Renovation: After (part 2)

The final result.

Ok so there were issues left and right when it came to finishing this house.  The two biggest headaches were the kitchen cabinets and then the wood paneling that was throughout the house.

The kitchen cabinets took gallons of stain.  Gallons.  No matter how much stain was applied, a couple of hours drying and it looked as though nothing had been done. 

The wood paneling in the house was a bigger problem.  This stuff was in the living room, dining room, and the first bedroom and had been applied directly to the wall boards so removing it without pulling down all the walls was impossible.  Instead I opted to simply paint over the walls.  I wasn't sure how I felt about this option, but pulling down 3/4 of the interior walls wasn't a viable option when it would delay everything else.  I was fairly happy with the final results. 

We did discuss replacing the kitchen tile with something more modern, but I was a fan of the retro look we achieved with the updated cabinets and appliances.  The one appliance we didn't replace was the fridge.  While it doesn't match the other appliances, it was new so replacing it seemed excessive. 

Despite turning the house into a rental property, I opted to spend the money on good flooring and carpet rather than the cheaper "rental" level flooring.  This gave us a floor that will last through several tenants without needing to be replaced.  While the majority of the house is "rental" white, we did have a little fun with the interior.  The carpet in the bedrooms and living room is a dark blue, and the built in laundry cabinet was painted a pale green to break up the long white hallway.  We installed heavy use tile in the entry way since that would get the most use, and while stainless steel is all the rage, I went with brushed nickel to minimize the amount of cleaning required - stainless is a real pain to keep clean.  We also chopped the hedges around the house to open it up a little more and ended up replacing the garage door.  And with the new windows, the A/C is capable of bringing the inside temp of the house down into the low 60's.