It’s been a little over three months since we bought our Hudson Valley farmhouse and to say that reno-ing a house is the hardest work I’ve ever done is a complete understatement. When we bought the house my expectation was that we’d get tons done during the summer but by the time we got acclimated, cleaned the floors, washed some windows (we still have all the upstairs windows) and bought a bed, we were already a month in.

I will give ourselves some credit – we have completed a few small projects. We’ve painted most of the downstairs (dining, living, bathroom, stairs and entryway) Swiss Coffee by Valspar and laid a cement shower base after our plumber removed the shower insert and installed new plumbing.

We also cleared out the backyard – we tore down a chicken coup, asked our neighbor to cut down a tree and re-built an antique bench (see last photo)!

AND next week our floors are getting refinished to make the house feel bright and clean. Before any of the big work starts (tiling bathrooms, painting the kitchen cabinets, building an island, installing new windows, painting the upstairs bedroom floors), I thought I’d put together a brief “before” house tour.

These pictures are a combination of photos we’ve taken over the last six months (including photos we took before we closed on the house), so you’ll see discrepancies in a few of the photos (painted vs. non painted wall, base board heaters intact vs. not intact). If anyone reading has brilliant reno or design ideas – please comment away!