MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Work With Us
  • Our Favourite Tools

Little House On The Corner

DIY & Home Improvement

MENUMENU
  • Blog
  • Projects
    • Our Favourite Projects
          • DIY Outdoor Daybed with Canopy
          • DIY Outdoor Daybed With Canopy

          • DIY Epoxy Resin Dining Table
          • DIY Epoxy Resin Dining Table

          • 5 Floor Sanding Mistakes And How To Avoid Them | Little House On The Corner
          • What No One Will Tell You About Sanding Your Floors

    • Home Improvement & DIY
          • Hallway with Paean Black Front Door After Editing With Interior Presets for Lightroom by Little House On The Corner
          • How To Create A Home Renovation Budget

          • Floorsanding In Progress
          • What No One Will Tell You About Sanding Your Floors (& How We Did It)

          • How To Plan & Install Panelling | Little House On The Corner
          • How To Plan & Install Panelling

    • Painting & Decorating
          • painted wardrobe in Soumak by paint & paper library
          • How To Paint A Wardrobe

          • Dark Blue and Grey Painted Kitchen Cabinets
          • How To Paint Kitchen Cabinets + Tips For A Professional & Long Lasting Finish

          • What To Do When You've Chosen The Wrong Paint Colour?
          • What To Do When You’ve Chosen The Wrong Paint Colour & How To Fix It!

    • Furniture Upgrades
          • DIY Slatted Radiator Cover
          • DIY Slatted Radiator Cover

          • Beat Floor Lamp and Bar Cart
          • DIY Bar Cart

          • DIY Dining Room Bench | Little House On The Corner
          • DIY Dining Room Bench

    • Outside & Garden
          • DIY Logstore
          • DIY Log Store

          • DIY Slatted Garden Fence | Little House On The Corner
          • DIY Slatted Garden Fence

          • How To Lay A Gravel Driveway
          • How To Lay A Gravel Driveway

    • Free Printables
          • Cleaning Checklist - Free Printable
          • The Best House Cleaning Checklist

          • Free Printable Paper Houses for Advent Calendar
          • DIY Printable Advent Calendar Village

          • The Easy and Free Way To Organise Screws and Nails
          • The Easiest Way To Organise Screws And Nails

    • Craft & Art
          • DIY Pegboard
          • DIY Pegboard

          • DIY Modern Geometric Serving Tray
          • DIY Modern Geometric Serving Tray

          • DIY Guess Who Game - Setting Out Board | Little House On The Corner
          • DIY Guess Who Game

    • Cleaning & Organizing
          • Cleaning Checklist - Free Printable
          • The Only Cleaning Checklist You’ll Ever Need

          • DIY Floating Spice Rack | Little House On The Corner
          • DIY Floating Spice Rack

          • 30 Day Spring Clean Checklist - Little House On The Corner
          • 30 Day Spring Clean Challenge

    • Holidays & Festivities
          • DIY Giant Star and Snowflake Light | Little House On The Corner
          • DIY Giant Star and Snowflake Light

          • Free Halloween Printable Book Covers
          • Halloween Book Covers (Free Printable!)

          • Gingerbread style paper advent calendar village - Little House On The Corner
          • DIY Printable Advent Calendar Village

  • House Tour
        • Our Edwardian House
        • Our Edwardian House (1st Home)
        • Our Berlin City Centre Apartment
        • Our Berlin City Centre Apartment (2nd Home)
        • Take The Tour | Our Art Nouveau Apartment | Little House On The Corner
        • Our Berlin Art Nouveau Apartment (3rd Home)
        • berlin riverside apartment house tour
        • Our Berlin Riverside Apartment (4th Home)
  • Shop
    • The Little Corner Shop
    • Shop Our First Home
    • Shop Our Current Home
    • Our Favourite Amazon Finds

Our Top 5 Favourite Before & Afters

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

If you’ve read our post about what we have planned for the next 12 months, you’ll already know that we’re going to be very busy!

We have a huge amount planned and so many jobs to complete that my head is already spinning. We really need every bit of help and motivation we can get for the year ahead and for us the best motivation is always looking back at how far we’ve come.

So, to kick off this year, we’re looking back at our top 5 favourite before & afters and home transformations.

#1 Master Bedroom Fireplace

This was the first fireplace that we ever restored. It took so much longer than expected (we had a much improved method when stripping the second fireplace) but it’s easily one of our favourite transformations.

