One Room Down...

Ok, so I bought a little bungalow house 2 ½ years ago that while needing some serious updating was structurally a solid as one could ask for of a 1929 house.  Now, when I say it was like walking into 1972 I am not exaggerating even a little bit.  It was clean and well cared for but gold, green & brown were EVERYWHERE!  The kitchen, 2nd floor hall & basement had gold cabinets and woodwork, there was green & gold pineapple wallpaper in the kitchen, dining room and hallways (yes plural) and the carpet in the living room was seriously 1970's brown (although I think it was fairly new).  I knew this house would be charming when done but I also knew it would take a lot of elbow grease to get there.  The only real tragic room when I moved in was the bathroom and while I have done quite a bit of work on the bathroom it is not quite finished yet. 

Well, this weekend a momentous event passed – I finished my first room where it is actually fully complete.  I can’t believe it, from the 13 sample paints I purchased (my walls looked like a patchwork quilt for months) to pulling up the carpet, it’s done.   Yes 13 paint samples,   I do realize that is nuts but as I mentioned in my prior post I am a bit obsessive and couldn’t quite get the color right. A few years ago, I had seen a beautiful picture in Southern Living of Sara Blakely’s oh so elegant living room (for those who may not know, she is the creator of Spanx) and was obsessed with knocking it off.   I was aiming for this warm taupey-champagne color but after my 11^th sample that wasn’t even close ended up scrapping that plan and went with Benjamin Moore Truffle instead. 

I painted walls, ceiling, door, woodwork, removed the decorative window shell, installed crown molding, pulled carpet, buffed floors, laid a new area rug (another story all together – not so easy to put down a 100 pound rug by yourself and get it straight…), removed a custom wood valance and heavy dated drapes and installed new blinds, hung pictures and had to figure out furniture placement in a very odd shaped room (10x20).  All in all, I am very pleased with the finished product.

So, now I can sit back and relax in my totally refurbished living room right???  Unfortunately, not so much.  8 more rooms to go….luckily I do have most of these rooms are in various stages of renovation so hopefully the next one will be completed soon.  Dining room completion is right around the corner…

For now here are the before and after of my livingroom:

Before:

After: