Before we moved in, the basement looked like this: Not perfect, but some might say it was better than, say, this: But not us!
Who could leave perfectly good walls intact when there was demo to be done? The good news is, we have windows now!
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Maybe it's all the years I spent stocking shelves in retail jobs, but I absolutely love this idea: My house may be a certifiable health hazard at times, but one thing I always do is neatly arrange my shelves of glassware and dinnerware in the cabinets. My sink could be piled high with dirty dishes, but as I unload the clean ones from the dishwasher, I lovingly place them in neat rows. No wayward crumbs, nothing that I don't love...meaning that unless my husband sneaks them in, no freebie plastic cups or hideous mugs. It's my thing, however (extremely?) odd. So I actually think I could pull off open shelves, and even if it's too late for the kitchen, maybe it's an option for the dining room? Source: highstreetmarket.blogspot.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest In its previous life, this room was a formal living room. Clearly, we have no use for that whatsoever. So basically, it's a second family room, a place to put the Christmas tree, and most importantly, a place to play Wii for hours on end. Not that I let my kids do that, at least not until they finish their algebra & charity work. Especially the five-year-old. Here are some before shots, with the previous owner's stuff in it: Like every other room in this house, it's a work in progress. I love the armoire, but it's a monster {worked much better in our old house}. Like so: But that room had higher ceilings, and we work what we have 'round these parts.
{Yeah, I'm not sure why we moved out of that house either. I'm also not sure why we thought it was OK to have speakers hanging randomly off the wall?} Here's where we are with this room today. It's not sure what it wants to be yet, but I thought I'd share. I love the mirror {Restoration Hardware knockoff from Home Goods}, love the rug {a JC Penney find}, and I think it will come together with some more prints and different pillows. Our front door is broken (it only opens from the inside). We have no rail (but our boys learned early not to walk on the rail-free side!) Still have to paint, paint, and paint some more. So what is there to do besides dream about the possibilities? Fine, twist my rubber arm, here goes. This is what it looked like with the previous owners' stuff in it. Cream wall-to-wall carpeting, stenciling, navy blue paint and trim. So as a temporary solution, we painted a bunch of stuff and replaced the carpets with a taupe berber. But nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! We definitely couldn't leave well enough alone! So we ripped everything up to put in hardwood...and it kind of looks like this now. But that's reality! And I said I was going to dream about possibilities, like these! Enjoy! Source: moderncottageblog.blogspot.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: remodelaholic.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: bhg.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: sixteenfourteen.weebly.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest I think pretty much anyone—me included—can do the basics when it comes to decorating: selecting reasonably attractive furniture, getting a rug that’s the correct scale for the room (or at least pretty close), maybe some lamps and pillows. But you know what “they” say: the devil’s in the details, and that’s where I get hung up Every. Single. Time! I look at the blank walls in my house, and my mind goes blank too. Luckily for people like me, there are professionals who post photos of their projects online! I’m trying to do a better job of taking all the images I see (and there are a LOT lately) and actually applying the ideas to a project. Novel concept right? I think I’ve mastered the art of looking at a million gorgeous photos, and I’m awesome at staring at rooms in my house that need to be finished. But bringing the two together into a look that works? No can do. So today, I am fixed on wall displays. My go-to is always a symmetrical grouping of black gallery frames with white mats. Such as: Honestly, it's a look I love...but at some point (and I believe that point is right now), it gets pretty boring. So here are some wall displays that I've been gazing at lovingly, or at least with interest {all images via Pinterest}. Source: cocokelley.blogspot.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: honeyandfitz.blogspot.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: habituallychic.blogspot.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: justinetaylor.tumblr.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Click to set custom HTML Source: eclecticrevisited.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: heartbeatoz.tumblr.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: Uploaded by user via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: sixteenfourteen.weebly.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest Source: coastalliving.com via sixteen fourteen on Pinterest We could meet for coffee and I could tell you all the things that are wrong with this room. But if I waited for it to be done, I'd be waiting forever and so would you. And why should you listen to me whining when you could be admiring my husband's mad painting skillz? ;-)
So, here we go! This room adjoins the kitchen and (an awesome) screened-in porch. We painted the ceilings white, added crown molding and the piece of trimwork below, replaced the fireplace, replaced the floors, and moved our furniture in. OK, so I would have said you were crazy...that white is the only way to go. BUT, black painted doors actually look so shiny and pretty! I won't tell my husband though, because he's spent some of the best years of his life painting/repainting/chipping and ultimately replacing doors because they just HAD to be white. Gulp. Here's what we learned about doors through our renovation process: 1) Nine times out of ten, trying to paint over dark oil-based paint with white is a waste of time, and 2) sometimes you have to show the doors who's boss. Sorry guys, you're outta here!!! We decided that a few doors were worth saving. These glass-paned ones before were originally painted red and navy, but thanks to 1,435,882 coats of paint, they are now white! Yay!
Consistent with "Before & During," which seems to be the theme of our renovation, this is what the hallway looked like before we moved in. The floors, navy-painted doors, molding, and paint beneath the chair rail, dim lighting, and saloon-style doors blocking the entry into the kitchen (foreground) all had to go. So we did this: New lighting, new doors, new molding, primer, and roughly one million coats of paint. But the thing is, with little kids you need more than sub-flooring. "It's for the children!" So we went ahead and put some floors in: And now we're in the (husband) final painting-and-newel post home stretch! I have a feeling that will be our next project, so stay tuned! :)
A few folks have asked me for the name of the color in our powder room. It's Ralph Lauren's "Pale Gray," #UL31. In this room, it looks a lot more light gray because of all the white, but in another room it looks like a darker gray-blue. Happy painting!
Ding ding ding!
Round one between me and my family room mantel. Well, more like round 8,043. The mantel is the focal point of our family room/kitchen, which is one large open space. It looks at me when I'm watching TV, and it lurks darkly at the far end of a room which is otherwise becoming lighter & brighter. Plus, it's flanked by 2 dark built-in bookshelves, which also have to be considered...obsessively. This is what it looks like today. I had these silhouettes done of my 2 boys, which I LOVE. I also have one set of bookshelves semi-done, but I'm not completely happy with it. Can you relate? |