Yesterday, my Mom spent the day at my house, along with son, nephew, nephew's son, and BF. So we were chatting about the sad state of my backyard and the current unkempt state of my front yard. I haven't done much at all with my yards since buying the house. There were other priorities, but the time has come to spend a little money and a lot of elbow grease and get them looking nice. (And I really do want to spend a little money!)

There are a few other items around the house I need to address. I sense some of my B of A Visa money slipping away. {sigh}.

When I bought my house, it was in rough condition. It was a foreclosure, and it had been owned by someone with very questionable taste. I wish I had taken a bunch of "before" pictures! Some of the "selling features":

1. There were bathroom tiles hot-glued onto one wall in the living room, in a sort of checkerboard pattern, but not touching each other. They weren't lined up neatly. Some were brownish, some were gray, some were a metallic copper color. They were about halfway up the wall. Underneath, someone had painted vertical stripes of peach and brownish-red. They hadn't used a ruler or tape or anything. I mean, why would you?

The wall had to be re-textured after the tile came off.

2. Someone had rag-rolled the kitchen walls, and done it badly.

3. The hall bathroom had been painted a very bright green. They had painted the walls and ceiling. They hadn't bothered to remove the mirror, cover the tub enclosure, etc. So in addition to re-painting, there was a lot of paint removing to be done. Good times!

4. One bedroom was painted a bright red. A very, very, bright red. It hurt my eyes. The theme of failing to do any prep work was repeated in the bedroom. They had not covered switch plates, protected the carpet, nothing. The carpet was not salvageable, too many large paint splotches.

I think I will find my camera, take a few "before" shots of the yards, some "in-progress" shots, and some "after" shots. I have some very simple improvements in mind, but I think they will help both curb appeal (in the front) and our enjoyment (in the back) a lot. I really want to keep it low-cost and low-maintenance (in the future).