Progression of a Living Room...

When we moved into our home three years ago, we had quite the project on our hands. The house had stood empty for almost two years while it sat in foreclosure. Everything short of small woodland creatures was living in it and the former renters had used most of the dining and front rooms as potty areas for their pets. Being built in the 70's, it also suffered from every piece of trim in house being dark walnut. However, we were in love with the neighborhood and it's tree-lined streets and tidy houses. Sure, every room had 90's neon splash wallpaper on it (yes, that's an exaggeration. Only three rooms had neon splash. The rest had pink or blue flowery stuff.) Sure, every stitch of carpet had to come out. But we were up to the task! Here's a before shot:

Note the lovely brass fireplace surround and circa 1983 ceiling fan.

And After:

This is facing the opposite direction, looking towards the dinette and kitchen. The Master Chef and his mother have already tackled the wallpaper in the living room/dinette. But look closely at the back wall of the kitchen... Yes! Pink and blue wallpaper!

And now... the after:

A little oil-rubbed bronze spraypaint on the fireplace surround, new light fixtures, a coat of Ralph Lauren Chester Gray paint and of course, new carpet.

The Master Chef loved the dark wood trim and ceiling beams and fought to keep them in the house. Our compromise was to leave the ceiling beams, rail, and mantel in their dark walnut glory and I painted everything else white. I made the window treatments using Stitch Witchery (no sewing!) and some clearance finials from Menard's that I simply screwed into the wall. The pillows are my pride and joy; I actually used a sewing machine to make them and I think they turned out awesome. That is the first time I've used a sewing machine since middle school people.

I still have some things I want to add to the room, but they're currently in the conception phase (meaning I have to make them) and I can't work on them until the snow melts. I guess I'll just have to think up some other projects until then.... who knows what I'll come up with!