Hi everyone, remember me? I didn't die in a reno related accident, I've just been procrastinating...and I'm not sure why? Let's talk it out! The house has been kinda done for a few months but in my head it's never really done. Maybe because with this house I know we'll be here for a long while so I'm in no rush to finish all the projects at once? Maybe because with this house it isn't such a dramatic before and after? I mean the house needed to be updated but paint and popcorn ceiling removal don't make for truly jaw dropping before and after photos.
When I look back at the starting photos, the house now feels so much lighter, brighter and modern. It's also starting to actually feel like home and not someone else's house we just bought. I've tried to be a bit more restrained in my choices (well as restrained as I can be) and have gone with a more muted palette. Whew, okay, still there? You probably just want to see the pictures-right? Let's start with the living room and then fingers crossed I'll do a weekly before and after of the other spaces.
As you can see in the real estate listing photos the former owner had been using this room as a formal dining room. I've said it before but for us it seemed excessive to have an eat-in kitchen and dining room. I may also have a chair hoarding problem so having two sitting rooms was the perfect solution.
If we rewind a bit, I'll show you what the room looked like on the night we got possession. These photos more accurately show just how beige the whole house was. It also shows just how beautiful that old light fixture was, I'm kicking myself for not keeping the spaghetti monster light! If you look really closely you can see the grey outlets too. Chad had to change out every single one of them. He had a lot of fun doing that. Not only did we change every single outlet but also every single light switch and light fixture in the entire house.
Below you'll see what the living room looked like after we had painted everything white and Chad had created and installed a new light fixture. You also get a little peek into the kitchen/dining room.
Ahhh, so fresh and bright. As I was thinking up a source list I realized that the only thing I can give you a source for is the paint on the feature wall, Sherwin-Willams Eclypse-which in itself is a story-one in which the very patient Chad put up with my deliberations for days. Before we get to that, just so you know, all of the items in the living room are either vintage/second hand things we already had, borrowed from my sisters stash (thanks Caitlin for storing your stuff with me!) or a few new accessories from HomeSense.
The Persian rug may just be my new BEST EVER Kijiji/Craigslist find! Guys, it was $40 and it's huge! The man selling it seemed to be clearing out a hoarders house and felt bad he was even charging $40. He kept asking if I wanted to buy the new ugly polyester rugs he had. I've never seen a wool rug this large and detailed for under $300. Okay, enough about my score and back to my paint trauma.
If you look back on my post HERE you'll see several mood boards that do not include this green colour. My original thought was to maybe use this colour on the kitchen cabinets . I had planned to leave this room entirely white and then down the road incorporate wall paper or panelling or something. What I hadn't realized was just how cream coloured my grandparent's vintage sofa was. The moment the movers brought it in I had a panic attack, texting Chad pictures of just how much it clashed. I knew I couldn't paint the entire room because a majority of the walls flow into the other rooms. I also knew that for the time being I had to use this sofa. After much deliberation (I can be a drama queen) I realized this would be a good time to test out various army/mossy greens. A feature wall is always an easy way to change things up as the mood strikes me and I've always been drawn to the colour green. Although, after painting the entire house I don't think that mood will strike me for a long time. I love that with all the neutral pieces in the room I could just change the wall colour and a few accents and have a whole new colour scheme.
Our living room now holds the bedroom set and family room set from my grandparents. Their side tables and dresser are now our sofa tables and credenza. I wasn't sure if it would be too much teak but then I remembered there is no such thing as too much teak. The lamps were given to us by friends of my parents and updated with simple shades from-you guessed it-HomeSense.
Along with painting out all the wood banisters, I also made Chad take down the doors to the "solarium/balcony/room to nowhere." It opened up the room and most importantly allowed a chair to be placed there without a door opening onto it.
The metal starburst (that belonged to my other set of grandparents) use to hang over the credenza in our old house is now over the sofa and looking right at home. I love how I had a chance to mix metals in this space and plan on carrying that into the kitchen as well. I also like how the teak and the copper read as a similar colour palette.
Please ignore the half taken apart doorbell in this picture. If anyone knows of an attractive wired doorbell chime please send the link my way. I thought I could just take it down and replace it quickly but all the options are just as ugly! They are still selling the same one I took down that I thought was definitely from the 80s.
The circus print was given to me by my parents. They brought it back from New Orleans a few years ago but I only recently got around to framing it. I feel like this area has a bit of a circus, natural curiosities theme going on with my Mexican tiger mask and the vintage tin monkey wind-up toy that has been a stocking stuffer gag passed around my family forever. Again, everything is reused from the old house with the exception of the trio of blue vases from HomeSense.
The view from the landing/loft area. I'm glad I went ahead and painted all the banisters out even though we'll eventually be replacing them for some kind of modern metal/wire ones. I'm also really happy with how Chad's light fixture turned out. I had originally wanted it to be black but copper is now my new best friend!
What do you think? Was it worth the wait for those of you who've been asking me what the hell happened? Just in case-I'm adding a picture of Bill Murray looking cute and getting in my way while taking pictures.
