29 December 2009

Before and After: Our House

Oh how I'd love to curl up...with a good book, a hot cup of cocoa, and some nice warm socks....on my window seat with sun streaming in through the window..... 

(Funny story about the curtain in this picture...I totally used ELMERS GLUE to put some ribbon on it...hahaha)


When we first moved in to our house, the previous owners had graciously built two of these...but....unfortunately, their color of choice was hot pink.  And deep deep purple (The two colors just didn't get along...)

In fact, a lot of things about our house have changed, and I thought I'd take you through just a small portion of what we have done.

Lets start with all the before shots. (these are the MLS listing pictures)



Here's the sunken living room, complete with a nice pink/burgundy wall (this color was spilled all over the carpet in the master bedroom)....and green plastic cushion in the sill.  Also, there is green paint all inside the window.............  


A sweet brass light fixture swings in the distance....highlighted by those burgundy walls again...




So this is the deep purple wall I was talking about...I don't have anything else to say about that wall..except that I'm glad its gone!!!




Teeny-tiny mantle.  HUUUUGE ugly hearth.




Turn left to face the kitchen




Yes, those are kitchen utensils hanging from hooks in the corner. There were over 30 hooks that we unscrewed from the bottom of the cabinet...


I was so thankful to have a house to renovate, and so was my husband, because the night we were supposed to be moving stuff in, he was tearing out walls....





almost.....

Phew!!!  Bye-bye red wall!



NOW...onto that purple wall back there....after some much needed naptime... :)


()



Remember that green window seat?



Its amazing what just a little paint and some accessories can do!



So are you ready to see the kitchen?  Lets visit that before picture again...




We knocked out the panels and added beadboard, painted them a creamy white, and added our own pendant lighting.  We wanted to get the pottery barn lights but our budget just wasn't there.  Oh well!  These are just as cute!!  Currently, however, the one on the left took a beating as I was drying dishes.  I accidentally broke the glass on the OUTSIDE by swinging a pan over my head to put in a cabinet by the stove.  It wasn't pretty. 

 
Tanner also added the small wainscoating to the top of the cabinets, and the caps to the bottom.





We purchased the stick on flooring and put it on our countertops.  It looks JUST like real tile!  And it cleans easy.

One night about 6 months ago, Tanner and I decided to rip out the pantry that we never use, and put in a recipe desk.  We used a desk I got at Salvation Army, and tanner built it in. There was a little bit of open space, so he added a broom closet as well.  All the open shelves are made from the old pantry shelving.  We put in an under cabinet light, and some rope lighting to accent the shelves. 



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And last but not least in the kitchen area, is the dining room..complete with my asbolute favorite table in the entire world.





Uh oh...this is motivating me to finally finish the office/craft room.....
What projects are you trying to finish? 

26 comments:

Design A-Peele said...

WOW!!!! I am so impressed. Y'all need to come over and help my husband and I out. Just found your blog, so I'll keep following :)

Michelle Hughes said...

I love the desk you added! Looks great!

Smiles~
Michelle

Martha said...

Oh wow...you both did wonderful! I love it all!

Samantha2818 said...

You two are so much like me and my husband. I get an idea and he is quite happy to do all of the work (except painting). We have panelling in quite a few of our rooms too which Pat put up and I painted. Really similar to yours too! You've done such a lovely job of your home - it looks amazing x
We are almost done in rejigging the kids TV room/my study/craftroom (it's so tiny it's more of a TV/study/craftroom closet actually!) I'll post some photos when my Christmas visitors (my brother, his girlfriend and her son) have gone back to Spain -they are leaving tonight - boo hoo! My kids will be moping for days x

Darla said...

Very impressive indeed!!

Rachel~Wildflower Photography Studio and Wildflower Creative said...

Love, love, love what you've done to you house!! SO adorable! ;) I'm in adore with your dining table...I wish! Love the open shelves in your kitchen too!

Smiles,
Rachel

Jenny said...

Love your redo. The colors, the layout...everything. Just neat and perfect!

Marie said...

Wow, you've accomplished so much! We have loads to do in our house, but you give me some hope! Happy New Year-
Marie @ Lemondrop ViNtAge

caroline joy said...

Amazing! You are two VERY talented people :) You make a great team.

Mimi Sue said...

Everything is just beautiful. I have a handy husband too. We are so lucky! Very, very nice. Mimi

Charity Donovan said...

Beautiful! We bought a 50-yr old home last year...it's one huge project...want to lend me your talents??? =)

Kelley said...

Wow, I am so impressed! I would love to renovate my own house someday. I hope it comes out looking as elegant as yours does!

Funky Junk Interiors said...

Oh my gosh... what an amazing transformation!

What really caught my breath were your open cupboards. Gorgeous! And what a bonus to be able to find your stuff quickly too!

Lovely home. You must be proud. Hope the woodworker is rested up. :)

Donna
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

Katie said...

Beautiful re-do!! I love your kitchen and eating area!

jamie said...

You have turned that house into a beautiful home. I love everything you have done!

TidyMom said...

BEAUTIFUL!!! you must be so proud of all your work!

~TidyMom

The House Creative said...

I love all the transformation. The kitchen is beautiful!! I love that you put a desk in the where the old pantry was. Looks amazing.

Jane said...

You did a wonderful job! Be proud of yourself!!

Pauline Wiles said...

Oh my goodness, you have both worked so, so hard. I hope you're able to relax a little and enjoy this wonderful home you've made.

Unknown said...

Boy that's a lot of work! I'm going to have to show your living room wall to my mom. I've tried to get her to open hers up for years, and I think seeing how it would look could convince her to do it. Thanks for the inspiration.

Pine Tree Home said...

I love all the trim work...really brightens up the place. You should be so proud of the transformations.

::cottage instincts:: said...

Wow...you've got some great style going on all over the place here. Totally crushing it. Adding you to my subscriptions.
Popped over from Lettered Cottage.

peace for your New Year.

Shabby Soul said...

ooohhh... it all looks great (and like a lot of hard work!)!!

alee said...

This is beautiful - how fun for you:)

Jenny said...

Your home is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I could be nice or honest
if you want nice then
I like your room..

if you want the honesty read further...










It is better then it was but not as much because of the wall colors that were beautiful for most part if used wisely. Your improvement was mostly to rid of old furniture that lacked the style and you added few good moldings. That is good.
Taste is not disputable if you like it you like it but to me If I bought your house I would start just the same ripping walls and changing color as I don't like your way to boring and out of place and character chair rail and wainscoting.. your sofa is lacking in charm and character
and the kitchen really is a poor job. Then again.. I am sure budget is an issue.
That job above the kitchen cabinets - confusing.
If you could not change cabinets and had a space limits then adding nice and apropriate molding would do much better job visually.
The door of the cabinets - ugly. I would take them off and put new one for like 20 bucks each. I would ad some character knobs.

That floor PVC on the countertop not only screams ugly but it also is super uhhealthy! in case you don't know what PVC can do to your air in the house and to your body if ingested then do reaearch.

Aslo I am sure you used Zero VOC paint if you don't want to poison yourself and family with things that you don't want to breath.. just read the paints stories..
and now most any seller do sell the Zero VOC paint and nobody should even think of other paints. It is bad as it is.

your window seal.. well the first was bad, your is just so avearage and not inviting at all.
To do the trick for me I would need beautiful cusion, gorgeous throw pillows and amazing shades that would follow architecture of the window plus the outside molding to accent the shape.

You guys did lot of work that did not go wasted but you are less then half way there.
Put in some class into the spaces.