Before and After

As things have progressed with the purchase of our new home and the eventual renting of our current home, my mind was set that we'd move our things into the new one, clean the old one, have the carpets stretched and cleaned, have the walls painted and then be done.  An empty home is easier to clean and show.  But, with Randy's hope that this one can be rented August 1, Alan (our property manager) said it would be best if we could take pictures and show it while we live here.  Randy set up an appointment to have pictures taken on Wednesday.  And let me just say, the anxieties and stress more than tripled.  My home is nowhere near showable.  I have stopped cleaning as much as I normally do, focusing more on packing and normal summer activities.  Getting it ready for pictures and keeping it ready for showings was NOT going to work for me.

Instead, I started looking through my millions of pictures to find some that could possibly work for their advertising.  If those didn't work, they'd have to wait until we were out.  We'll see what eventually happens with it all, but it was amazing to see the transformation of our downstairs.  I love before and afters.  Looking at what we have now, I can't even imagine why we would have purchased this home to begin with.  This is why I love my home so much...

Before

I don't have one of the dining, but next to that pantry was just a plain wall that acted as a little nook.

 During

 Notice the mismatched appliances and mismatched countertops, with the new one we placed.

 After

I was trying to show the matching appliances, so I didn't get the whole kitchen, but I forgot to capture all angles before I started to pack. 

And my glorious pantry.  I am going to MISS it!  My whole kitchen, actually. My entire house!

My mind has not shut down since deciding to move.  My new kitchen is already organized, so that I will move from one to the other effortlessly (I have done this for every home I have moved into).  I have ideas for decorating and furniture placement, too.  It is getting more and more easy to think about leaving my home behind, but man, it is still so hard.  Especially seeing these pictures.  I feel that they don't even do the space justice.  It is so much more beautiful in person. 

I hope I can eventually love my new home as much as I love this one!