Fred's Before and After Contest

This is a great challenge for a worthy cause. I love to see remodeling Before and After pics. My biggest gripe about most home design magazines is that there aren't enough Before and Afters. Or that the Befores often to seem to be shot in black & white, as if the the renovation weren't dramatic enough. If you have some good before and after pics from this season's projects, check out the Before and After - Summer 2008 post at One Project Closer. Fred's hosting a great challenge to benefit a great cause, Habitat for Humanity. There's a $50 gift card prize, so do enter.

In the meantime, this is a good excuse for me to post before and after pics from some of our earlier projects. They're all from years past, so not eligible for the current challenge:

Our backyard jungle under the care of the Previous Owners

K builds a deck . . .

The finished deck (with jungle tamed) from the other end . . .

Our little Eden in the back corner, with a terra cotta snake and SynLawn

When we first moved in, the house was surrounded by chain link fence,

with this gate . . .

In 2005, we built a new fence with a new gate . . .

and this corner . . .

became this corner . . .

Previous Owners enjoyed designing with eagles and plastic flowers

Their bedroom became our eagle-free guest room

with wall-mounted sling for our stuffed animals

and doubles as a home office with computer armoire . . .

I hope to have something current for Fred by the end of the summer.