1. House renovation - front of house

Late February 2017 SS and I were in South Africa as our tenant was moving out.  I had decided it would be a great idea to do the damp repair and redecorating work on the property myself, and I dragged my poor mother over from Australia to help.  I spent the first week on damp repair, and sugar soaping all the walls, sanding cupboard doors and undercoating where I could.  Mum arrived and got stuck in as well.  After 4 days of both of us working hard, we got the experts in to finish off the last coats and the skirtings.  Huge transformation from dated cottage with dark brown timber features and skirtings, old front door with no working locks, and putty coloured walls to light, bright house.  I also washed all the curtains and changed all the door handles and locks (external and internal)...
Most of this does not require explanation, so here we go - in each case by room I will show before, during and after shots.
First up, the outside front of the house.  This included sanding, undercoating and painting all the shutters and windows, as well as the door and security door.  Plus the garage door.  Mum also painted the flower pots, and we tidied the garden after heavy winds.  Note there is a drought in South Africa hence the dry grass - there is a hosepipe ban in place.
First up - front door and living room window. Before and during...



And the finished product...

 Next, the garage door:  before and during:

And then after:

And then the rest of the windows and shutters:  before and during and after:

And some wider photos showing a before of the brown wood everywhere vs the fresh grey and cream paint after the works were done - such a pretty little cottage now!