first floor before and after
time to show off the bulk of our first floor, before and after style. here we go.
entry before and after:
all the beige walls in the house have been painted white thanks to my wonderful amazing workhorse of a husband, david. the entire house was beige except for the master bedroom and master bath. there is some residual beige in the laundry/mudroom but we don't care about that. the white bead board makes it less offensive. for the entry we had the railing replaced so that sabina couldn't squeeze through it (and also so it looks a little less traditional and a little more modern). we also replaced the entry light. you can see the shadow of the former on in the before photo. we ripped up the carpet and had the steps refinished. david painted the risers white and i installed a runner.
living room before and after:
oh that storage unit. it was epic. we tore that out and unearthed some lovely original wallpaper behind it and red RED red carpet underneath it. also some green ceiling paint?? the red carpet would have been quite a problem if we weren't planning to rip out all of the carpet and have the hardwoods refinished. you can see the old entry light in the before, and the new one in the after.
dining room before and after:
we tore out the french doors and the chair molding. too formal looking. also replaced the fan with a modern light fixture. originally i wanted to try and keep the french doors, but they turned out to be quite a hazard with bina and any little friends that came to our house. turns out i prefer the open space to the dining and living rooms instead of doors. the carpet was removed here and original wood floors refinished.
kitchen before and after (complete with dishes drying on the counter):
this was a fun transformation for us. we removed the valences above the windows and the cabinets on either side of the hood. replaced all appliances except the trash compactor (turns out those are like $1000 new for stainless, no thank you). right now the trash compactor is where we store our recyclables. maybe someday we will find a stainless one on craigslist. but not a top priority right now. we had the laminate counters replaced with granite and had a white tile back splash installed. replaced the cabinet pulls. replaced the light fixtures. we debated painting the cabinets and in the end decided not to. at least not yet. i don't mind the wood against all the white. gives it some warmth.
looking into the family room before and after:
painted the fireplace white. kept this carpet because it's the nicest in the house.
it was difficult to try to get the same angle here because i have a large cabinet in the spot where the original photo was taken. thank you, austin craigslist.
back to the kitchen, looking into the hall that leads from the entry to the kitchen and to the left to the half bath and laundry/mudroom.
bathroom before and after:
we painted the walls a deep blue. tore out that sheet mirror. replaced the vanity hardware and other hardware throughout the bathroom. new mirror and light fixture. we also tore out the chair molding. again, too formal for the look i am going for.
someday i'll share the first floor office and maybe the laundry/mudroom. and also the upstairs. still working on a few things up there for now. our latest adventure was installing interlocking vinyl tiles over the existing 1" tile in both upstairs full bathrooms. every time we look at it, it makes us smile. here's to hoping our installation holds up this summer and that expansion doesn't result in the floor popping up. we shall see!
happy house renovating. my creative outlet.
