Dining Room

BEFORE:



AFTER:

This picture was taken last year, however it looks pretty much the same! We have our bikes and some other outside storage items in our dining room because they are re-doing our siding in the back...

Laundry Room (or closet)

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AFTER:

We took out those nasty plastic doors!! I sewed a curtain that can easily be pushed back, out of the way, while I'm doing laundry -- and covers the area nicely when I'm not!

"Glenn's Room" or Guest Room

We call this Glenn's room, as he is here often!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

I've actually changed something already... I replaced the black stand - with a white bookshelf for under the window...

Charity's Room

Charity is our roommate - although with both of us traveling so much - we hardly get to see her! Charity has been with us since we moved in. She picked out the paint color for her room and even helped paint! (we painted the ENTIRE place - she was a much appreciated helper!)

The 2 other bedrooms were stark white... so here's what we did!

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AFTER:

Bathroom

BEFORE:


Here's a quick peak at the bathroom... the "before" picture is a bit dark, as the electricity wasn't turned on yet when i took the picture.

There's still work to do here also; I would like to tile the floor and bath. I haven't found a good deal on that yet!

AFTER:

Bedroom

BEFORE:



I'm not sure if bright neon green was an "in" color at some point... but I decided I would need to "unplug" the neon. I wanted something more warm and inviting - and of course relaxing for the bedroom.

AFTER:

We still have a bit of work to do here- with those closet doors! Eventually those will be replaced... but they work for now! (it's a mess behind those doors! ha!)

Living Room

Our living room has gone through many changes over the past two years - mainly because we had a cat that peed on every piece of furniture we owned! We went through a few couches and love seats... and finally, after purchasing really nice "sectionals" (or whatever the heck they are) - at a yard sale, of course - I covered them in plastic when we weren't using them. Cleaning little yellow puddles of cat pee in the plastic was getting really old... so we eventually had to give the cat away; so no more plastic furniture!

I don't have very good "BEFORE" pictures of the living room, as it was just a bare room to begin with. So here's a look:



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AFTER PICTURES! Now, here are some pictures of what it looks like now!

1) We lightened and brightened the walls - with a bright yellow... that I didn't like at first. In fact, I almost cried because it was not exactly what I had envisioned. I'm still not completely happy with it (even though it's yellow, and yellow is supposed to make people happy). It looked good in the daylight- but once florescent light hit the walls- it turned into a harsh yellow. I recently changed the bulbs and am now using "natural / daylight" type of bulbs - and that really made a huge difference. I actually don't mind it anymore.

This picture is a bit crooked; i was trying to get as far back as possible and had to put the camera over my head...


2) Pictures: There are nine 8x10 pictures hung on the far wall. I found the frames at Wal-Mart for $1.00 each. We had recently toured on Europe and because it had such a huge impact on us, I decided to implement the trip into our home. A few pictures were taken in Ireland, one of Westminster Abbey, one of the London Eye, one of the train station in Amsterdam, one of a guy on the street in Dublin...

3) On the wall to the left of the television: For the longest time I didn't know what to do with the space. I had some picture frames, but they didn't seem to work for me. So I decided I could just find some material - and create my own piece. I found some material on sale at JoAnne's -- and bought some canvas/frames at Hobby Lobby. (With the canvas frames -- you can create your own sizes!) I think my total cost was about $15 for the project - and that includes the new stapler I bought to staple the material to the frame.

4) Plants on my TV -- they died. But they looked really cool when they were watered. (.99 a piece at Wal-Mart)

5) Couch / seats -- I bought these at an Estate sale last summer- and LOVE them. They are so comfortable! The living room is very long and narrow; i think it's a very hard room to work with, especially with 2 sliding glass doors taking up a whole side wall. These sectionals are PERFECT for this room. I can arrange and re-arrange to my little hearts desire!



6) Curtains: These are also homemade! I found some basice white lining material- for $1.00/yard - and sewed 4 panels. The curtain rod is from Big Lots (about $5 each) - and then i found rings with clips- to hang the material. Very simple and easy to make. I'm required to have white curtains on the outside- according to home owners association rules. But I wanted to add a bit of color inside. After quite a few months, I finally found exactly what I was looking for. I hit a sale at Hobby Lobby- and they had some shear green material- that acutally worked.

7) Armoir - Dave & I found this at one of our first yard sales when we first moved to Nashville. The lady who sold it to us was moving, and didn't want to take it with her (it is H-E-A-V-Y!) -- She originally paid over $850 for it -- and sold it to us for $75! And one of my favorite pieces we own.

8) I almost forgot to mention - the new floors we put in! (Yes- Dave & I bought it through a company we found on e-bay - and installed it completely by ourselves!)

9) Book shelves (on either side of the armoir) - Another yard sale item! - They were $15 for both. I stained them to match the armoir. They still need a coat of gloss...

Kitchen: BEFORE and AFTER

We had a lot of work to do in the kitchen! This is what it looked like the day we bought it. For me, the red was too harsh and passionate. I wanted something light, fresh and inviting. Here's another look:


The first thing we noticed when we looked at the place was the popcorn ceilings! It had been that way for at least 30 years - and looked pretty disgusting. We knew we could fix it and make it look 100% better. So when we began working on the house, the first thing we did was tackle the popcorn ceilings. Every inch on ceiling was scraped off! Here's Dave wetting the plaster; he then used a spackling tool to scrape off the "popcorn" that resulted in a flat, smooth ceiling. All the rooms felt much bigger when we were finished!



Dave & I decided we had to prime the walls - at least 4 times- to get the deep dark red out of the picture. Here's a picture of Dave checking out our painting job...


I can't remember what I was trying to do, but I ended up peeling off not only the ugly red paint- but most of the plaster and drywall underneath! Dave's dad is a general contracter in California (works for Saddleback Church) and said it would be a piece of cake to fix. So when they came to visit - he fixed it for us! thanks Dad!

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Here are some other improvements:

1) We completely re-did the counter tops: the sink counter was from home depot. It was about $70 for that little space. So for the other counter tops, I spray painted them black, added some textured speckled paint, and then put a gloss on the top- and honestly, you can't tell the difference! It only cost me $16!

2) We completely replaced the sink base. When Dave tore it out- we found HUNDREDS of cochroaches & bugs. No wonder why it stunk so bad...




3) We replaced the kitchen faucet and added a water purifier. (kitchen faucet from Ikea $23)

4) We added hardware for the cabinets - ($2 for a 12 pack from Ikea)

5) Oh yeah- and did you notice the new floors? We used this Witex Maple laminate flooring throughout the 1st floor.

6) We changed the light fixture

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So here's what it looks like now!

welcome

Dave & I have been living in Franklin, TN for two years now! It's hard to believe it's been that long. We have made counless improvements to our home- and now it's time for us to share it with you. Enjoy!

it needs work!