Sunday, June 26, 2011

Before/ After in progress

I have lived in South Carolina for almost a year and have done a lot of fix ups, painting, re arranging, Internet searching, debating, waning, wanting and completing some projects. I have been minorly successful in begging my mom for custom drapes (they are in work, ah hem). We have two bathroom complete remodels coming up, a ceiling knockdown to apply, change of carpet at the end, some wallpaper to throw on the walls in the dining room and then there is the back yard challenge and I think we might be done.... wait, its never done. I am always changing my mind, finding new inspiration and moving things around. But that will be it as far as the current list goes.

All the 'before' photos were taken at the time we viewed the home, with the previous owners furniture and staging.

The guest bedroom before was a poopy kind of brown color with nothing special about it other than the size.



 I painted the room Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls and I don't recall the stripe color. I rearranged the room and added some simple store bought drapes and sheers to add a whimsy to the room. I toiled over the bedspread while still living in Florida. I am still liking my choice. I have put this dresser up on craigslist but no takers yet. I want to make this room a slash office and don't really need the dresser any more, plus I've had it since college and am sorta over it but it works in the space until I can replace it with a crib.


Hallway leading downstairs, plain- nothing special and also a too dark shade of beige for my liking.


I forced my mom on a tall ladder and she wallpapered for me. I love the statement it makes and it ties both floors together nicely. Sort of a classic lived in feel.

Mike also added this wainscoting for me, all the way around the upstairs hallway and we also painted the walls cotton balls and the woodwork a high gloss white.


I didn't get a great before of the kitchen but again, I didn't agree with the color choices. This island fights me. The previous owners remodeled the kitchen just prior to selling it. Its nice to have granite and matching stainless steel appliances but the set up had left me scratching me head and loudly sighing more that I like. But it does the job I suppose.

We painted it a bright cheery yellow and replace the fan with a light fixture I love.

We found the perfect size table for the bay window eat in kitchen off craigslist for a mere $100, it has a leaf too! This is one room my mom dressed for me in style with window coverings. Thanks!!


The previous owners had twins toddlers, and I want to point out that the house, when shown, had nary a toy out and was impeccably staged. After meeting said owner it was clear that they were not nearly the meticulous homeowners as once perceived but that is neither here nor there.

View from the half staircase


I love the downstairs now! We painted it a light shade of yellow the compliments the kitchen. Carried the color up the stairs too. This antique furniture was a find! I mean a steal! I'm talking, found on the side of the road, stop the car, jump out and shove it with all your might in your truck and recover kind of find. Or in my case, your mom does the finding, the shoving and the recovering but nonetheless it happened. I picked out all this fabric whilst still in Florida but could picture it working so well and it does! I didn't want to make it feel too old fashioned and standoffish with the style of the furniture so we picked a bright green patterned fabric. Ill just mention that there is coordinating fabric cut up on my moms sewing table just waiting to meet its new winow.

View from the top. Again the sofa and matching chair were sidewalk steals. The curve chair was recovering, yet again, and I found this rug, after months and months and a few buys and returns, off of Overstock.com. My sweet old man memow kitty is always ready for a photo op. Also in this room, we freshened up the mantle with a coat of high gloss white.

This angle shows some more unique pieces that I love. First being the antique cash register drawers that used to be my grandfathers the my mom begrudgingly passed on to me- it sits on top of an old sewing machine stand and acts as a catch all side table in between two naked window, ah hem... sorry mom. Above that piece is some art work that my mother-in-law did and gave to us. We are lucky to have such creative people in the family.

Here is one of my favorite pieces, the buffet. One of the first pieces I ever purchased on my own that didn't come in a Target box. You can also see the wallpaper going up the staircase here. That chair is my moms, its just waiting for her to move up here and it will go into her house.

I didn't take a photo of this room before but it hasn't changed much other than the furniture. It is however getting a face lift soon with some grass cloth wallpaper above the chair railing and the same cotton balls color below. Drapes and table runners compliments of my moms hard work. The photo is of the Falls down at the park in our new town.

Again, no real before photo but this is the entryway into the house. This view showcases the mirror treatment we put up. I love that its not the traditional large paniting or slanted mirror against the wall that normally appears on a mantle but its a fun twist on the mirror look that brings in a ton of reflective light into the room. You can also see another painting of my mother-in-laws above the chair to the right of the fireplace.
And again, not a before photo. Our master is set up almost identical to our previous home but I did change the wall color from sage green to a light blue. We had the parsons chairs already recovered and used them in the living room in our old house but now we use them in the bedroom and I had my mom whip up some giant matching pillows to tie it together. There is also some gorgeuous airy curtains in the works but that is neither here nor there. Please excuse the slight messiness to my bed, yes its messy, Im actually a little upset that Im using this photo with out the tighly pulled sheets etc but I am a bigger person this year, letting go of the little things. LOL.

So anywho there it is a mini tour of the house. I left out Matthews room and our bonus room which houses the tv and all our other old living room furntiture but at the time of photography it had experienced a toy explosion and I cant let go that much.
Hope you enjoyed!
Ill post some bathroom renovations as we get there.


1 comment :

  1. Oh what a beautiful home my daughter has made!! So did you all get the same impression as I about bare windows? Guess I had better get some whipped up for her. I can't wait to live closer to her and her wonderful hubby and of course the cutest lil boy ever!!

    ReplyDelete