Downstairs at Two Months

We closed on the house at the end of June.

Today I'll show the downstairs. What it looked like when we got it, and what it looks like today.

  June: front door and foyer

 

Today.

I've painted the banister a glossy black and I'm in the process of priming over those topiary wall murals.

What I envision for the finished foyer?

-some sort of trim treatment in glossy cream for the first floor portion

-a sandy paint color for the second floor portion

-painting the front door black

-painting the large brass light fixture {not shown} oil rubbed bronze

-staining the hardwood darker

-either replacing the carpet on the stairs or going full on hardwood

Next, going straight back into the eat in area back in June...

...and the kitchen:

Today:

I took down the curtains that were blocking a third of the view and the light and took out the window grid pattern.  As you can also see, I've patched all of the holes and am in the midst of priming over the yellow.

Why you would ever prefer to look at some floral fabric over this lovely view is beyond my understanding...I just pinch myself every time that I reflect that this view is mine.

 

In the kitchen I took down that wrought iron pot hanger thing.  I just felt like it chopped the room in half and was this hovering presence.  I felt much better once I had it down.

What you can't see in the before picture is how very dirty the kitchen was.  It's not all better yet, but I've scrubbed a bunch of crap out of the cabinet crevices, washed everything down, and started on repainting the baseboards.

What I envision for the kitchen:

-I've already got the paint for the walls, it's a gray color.  Shocking, I know.

-staining the hardwood floor darker

-getting an electrician in to put in can lights, I hate the fluorescent rectangle and the kitchen feels really dark to me in person

-if this happens it'll be way in the future, but I'd love to rip out this counter top and back splash. Most people love it but it's just not my cup of tea.

 The living room in June:

And today:

This is probably the room that's farthest along into it's transformation into the room I have in my head.

I patched the {many, many} holes and painted over the yellow.

I repainted all of the trim and built-ins.

It was just so beat up and dirty my OCD couldn't stand it.

Left to do:

-hang pictures and style the shelves

-get console tables for behind both of the sofas

-get some more lighting in this room

-find a rug...I'm thinking Turkish like this, this, or this

-spray paint the brass accents on the fan oil rubbed bronze or get a new fan

-get new hardware for the built-ins

Ahhh, so clean and bright and full of contrast.  So much more my style.

Nevermind all the artwork hanging out waiting to find a home in this new home.

 

 The dining room in June:

I didn't even take a picture of this room today because it is still empty since we don't have formal dining stuff and I don't anticipate purchasing any.  

All I've done is to take down the curtains, which you can catch a glimpse of in the today foyer picture.

We'll see what this room morphs into over time.  Maybe some sort of craft/homework/office something.

The front room in June:

...and the front room/library today, a mess:

To do in this room:

-build in the bookshelves on the far wall

-bring in lighting somehow

-get comfy leather reading chairs

And the last room in the living space of the downstairs, the powder room in June:

I've done nothing in this room so far, and it's not very high on the priority list, but we'll see how it evolves over time.

Happy Birthday my Nina

I used to do birthday posts regularly...then I got flakey.

But today is my sister's 28th, happy day.

I don't really have a ton of current pictures of her, so I'll put up some of our girls...that's almost the same, right?

Red heads with blue eyes.

Love it so much.

Mom's deck

Remember how I mentioned that when I was at mom's there was some concrete pouring going on?

Well, part of that was a large back patio, and I had them put in four footings while they were at it so that it was ready for a future deck.

Well, that 'future' deck wasn't too far into the future.

Here she is {with the yard in to boot}

She was smart and went with trex and vinyl so that she won't have to maintain anything.

...oh yes, that is a slide you see.  She's a fun grandma like that.

...all the better to enjoy the view...

I know I've shared most of these before, but it never hurts to look at beauty twice.

Michigan House: final befores & afters

So, be forewarned, this is going to be a post with a lot of pictures, some of them repetitive if home before and afters aren't your thing.

It's fun for me though to have this review, so here we go.

When we closed on our house back at Thanksgiving time 2008 we didn't have a yard...we didn't even have a real driveway.

Here's how it looked last summer.  I feel like it looks pretty good for only spending several hundred dollars total, but it was a lot of work.  If we ever put in a new yard again, we're doing sod.

...and then it looked like this when we listed and they had the photographer come in...

 

...and then like this when we moved out...it was still early Spring with nothing growing yet...

Right before we closed:

When we listed:

From the realtor's photographer:

 

Empty after the movers left.  

It makes me feel good that there were improvements that still show well after all our things were gone.

 From the realtor's photographer:

I didn't include before pictures on the kitchen because the only thing that I did to it was paint the cream walls a very light gray and put on cabinet hardware...not too terribly noticeable.

 Front room at closing:

 From the realtor's photographer:

I wanted to show the entry, this is the closest "before" I have...a few days before it was done.

And when we were listing:

Different view of the front room at closing:

  From the realtor's photographer:

And all empty after the movers left: 

I won't post befores of the basement, you can see more details on that process here, here, here, and here.

But I did want to post the pictures the realtor's photographer took:

Skipping up to the second floor, here's the before of the kids room...

 ...and the realtor's photographer's after...

...and after everything was moved out...

Guest room before:

 ...awkward intermediate state...

 ...and realtor's photographer's after...

...and then empty again...

Upstairs bathroom before:

...and after...

Loft before:

 ...and after...

...and empty...

another angle of the after

and empty

Stairway before:

and after:

Master Bedroom before:

 

Master Bedroom after:

Master Bedroom empty:

another angle before:

 after:

a third angle of the after:

 and empty:

 and the master bathroom after from the realtor's photographer. 

This is another room that I only did paint in.

 Goodbye Michigan House. 

Goodbye yard that was backdrop for many a family picture...

...and goodbye home that we brought our first two babies home to.