Hello, all! Sorry I've been a little MIA lately. We've been busy busy repainting the office and getting the house ready for the guests we had over the weekend. It felt like spring for two days in a row this weekend -- finally! It was magical.
April 29 marked our six-month anniversary in our house! It's so crazy to think it's been half a year already. I thought in honor of the occasion I'd do a little before and after* tour of the house to show you all how things have changed.
*I'm qualifying after, since really none of these rooms are officially "done." It's more like a before and during.
Here we go!
KITCHEN
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After
Before
After
The room next to the kitchen that has no name but we call it the lounge...before
After
What we've done...
Painted it Ocean Foam by Behr, a green-gray color
Left to do...
At some point we need to figure out what to do with that big open space we call the lounge -- I'm thinking a coffee table and a couple of comfy chairs. We also want a new light fixture in the kitchen area -- the fan will probably stay in the lounge, but I HATE those ugly glass shade things, so I want to swap those for something else. And someday we'll probably upgrade our appliances, cabinets, etc., and maybe add an island, but that's way in the future. We're happy with the kitchen the way it is.
ENTRYWAY
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Before
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What we've done...
We did a mini-makeover of this space, painting it the same color as the kitchen, building and painting the cubbies, and modifying a purchased coat rack to match. I DIYed the labels for the baskets and did other decorating in there. You can see more of that project here.
Left to do...
We're planning to move our washer and dryer, which are in the entry, to the basement to free up the space for a big closet. We've talked about taking down the walls where the existing closet is (where the cubbies are) to open it up more, since it's a tad cramped.
DINING ROOM
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Before
After
What we've done...
Left to do...
Someday we'll repaint this room, but we're not sure what we want to do yet. The hubs likes the red, but I don't really think it goes with the rest of the colors on the first floor. I'm thinking more of a darker green-blue, and maybe just painting the big wall as an accent, then painting the other walls around the doorway and below the stairs the same color as the living room (the wall with the windows already is that color). We've also talked about doing wainscoting or board and batten in here as well. I also want to put up floating shelves on the big wall (where the poster is).
LIVING ROOM
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Before
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Before
After
What we've done...
Painted it Cabo by Behr
Put up floating shelves and added a console table from Target
Left to do...
Lots of our furniture are hand-me-downs, so we're planning on getting new couches, coffee table and end tables later this year. I cannot WAIT for that! I think this is my favorite room in the house. I love all the blues and greens, the plants, the wall color and all the natural light it gets. Despite the second-hand furniture, this room really feels like "us" to me -- which I love.
And for fun, here's what the room looked like a couple months after we moved in, with some cheapo leftover dorm room curtains and nothing on the walls:
Wow, curtains and art make such a difference!
And with the little bookshelf instead of the console table (it's in our bedroom now...
It looks much more finished with the console table, don't you think?
FIRST FLOOR BATHROOM
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After
We haven't done anything in here except decorate. We'll paint it sometime soon -- I'm picturing a beachy light blueish-gray color -- and hopefully someday upgrade the fixtures, vanity and floor.
OFFICE
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After
What we've done...
Painted it Gentle Rain by Behr, hated it, then repainted it Porch Grey by Valspar
Left to do...
This is definitely a "during" shot. We just finished painting the office (again), and this time around we're loving the color! The first time around, we got more of a purple than a gray. Now that it's painted, we'll be buying our desk and refinishing the free bookshelf we scored from the dumpster. See more of our plans for the office here.
MASTER BEDROOM
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After
Before
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Before
After
What we've done...
Painted over the pistachio with Mushroom Bisque by Behr
Left to do...
We realllly need a headboard, which we're hoping to DIY, and some more wall art in here, especially that spot to the left of the windows. Someday we'll get new furniture (bed, dressers, etc.). I'd love to have a reading nook in the dormer with a comfy chair, a little table and a paper lantern hanging down. We've even dreamed about turning that dormer area into a master bath...we'll see when we get to that!
GUEST ROOM
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We haven't done much in here except set it up with what we already had as a guest room. I want to paint this room and get new bedding sometime this year, and maybe find a Craigslist dresser I can redo.
EXTRA BEDROOM
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After
Haven't done much in here either, except set up all my crafting stuff in the dormer! It also holds some other odds and ends and stuff we don't know where else to put. Eventually this will be a nursery, so it'll probably stay like this until it's time for kiddos (like in couple years -- don't freak out, hubby!).
SECOND FLOOR BATHROOM
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After
What we've done...
Installed the curved shower rod, the double towel rack, the toilet paper holder and a smaller towel rack on the side of the vanity. And by we I mean the hubs.
Left to do...
This room is also still waiting for some more love and affection. We'll paint it (I'm thinking a light, airy neutral -- almost white), and we'd like to install a double vanity and a tile floor someday.
BASEMENT
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After
What we've done...
Filled it with our crap! Then the hubs built these big shelves to store all our crap.
Left to do...
Organization is still a work in progress! Someday we'll finish off one half of the basement to make a fun den, and the washer and dryer will live down here too. I wish we still had that Bowflex though...
I decided not to post pictures of the outside, mostly because I'm lazy it hasn't changed really. We have big plans for the front walkway, but we're holding off on those until next year (read this to find out why). All we'll probably do this year is wait and see what comes up in the gardens, and prune/weed them as necessary, add some potted flowers and vegetables on the deck and maybe paint the porches, which are unfinished wood, a nice crisp white. I'll do a little outside tour of our house very soon!
I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour! I think we've accomplished a good amount in six months, especially considering all the other boring stuff we've done that's not worth photographing (changed out exterior doorknobs, built a handrail for the stairs over the garage, etc.) and all the seasonal decor stuff I've done. But there's still lots to do, and I can't wait to tackle it!
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7 comments:
Hi Mindy! Oh, your home is so lovely and you have really been a busy bee! Love all of your paint choices and your furnishes are so nice.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
Sweetie you have such a wonderful sense of decoration! I love all your ideas and how great they all look together! I can't believe its been 6 months already either! Its wonderful to see you enjoying your new home!
Love ya! Mom
Thanks very much!
I cant believe how different the kitchen looks with a different colour paint! looks fab!
I think the room thats off the kitchen would look really inviting with a pair of old fashioned arm chairs a nice round chunky coffee table with a stack of books on and a nice big rug, would make it feel more homely and more put together. :)
Love what you have done so far, and look forward to seeing more!
Mindy...I loved looking at these pictures! Your house looks GREAT - I'm really impressed!!! The colors are great...so serene :)
I LOVE the shower curtain. Where did you get it?
Thanks, urbangardener! The striped one is from Target, and the leaf one is from Bed Bath and Beyond. You can see it here: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=125001&RN=10&
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