About face! A Renovations Update blog

I've been living in this house now for 1 year and 3 months and have only posted once as to how the the hubby and I have been doing with the reno's. So here's a little entry journaling our adventure in updating the house.

The Dining Room

Here is the before of the dining room.

BEFORE:

 

Now, it's not a true "before" picture as the hubby and I had already switched out the grotesque light fixture after the picture was taken. Cardboard piano box in the corner is to add to the beforeness of the situation. It's akin to those infomercials with the tomato slicer. You know, when they show you a clip of how your world was before this miraculous tomato slicer. It's a clip of someone not knowing how to use a knife to cut a tomato and they end up smooshing the entire tomato into the cutting board. uh. user error.  ridiculous. *blank*

Oh right..reno's...note the wall color (or lack of), and the framing around the door into the kitchen.

AFTER

Here's the after picture.

A list of what we've done: 

• Painted the feature wall a yummy chocolate brown and the white walls a lovely shade of olive-tan. 
• Added picture rails to the wall so that we could hang up art without damaging the walls
• Rug!
• Added one of our antique chairs to the corner. We like sitting here and watching people on the street. 
• Put up sheers, curtains, and that thermal curtain stuff
• Antique white table with antique sewing machine in the corner
• Changed the framing on the door to the kitchen
• Note the crown molding and the baseboards
• Abducted my brother's fish and he now lives on my piano (muahaha)
• Abducted my mother's myrtle plant, and it now lives on the dining room table

There is a bit of stuff in the dining room. That is, the sewing table and the piano. However, that stuff might get moved after we renovate other parts of the house. Dig the art?

Here's a close up of the picture rail. Picture rail is basically molding with a very specific shape. You then hang hooks on it, and then hang pictures on the hook. Simple and actually a very classic feature.

The Living Room

I actually do not have a very decent picture of what the living room looked like before I changed things up. Actually, I do. But I am sure the friends in said picture would not want their faces plastered up all over the internet. Oh what the hades! I'll just blur out their faces.

BEFORE

This is the before picture. Note the crappy window fixings, and the colourless walls.

AFTER

This is the after picture. Sorry for the darkness. Those windows let in a lot of light which is difficult to capture on film.

Things we've done...

• Added molding to the windows
• Baseboards and Crown Molding
• Adding sheer curtain, thermal curtain, and curtain curtain
• I've made a cushion :P
• Painted the walls

This is a close up of the molding before on the window. That is, there's no molding and it's all about really gross horizontal blinds.

Here's a close up of the molding around the windows. Hubby actually had to saw off the ledge on the bottom of the window to get this all to work. Still not 100% complete. Needs a bit of wood-filler and touch up.

 

 The Other Side of the Living Room

I'm sure you all remember the before picture from a post earlier...

BEFORE

 

Since then, we've added three photos to one of the walls. (In addition to all the other stuff we did back in who knows when).

AFTER

Ignore the Art propping against the wall. It's being returned as it didn't suit the feel the hubs and I were looking for.

A close up of the photos will show that it is a baby picture of me, an adolescent photo of my hubby, and a wedding photo of us both dancing in a random moment. Picture rail again!

The Reading Spot

We have a little reading spot inbetween the dining room and living room. See below picture.

 

See the antique chair in the foreground with the bookshelf? That's the reading spot. Atop of the bookshelf is one of the hubby's most favorite things. Take a gander...

 

A happy pair of solid wood pigs. I really like the curtain rod ends in this shot :)

Next Project

The next project is our staircase which was left in a state of disarray when we moved in. The previous owners had taken out the handrail, and there was a crappy install...I can't even get into it because it's such a mess.

Am learning that reno's should be taken one project at a time. Hubby and I take the time to discuss features to add to the house and whether it will be suitable for the look and feel we want. We discuss design down to curtain rod ends, style of handrail, size of art, etc. However, the major theme is to keep things as minimal as possible to create open spaces while creating a warm lived-in home.

Will let you know how the stairwell goes!