I've finally been able to hang some things on the wall and finish putting in new light switches, so here are more "before and after" pictures of our work in progress, sorry, this is kind of long, but most pictures:
The Entry Way
Before:
After:
The Entry Way had physadelic wall paper, that was more like fabric glued on the wall, nasty carpet at the entry and the stairs going to the basement, a crusty little globe light with gold feathering, a cast iron banister with hearts, yes, hearts, and glass tiling that had gold spider web etched in it, I know, you're jealous huh :)
We ripped down the fibrous wall paper, peeled up the glass tiles, my mom used a wrench for hours unscrewing the banister, and we ripped up the carpet. My cousin textured the wall that had the wall paper on it and we painted it a nice warm beige color, we put tile in the entry way, carpet on the stairs, and installed a new banister, which I love, no swirly hearts, much more modern...
The Kitchen
Before:
After:
Oh, the Kitchen... where to start. There was so much work to do, and so much of it my dear hubby had to do, my mom and I tried to peel up the back splash, the glass tile floor, but we couldn't even budge one tile... the kitchen had red brick back splash with black tar behind it, very pretty, old light fixtures with millions of cobwebs, yucky appliances that just had to go, black glass tile laid on half of the floor, crusty carpet on the other half that was laid over layers of vinyl (which had to be torn out also), and a sliding glass door that didn't close, how safe!
We started by renting a tile lifter from the Depot. Tyson used this for the glass tile on the floor, and the lovely back splash. We laid beautiful tile throughout the entire kitchen, installed a new sliding glass door, new black appliances, travertine back splash, a new sink faucet (the old one leaked), and beautiful new light fixtures. Thankfully the cupboards were like-new Kitchenmaid cabinets and the counter top was also fairly new, its Corian brand, and we kept both, just needed some deep cleaning, but they actually are pretty nice... so that's the kitchen!
The Living Room
Before:
After:
Probably one of the rooms/areas that needed the least amount of work. There was popcorn ceiling, complete with glitter flecks throughout the entire house, minus the kitchen. Once that was down, my cousin textured the whole ceiling, and then we primered and painted everything. The carpet came out, way too many animals stains for us. We had to primer the sub-floor, the stains had soaked through the carpet.
We kept the fire place. All of the homes in the neighborhood have a similar rock fireplace. For right now it works... we plan to tear the rock out eventually, like next year, maybe this winter, and install a gas log fireplace with crown molding... but for now, its not so bad.
So there are some of the updates of the bank repo that is slowly becoming our home. Its a challenge, but it definitely gives us a project. Our neighborhood is doing a clean-up where you just set stuff at the street and they hall it away, so 6 pine trees have been chopped down, and I'm pruning the plum tree that is growing out of control tomorrow. Its definitely come a long way, as you can see from the pictures.
Also, about going private, I'm going to give it another week or so, so just let me know, if you already haven't. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend, can't wait to get to my pruning, love Dani.
Can I just say YUM! I have the best recipe for homemade granola... and it is so so so good!!! There is no sugar, its made with honey, and I changed up the recipe a little and substituted olive oil for vegetable oil, its much better for you. I also added extra cashews... Yummy Stuff! 