Restored Fireplace Before & After

I’ll never forget the moment we uncovered the original hearth tiles under the smelly bedroom carpet. It’s still hard to believe that someone would cover a gorgeous fireplace and pretty tiles in yellow paint.

#2 Staircase

This was epic and took forever – or at least that’s what it felt like. It took over 250 hours of stripping paint, sanding and then staining and painting everything.

Staircase Restoration

I know it seems mad to spend so much time on removing paint only to repaint it again, but it was really the only way to get a result that we would be happy with.

#3 Hallway & Floor Sanding

The hallway still isn’t finished, but it already looks very different to when we first moved in.

We completely stripped, sanded and repainted our front door, painted the walls and sanded & varnished our floorboards.

Hallway Before & After

We still need to replaster the walls, but sanding the floors and painting everywhere white has already made a huge difference.

#4 Garage Roof

This is easily the biggest single project that we’ve undertaken and one that we’re really proud of. It took months of work removing the existing covering, repairing the structure and then adding the new slates.

Garagre Roof Before & After

If you’d told us that replacing a roof would be something we’d end up doing ourselves we would have thought you were bonkers. When we first started out on our DIY journey we’d never have thought this was a project we could do ourselves. We still need to finish the driveway and tidy a few bits, but it’s definitely looking better than before.

#5 Garden Fence

We only completed this project last year but wish we’d done it sooner. Most of our outdoor projects never seem to be much of a priority, but they will all need doing sooner or later.

DIY Slatted Garden Fence

We love how the fence turned out. We weren’t really too bothered about privacy, but having a fence does make the garden feel a lot more finished.

Seeing the changes and hurdles we’ve already managed to accomplish is always a huge boost. We’d never have thought that we could achieve so much ourselves – fingers crossed we manage to achieve at least some of our 2016 goals.

What do you have planned for 2016? What was your biggest home improvement accomplishment? How do you stay motivated?

Save

Save

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Christine 8 Comments

the PAST
the FUTURE

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Sign up with your email address for secret projects, DIY advice & lots of fun!

Privacy Policy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Jessica@CapeofDreams says

    09/01/2016 at 14:10

    You’ve done such amazing things in that house; I love following your progress. Keep up the great work in 2016!

    Reply
    • Christine says

      09/01/2016 at 19:52

      Thank you so much Jessica! Glad to have you along for the ride!
      Cx

      Reply
  2. susan says

    08/01/2016 at 14:31

    I just love your entry. The stained glass doors, the floors, that marvelous light and the stairs. Easily my favorite space in your house (so far!)

    Reply
    • Christine says

      08/01/2016 at 14:56

      Thanks Susan – it’s one of our favourite places in the house, too!
      Cx

      Reply
  3. Jenny says

    08/01/2016 at 11:43

    WOW these all look so amazing .Love the before and after. We have a lot to change in our house over the next two years here and it’s got me all motivated now seeing this. Just found your lovely blog and having a catch up now. Happy New Year.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      08/01/2016 at 12:10

      Happy New Year to you, too. So glad you found your way over to us and happy to hear that you’re motivated to start your own projects.
      We’re going to be tackling some big home improvements this year, hope you join us for the ride!
      Cx

      Reply
  4. Lucy Caitlyn says

    08/01/2016 at 11:31

    Well done to you both.
    My advice would be to start 2016
    by finishing the things that are nearly
    complete before starting something else.
    If you’re strict with yourselves you’ll be
    amazed how quickly those projects complete.
    Then you’ll start 2016 with ticks as you go on to
    projects that will require you to keep being re motivated.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      08/01/2016 at 12:14

      Thanks Lucy! A lot of the projects we have planned do revolve around finishing things. As always when doing one home improvement project it affects about 10 other things that then need doing. ;)
      Cx

      Reply
Painting Checklist

Our Favourite Tools

*Contains Affiliate Links*

Things To Know

ABOUT US

CONTACT US

DISCLAIMER

Privacy Policy

Shop Our Home!

OUR FAVOURITE TOOLS

SHOP OUR HOME

Disclaimer

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Please read our full disclaimer here!

Let’s Be Friends!

Keep Up To Date!

Subscribe for exclusive content and tutorials!

Thank you!

Copyright © 2023 · Little House On The Corner · This Website is powered by Cloudways and the Genesis Framework