Man, I wish I'd known about this thread a while back!
Short story: My ex-wife trashed my house shortly before I won it back in the divorce. Forced a full gut/renovation type situation. It needed it anyway.
I don't have a lot of before photos and even these won't tell you much, but this was it. Brown carpet, tan paint. Everywhere. Except for the foyer which had some weird black stone stuff for the floor. So just use that for reference, along with the image of my ex-wife standing around looking pissy all the time, and you'll get the idea. Dark and depressing. The house wasn't all that cheerful looking, either.
To now:
Flash forward a few months, now there's undercabinet lighting and more fridge art:
A more recent (small) project, added two wall lights above the TV to add more light, with wire hiders. Also added a finial to the mid-century style stair rail.
My house, my daughter, my dog, and myself are all doing a lot better these days than we were.
There's way more I could add here in details and other features, but I've taken up too much space already!