In my last post, I made the mistake of calling our house "finished." Like most projects in life, I don't think it will ever truly be "finished." So at this point, by "finished" I mean to say that phase one of the remodel is complete, we have come to the end of our budget, and just couldn't wait any longer to move in. After three months of remodeling, we now happily reside in our house. Each day I fall more in love with it, which is saying a lot considering that it started out as one of the ugliest houses I've seen. It's sure come a long way but in each of these photographs, I still see a list of projects yet to be completed and objects yet too be saved for. But at long last, here it is! Besides maybe our wedding, there has never been a project more personal and dear to my heart than this little house you'll find photographed below. Welcome to our home!
This is the formal living room, which you walk into when you enter through the front door. In this room, the changes we made include new paint, new baseboards and crown molding, new flooring switching out the two light fixtures and plantation shutters. In true retro fashion, this is a sunken room, a step down from the entry. We debated back and forth about the iron railing but ended up deciding to keep it for now.
All of the furniture in this room is from our first apartment together, and I'm already excited about adding to it and entering the decorating phase. My favorite part of the living room right now is the crystal chandelier. I was so excited to finally have a place for it after buying it in an antique store in Asheville, North Carolina two and a half years ago. Since we moved in, my mom helped me paint the front door black, which I love! A couple of projects we're looking forward to completing on the next phase of our remodel is replacing the front door and sidelights (or replacing the yellow glass with clear glass, haven't decided yet) and adding built-in bookshelves.
Kitchen Before & After:
In the kitchen, we painted the existing cabinets and added new hardware and a new electric cooktop. My hands-down favorite part of this room is the change we made to the overhead light fixture. We removed the old fluorescent fixture and added recessed lights and crown moulding. I still can't believe how much this one change opened up the room! In the future, we are definitely looking forward to upgrading the countertops and backsplash.
Dining Nook Before & After:
This may look like a simple little "room." However, one of the toughest projects of the whole remodel was removing the wrought iron railing and extending the curved steps, not to mention covering the curved steps in wood flooring. But I thought I would like this area opened up, and I was right-I love it. Definitely worth it. We also removed the odd mirrors that were tiled onto the wall, painted the walls, added baseboards, plantation shutters, wall sconces and a coordinating flushmount chandelier. The dining set (antique) and rug are from our first apartment.
Family Room Before & After:
We still can't believe what a new room this became after painting the wood paneling and shelving! I love how the beams and stone fireplace give the room a rustic vibe, which I normally wouldn't have chosen, but ends up balancing out my style quite well! As in the rest of the house, replacing the original carpet with laminate flooring also made a world of difference. The TV stand is from our old apartment and the sectional (Ashley Furniture) was our first big furniture purchase for the new house!
Laundry Room Before & After:
It may be a laundry room, but I got the black and white tiled floor of my dreams, so I'm a pretty happy camper! (Not to mention a new washer and dryer!) Looking forward to eventually getting around to decorating this room. I think it has the potential to be really cute. I'm thinking of adding wallpaper and a fabric window treatment. Also hoping to figure out how to push the dryer all the way up against the wall. All in good time...
Master Bedroom Before & After:
Vanity Before & After:
I can't even pretend to not be psyched about my vanity area. This feature of the house is pretty 60's-licious, (especially that light fixture!) but since our bathroom is so small, the idea of having my own space to get ready is pretty appealing. My mom helped me cover the bench in leopard and I hung my cute little Chanel mirror I found at an antique fair a few months ago. I'm still planning to paint the vanity table white and change the knobs.
Master Bathroom Before & After:
Most people find out our house has a mint green bathroom and are horrified. Since we don't have room in our budget for a full-on bathroom remodel, I decided to fully embrace the theme for now and run with it! Finding this rug at Anthropologie was the inspiration I needed and really opened my eyes to embracing the mint. Add flooring and a new faucet and shower door, and I think we managed to modernize our mint pretty substantially. It won't look like this forever but for now, I don't hate it! ;)
Guest Bedroom Before & After:
Guest Bathroom Before & After:
The theme of our guest bathroom consists of two of my favorite things: pink and toile. Shower curtain, towels, and bathmats are Waverly for Target, purchased about three years ago. The other accessories are from Pottery Barn, still available.
So there you have it! If you made it through that entire post and kept genuinely interested, I could just hug you! Although I attempted to give a quick little summary under each room, I'm sure I neglected many details. If you have any questions, or are curious about any specific project or source, please feel free to ask away in the comment section!
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Learn more about our house remodel here: 1. House Tour, The Before Pictures (October 2012) // 2. House Tour, The Living Room (November 2012) // 3. House Tour, The Kitchen (November 2012) // 4. House Tour, The Den (November 2012) // 5. House Tour, The Bedrooms (November 2012) // 6. House Tour, Remodel Phase 1 Completed, (January 2013)