A Work in Progress- Part One

For a while I've been considering posting some "before and after" photos of our home renovations, but I've never wanted to because we're not really finished with anything. For instance, we need some nice art for the walls, some pillows shams for our bed, new light fixtures in the kitchen, and more flowers and trees! And that's just for the rooms that are somewhat "finished." However, after my post about getting our house appraised, I thought I should fill you in on some of the details. After all, I understand the importance of the process and realize that is really what home restoration is about. We'll never be completely finished, so please consider that my "after" pictures here really mean much better, certainly not finished. And, the good news is we'll have more "much better" pictures soon because our appraisal came in higher than expected!

The Kitchen

Along with the yard and the neighborhood, this is the room that sold me on the house. I love the windows, the view of the stone path to our garden, and the openness of the kitchen. It's perfect for us. We salvaged all of the cabinets, converting one into the island. My mom even salvaged the giant sea fan for us (top left). We added all new "scratch and dent" appliances, a butcher block from IKEA, a porcelain sink from the Habitat store, some chalk board paint, and a spice rack, custom built by Laurence.

The green for the cabinets was difficult to get just right. The color I started with was too green and the second attempt not green enough. So the solution was to mix the two myself- a nice combination of Asparagus and Relaxation, so fitting for our kitchen. Lots of the little details I'll have to post about individually, and hopefully our nook will be finished soon, along with new lighting in the entire kitchen.

The Guest Bedroom

Really, this is our bedroom for now, but we call it the guest bedroom- maybe one day. I know, how incredible is that wallpaper! I had to do some convincing to keep it, but I love it! Especially with the arrangement of black and white photos against the velvety gold background, and the soft blue walls complimenting the wallpaper and the curtains.

I like to think that this wallpaper is original to the house, it looks very 20's to me, but could have also been added in the 70's, not sure. The velvet texture is kind of lost in these photos, but you can imagine what it's like. Oh, we also had to close off an exterior door that was added when they duplexed, i.e. decimated, the house in the 70's.

The Bathroom

Some more favorites from our house- the sea foam green tile and the world map shower curtain! I guess I have favorites from every room in the house, actually. Sometimes Laurence says I'm too positive about everything and that I need to be more critical. So, even though that blue floral wallpaper looks like it's cool and funky, underneath I discovered several patches of water damage, including some rotten wood in parts of the window. My criticism - even if people used to just take baths, who puts a wooden window in a shower?

Since we agreed refinishing the bathroom should be first on the list, this little room was my introduction to spackling. At first it seemed like a genius invention, then came the sanding, and sanding, and sanding, and sanding. Two and a half years of restoration and I can say without hesitation, I hate sanding, but I love our new bright bathroom!

Much more to come...