Ten years ago today, Barack Obama was President.

There were no iPads, Uber, Instagram, Airbnb, or Teslas.

Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, George Michael, and Prince were alive and well.

And Jamie and I closed on the Cavender house, (jump starting a blog about the experience).

I thought it might be fun to see the original listing pics compared to how she looks today.

Drastic changes to the curb appeal;

It’s easy to see the new paint (from pea soup to chocolate bar), beefier porch columns, new roof, turquoise fountain, mailbox, under-eaves lights, shutters, landscaping and a sexy, sexy new door. (Goodbye ugly fiberglass stock door from Lowe’s).

The backyard is even better. Before;

And what we live with now;

Yeah, that deck was the best decision we’ve made yet.

This was billed as the dining room;

We currently call it our living room;

It’s probably more of a library.

Here’s what was described as a “chef’s kitchen”,

Tile countertops, a black sink, black appliances, florescent lighting?, much too-short upper cabinets…. and why am I looking at the side of the microwave?

Not anymore;

The space is much improved with granite countertops, industrial faucet, stainless appliances, and cabinets that reach up to the celing to make use of every available inch space.

The Den looked…. spacious, at least,

Now it’s more full, which is always better. Right?

Jamie started painting that fireplace black 10 minutes after waking into the house for the first time. We still love it.

The other side of the room wasn’t much prettier,

Now it’s more the focal point of the room, with a tv hidden in all that junk somewhere,

The guest bedroom was pretty….. austere.

To say the least.

Not any more. Now it’s cozy.

The master bedroom certainly wasn’t selling anything, except maybe “Moroccan Ikea”.

Now, it’s my favorite room in the whole house, hands down.

The wood headboard wall was one of our first projects.

The main bathroom was the only bathroom picture shown on the listing, for obvious reasons.

It’s much improved now…

I’ll have to go deeper into detail on this one later.

And I will, promise.

10 years down.

Hard to believe but we couldn’t afford to buy in this neighborhood now.

No worries because we don’t ever plan on moving.

Not without a court order anyway.

Happy 10 years of the Cavender Diary, Everyone.