The Rehab (No, No, No!):

I've had a few people ask me to post some before-and-after pictures of the updates, so here we go! First of all, our little "rehab" was pretty much the entire downstairs (minus the laundry room--who sees that?!?). All of the rooms were painted, trim and doors were painted, a new backsplash was installed, and our kitchen countertops were painted. Here's the Before: This is the entertainment center and the living room (note the paint color!):

Here's the exciting orange kitchen:

And, here's the guest bathroom:

Here's the updated guest bathroom (I can't get the pictures to line up properly. But you get the point!):

Here's the updated living room (Fresh, happy color!!!!):

Here's our updated kitchen, with the amazing reclaimed tin backsplash:

So, there's the finished product! My mom and dad, and their best friends, were an enormous help. In the living room, the TV was mounted to the wall; the entertainment system has been removed, and replaced with elegant floating shelves. The kitchen, of course, got the new backsplash and the updated countertops. We'll eventually put in new countertops, but for now, the painted counters will do. By the way, I wouldn't recommend painting the countertops. 2 days in, and there are already marks on the surface. It might do well in a guest bathroom, or in a slow-traffic area of the house, but not in the kitchen. It looks good for now, though, and later this summer, new counters will go in. Our house is a split-level house, so painting the walls is a huge challenge. Having my mom here to work with was a huge blessing (they were ALL a huge blessing!), because I'm terrified of ladders. Not heights--just ladders. Having a great team of people to help was amazing. My brother-in-law came in a pinch when my radiator blew up, so both sides of our families were phenomenal! I feel like I should give out awards!!! Let me know what you think. Unless you hate it. Then I don't care. :) I'm tired, but it was great to go back to work today knowing that I worked hard, that we got it all done, and that we can consider it finished for now. Oh, and if anyone's selling/giving away nesting tables, or a small 3-drawer metal cart, we're interested!!!!!!!