I love before and after home posts. It's so great to see how people can take a dirty shell of a house and transform it into something that shows who they are in an instant. It's funny, because on TV shows it always looks like a magical journey, and once it's done everything is just right. In real life, rooms never look finished to me. But we've owned my house for about three-ish years now, and I've been living here for two, so I think it's time that I showed you a few before and after shots of our greatest accomplishment in 621: the living and dining room.
This is the living and dining the day we bought it. Scary flooring, paneling, horrible wallpaper and all. I forget how dark, dirty, and just plain unfinished it all looked.
Progress photos! So much wall paper remover....
The wall in the last two photos was the project that just kept happening. At first it was just "let's see whats under the panel," but removing the paneling revealed more door frames and wall paper, which pealed away to reveal more wallpaper...we just kept stripping down layers until we got to the bottom of it. One step became two, then three, then many, and it often felt like we'd never finish. Eventually we got to the bottom and we started building back up again. We decided that it would add some charm to have french doors going into the room that wouldn't be used as a bedroom (it has the stairs to the upstairs in the far corner, so it would always have to be a sort of hallway). Drywall was put up, and moulding was re-installed, doors were sanded and painted, walls were sanded and painted... and eventually we were finished.
Of course by we I mean my AWESOME family who really pushed this whole project along. Offering their help and support and blood and sweat and tears to make this house lovely. Without them I'd be living in a house with four different colors on each wall and a floor that carpet had loved a little too much.
So... enough suspense... how does the room look now!? The answer is: wonderful. Light, cheery, full of the things Adam and I love. This is my chill space, and I love being in it. It's not perfect, but then again, I almost hope that it never will be. I always want to be able to change and re-arrange as my life does, and this room is no exception.
Blue was my obvious choice for the walls, because it's hands down my favorite color. I fretted over picking the right shade forever, and I'm really happy with my choice. It's bright and cheery without being overwhelming. The trim was another color we fretted over. The door, strangely, wasn't a hard decision at all. I love the idea of a bold door, and I think it adds a lot of personality to the house.
Video games are a huge part of both Adam and I's life, so we have quite a collection (mostly his). You can also see a little bit of Doctor Who art, and one of my own pieces that I have displayed.
I love all the beautiful small details of this house, like the window and door knob above. There's something about details that really take it from a house to a home. I'm also really into that air plant, mainly because it's kinda hard to kill.
Another game collection, but this time its board games (mostly mine)! Also, I've got some of my favorite prints hanging up. Starting from the left, it's Carla Wyzgala, Nati, my sister, and the Linkin Park poster I talked about in this post.
The Fisher Price record player is Adams. We've got a tiny collection of vinyl right now, but we're always looking at thrift stores for things to add.
We have a window seat, which is much loved by both my cats and myself. All of the curtains in this room are just handkerchiefs that I've attached together and hung on tension rods. I knew before I moved in that this was an idea I wanted to try, so I collected handkerchiefs and scarves at thrift stores for quite a while. Even now I can't resist buying a new one when I find a great pattern.
The pictures in the frame are from the photobooth at our wedding. The absinthe bottles are another one of Adam's collections, while all of the skull bar stuff is mine. The "It Comes in Pints?" shadowbox was a diy I made last year and is a nod to Lord of the Rings.
The room isn't done yet, we still have a new to us table to put together, we need to get better chairs, look into armchairs, rearrange the dvds, the list goes on and on. But the room is changing and evolving, like I said earlier. And to me, that is perfect.
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