Wednesday, August 24, 2011

House tour: Downstairs

When we bought our home, it was tuh-RASHED. As in, dog urine (and maybe human?) on nearly every inch of carpet, filthy, banged-up walls, black grout, clutter everywhere and it stunk to high heaven. Even so, I put an offer on it immediately because I knew it had good bones and would clean up nicely. (Which it did. Thank you to all who helped!)

Here it was before:


Ugly blue/grey wall color and trashed beyond recognition.

Here's what we did to it:


The first thing I noticed about our house was how filthy and trampled the carpet was and decided immediately it'd need to be replaced with something hard. I'm not a huge fan of tile in living areas because it feels cold and uninviting to me. And echo-y. You can remedy that with a large, thick-pile rug, but I just prefer carpet or wood flooring. I knew carpet would never hold up to the high traffic this room sees, so we went with wood laminate. We got it at Sam's Club for a sweet deal and the pad was included. Best decision ever. It still feels like a living/family room, but I don't have to worry about the carpet getting thrashed to death.

We repositioned the couch to go along the side wall which opened up the room a lot. I chose to go with a dark brown microfiber sofa and jazz it up with some fun pillows (IKEA). The table holds some toys, puzzles and piano music.

Here's the wall by my front door. I really want to treat the windows somehow. I'm not sure about curtains, but I do LOVE this idea. I could paint or upholster the center part in a fun color/fabric.


Next up is the piano corner. Before, it looked like this:



Not BAD but definitely not good, either. It made no sense in my mind to put a dining table there because there's a chandelier on the other side of the room where it ought to be. So this is what we did with the space instead:



I love to sit here and play and sing with my kids while we look out the window. It's a dream come true. Sometimes, little birds land on the window sill and watch us. Straight out of a Disney movie, I swear.

The Ansel Adams picture was purchased at a BYU Bookstore sale many moons ago. I've always loved it.

Also, props to Dill for cutting and installing the baseboards all by himself! I helped paint them, too. Upgrading baseboards is surprisingly not that hard nor expensive. We only did the downstairs out of necessity (had to tear out the old ones to put in the new floor) but now I want to do the whole house. Of course.

And also, I think I need a small, eclectic chair to go directly under the wreath. Thoughts? Ideas?

18 comments:

  1. I love your sweet, modern style. And I can imagine your fam sitting around Von Trapp style rockin out on that piano!

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  2. ah . the before and after is just amazing! wonderful job! so warm and inviting! :)

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  3. What a transformation! Looks great!!

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  4. Great job Jenna! Come link it up to my Mommy Monday linky party :) Lotsa fun going on there! http://momommamoney.blogspot.com/2011/08/mommy-monday.html

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  5. The before was so dark and cold. What you did made it warm and inviting! I so love it. We always wanted to put laminate in our house.

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  6. Jenna, your room has come a LONG way! It is beautiful. Ansel Adams has always been one of my favorites, too. Talk about talent!

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  7. I love it! I think maybe a smallish stool with a funky color/fabric cover would look great underneath the wreath. Someday my apartment will be decorated...someday...

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  8. there are few things i like more than a home makeover diy style. good work!

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  9. Your home is beautiful! You've done a great job renovating! Our house was a forclosure when we bought it and it sounds like it was in much the same condition yours was. Completely not liveable when we first bought it. LOTS of TLC and hard work brought about our home sweet home now. :)

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  10. Do I EVER remember your home before you transformed it into a palace! I remember (even before the house closed) when Dad and all the boys started ripping out the carpet because it stunk SO BAD! Of course I'll never forget the paint "bubble" on the wall...:)

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  11. It looks great! You should come help me decorate my house. And just as a side note, did you know that you aren't supposed to put your piano next to an outside wall? I love the idea of playing and being able to enjoy the outside, but I think it's supposed to be bad for the piano and tuning and such. Just an FYI.

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  12. Mmkay, I'm in love with your house! You've done a beautiful job. We looked at some pretty scary houses with "potential", but I knew we would never get around to doing anything we wanted and just live in it the way it was. Good thing we went with a nicer home too cuz that's exactly how it's been. We were even given money as part of the closing agreement to replace the kitchen floor, been here 2 months shy of 2 years and the same floor is still there.

    When you said birds land on the window sill I thought for sure you were going to say they sing along with you! And when you said you needed an eclectic chair I thought it said electric chair and can't even describe where my mind went from there. Let's just say for a moment I feared for your children! :)

    Props to you guys on such a pretty home! And you mentioned a dining/chandelier area, but you never showed a picture. I'm assuming it's all in the same room? Guess I'll be patient.

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  13. Thank you, thank you everyone!

    @Kendra: It's OK, my piano is electric!

    @Sara: we definitely did not live in the house before we remodeled it. My in-laws let us live with them for a few weeks while we got it done. Thank goodness! And too funny about the electric chair.

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  14. You have done such an amazing job on this place. Sometimes it can be hard to see a jem underneath but you have really made this place a beautiful home.

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  15. i can't believe the transformation!! it looks so good! i love the colors you've chosen! everything fits perfectly.

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  16. I love the warmth and modern simplicity. I am a huge believer that less is more, so of course I love your space!

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  17. How cute!! We loved looking through these! Job well done, lady! Just fabulous!

    ox,
    -Davie+Erica

    >WEBSITE: http://www.lpfashionphilosophy.com
    >BLOG: http://www.lpfashionphilosophy.blogspot.com

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  18. Wow..Looks great...I love your sweet, modern style..Thanks for sharing it..
    Bathroom Remodeling Miami

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