Home Improvement

Here are some before and after shots of changes we've made to our house over the past four months. I should definitely add that we hired the best contractor in all of San Jose, Paul Arnold
and is son-in-law designer Charlie Andrews, made this experience as quick and as painless as possible.


Paul Arnold, general contractor and Charlie Andrews, designer

Picture 1: Our pre-school room that served as a kitchen during the last month of the project. Picture 2: Tthe same Pre-School room after a coat of new paint.



Picture 1: Old Dining Room Before. Notice that there is no longer a door on the left side and the 70's mirror tiles are gone. Picture 2: Old Dining Room with paint that will be our new "stage" and hold the drumset and piano.


Picture 1: Island cabinets with island wall. Notice the old kitchen is still in use while new one is being built. Picture 2: Completed island.



Picutre 1: One of the quirky features of the old kitchen was a double oven turned microwave and oven. Picture 2: The old oven waiting to go to the recycler.



Picture 1: New and improved microwave location. Picture 2: New and improved oven/stove in the newkitchen.



Picture 1: This was one of our last dinners in our old dining area. The wall behind Matt and Deb is the exact wall where the new kitchen was built. Sydney is sitting where the island now stands. The map in this picture is now the blue wall in the picture 2. Picture 2: Kitchen--After


Picture 1: Old family room--Before. Picture 2: Old family room is now the new dining room (notice it's the same window, without the built-in cabinets. In a few weeks it will have an adult-
sized table.

We owe a lot of thanks to all of our friends and family who have helped us during this four month experience. I won't mention names in case I leave someone out, but you know who you are. We've had help with plumbing, tile-setting, painting, shopping, covering shelves with contact paper, truck borrowing, babysitting and even housing while we had to go away during the wood floor re-furbishing.

Looking forward to many get-togethers in our new digs!!