Beige" from Sherwin Williams, which we color-matched in Valspar Signature from Lowe's. It's a true neutral greige, right between gray and beige, and it's the same color in every room in my pics except the laundry room.]

*****

P.S. It's almost the end of the month, have you entered the Squeegineer Give-Away yet? 'Cuz I want to give you stuff! Help me to help you.

Also that reminds me to go clean out some more goodies from the office closet to list in the prize galleries. Stand by, and remember to check back!