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As with many of our other homes, the reason we bought it was for the challenge.  Sure we needed one more room, but there were many out there that would meet our criteria.  The reason we chose this one was because our friends said we could do it For Sale By Owner, and because it needed a little TLC.  It has been fun doing little things, but seeing big results.  There will be many things like this in our future.

This home was built in 1994.  Our friends had purchased it from the bank, so they got it for a good price, thinking they would just fix it up.  They did a lot of things to it; we are just continuing the upgrades.  Since it was built in the 90's, a lot of it is done with brass.  Like the previous paint, it's not as if it was necessarily a horrible thing, something that I absolutely couldn't live with, just not something that I want it my updated home.  So, little by little, we are phasing the brass/gold out completely.  First thing on the list was our entry chandelier.

 This thing was a beast to get down.  It was super high, but also super heavy.  Since my back was still quite "broken", Randy did all of the heavy lifting by himself. 

 I got it all cleaned up and taped.  It took a bit, but I just watched a show on the Mac, so it went a lot faster.

 Randy set up a little area for paint and went to town.  He is such a better spray painter than I.  He's better at most things, actually.  I tend to find the ideas, he does all the heavy lifting.  And electrical.  And cake decorating (remember Caden's 3rd birthday Elmo cake).  The list could go on and on.  

 I realized at this point that I hadn't gotten a good After close up.  Being the patient husband that he is, Randy came back down off the ladder to let me get a close up.  Doesn't she clean up nicely?! 

 It was at this point that I was tearing up.  I love when things turn out the way I envision them.  I'm not in love with the actual chandelier itself, but I do love that this only cost us the amount for the "candle" covers and the new lightbulbs- we already had the paint.  When we originally took it down, only one of the lightbulbs worked.  So when the lights were turned on...

I swear I heard a heavenly chorus.  I love it so much.  There are places that you can tell it wasn't always black, the gold peeks through on the inside ever so slightly, but only because I know where it is.  I am very critical of my own ideas.  All-in-all, it looks amazing.

While Randy had the spray area set up, he decided to tackle another project.  We couldn't find a top mount tub faucet that would work for our soaker tub, so we decided to try to just spray it.

The knobs are slightly different color than the faucet, but not enough for me to really care.  It was a vast improvement over the tarnished brass that had spot of discoloration that made it look like a giraffe's neck.  Oh, and see the beautiful swans?  We've found a way to fix that.  There are five of them strategically placed around the tub.  While we fix it, I may have to sing the Five Little Ducks Swans song.  When the last one is gone, I will maniacally sing, "No Little Swans Came Waddling Back," while wringing my hands wickedly. 

Next shower upgrade will be in the kids' bathroom. 

It's gonna need a lot of tender lovin'.  Also, this is what I was talking about on our tub.  Tarnished brass- Ew!  Hot mess.

This last one is something that Randy just finished last night.  Again, it is a light in our front entry.  The one thing I love about this house is all of the natural light, but also all of the electrical light.  They did this house right!  Since I didn't know he was going to do it (he snuck in to do it while I napped) I didn't get a good Before and After, so we just placed old next to new.

The old one shone above and below, so we looked for the same effect, because we loved the look so much.  I am in love with the new upgrade.  We have plans to upgrade almost all of the lighting fixtures, even if it is just the recessed lighting covers. 

Each new little update that comes because of my own ideas, or just because it is old, makes me fall in love even more with this home.  It makes me feel, in some part, like some of those celebrities that take old homes and make them shine.