The Kitchen- before and after

The kitchen walls were painted a shade of green that I did not care for at all. It looked sickly to me.

 They are now Diverse Beige (SW) like the rest of the newly painted living areas. Thanks to Ben. ;-)

 I think it's a big improvement!
As far as the rest of the kitchen goes, it was already beautiful and updated when we bought the house. The cabinets are solid maple, and I love the granite counter tops.



 I also love that there are some glass cabinet doors to display some of my teacup and teapot collection. :-)
Since there isn't a pantry in the kitchen, I store all my dry foods in this wall of cabinets. There is plenty of storage space even without a designated pantry. Some of the cupboards are still mostly empty. ha

 Eventually I want to get a little table and chairs for the breakfast space, but I thought for now it would be the perfect place for the baby to swing while I do the dishes, etc. nearby.
I will also add some panels or valances to the windows sometime in the future. But for now, I like them this way. ;-)

Ruffled Romance~The Dining Room (before and after)~

This is how the dining room looked when we moved in:

 Since most of the curtains in the house were not to my taste, I sold them on eBay and made enough money to buy some new ruffled curtains for the dining room. :-) I found them on eBay, too, by the way. ha                       
                         Teddy insisted on being in some of the pictures. ;-)

 


 

You can catch a glimpse of the kitchen in the picture above, but that will be a topic for another post. hehe

                                                       Some of my vintage linens...

Living Room~ Before and (almost) After

We just finished changing the paint in the living room from a drab sort of yellow to Diverse Beige, by Sherwin Williams.

Before: 

 

I really love this color! Even more that the darker version, Utterly Beige, that we used in our bedroom.
I also added some curtains, but I'm not sure this is their permanent home. I think something less patterned might look better in here. They may be moved to the guest room. ;-)
                                                                  After:

 

I've hung this quilt on the wall above this sofa in 3 houses now. :-) I think it is my favorite out of the quilts I've made.

We have plans in mind for this fireplace, but they may have to wait a few months. A quick fix that we are considering is painting the bricks the wall color, so they blend in with the room better. And painting the mantle white. Eventually, Ben wants to cover the bricks with white wood paneling and molding. Over the hearth, too. I am afraid of brick hearths once we have another little one crawling around and learning to walk.

For now, we are much happier with the living room, and can move on to all the other rooms needing some paint attention. ;-)

Odds and Ends

I love the built in storage and shelving in our living room, but the knobs left somewhat to be desired.

They were basket weave which looked more suited to an African safari theme or something. ha Not our style. Even Nathanael didn't approve of them. ;-)

I bought 4 pink glass knobs half price at Hobby Lobby and switched them out.

Yes, I do display my American Girl dolls in the living room. ha I make and sell period doll clothing for the AG dolls, and these are my models. I have Kirsten and Samantha from the days of my youth when I actually played with dolls. ;-) However, I still love these dolls so much that Ben gave me a Rebecca doll for Christmas year before last. I need to change them into some of the clothes I made, but haven't had time lately.....

                                          This was our 4th of July look for the front entry:

The Spring/Summer wreaths were on clearance at Hobby Lobby, so I bought this one for the front door while I was there:

                                         The flowers are made out of a burlap type fabric.

Speaking of burlap, I cut some in strips to make tie backs for the neutral curtains downstairs. More light comes in now, and it looks cuter. ;-)

I had to buy some burlap "ribbon" to use on the last two panels, since I ran out of my left over burlap fabric.

Thought I'd show you a couple more pictures of the downstairs family/rec room. How do you like Priscilla's eyes in this shot? haha

                           The boys always have to pose in a shot or two, as well. hehe
The pool table came with the house, for a small price. The previous owners didn't want to have to move it, and Ben loves pool, so that worked out well. Nathanael and Teddy are learning how to play now, too.

The Family Room

The family room is one of the few rooms in our new house that we could just move into without any painting, etc. (We did have the carpet cleaned, though.)

 

 I love all the built in shelves and cupboards in this room. My white TV blends right in. ;-)

 We had planned on putting our big, comfy sofa in this room, that matches the oatmeal colored chair and ottoman, but it wouldn't fit through the doorway! So, it has to stay in the formal living room instead. :-(

Two chairs were not enough when all of us gather to watch Andy Griffith, etc (ha), so after some research we took a trip to Ikea and bought their Ektorp slipcovered sofa. It comes flat packed, as does everything is that store, so there was no trouble getting it into the room. I remembered trying one of these sofas out a few years ago and thinking it was way too firm. However, I was surprised at how comfy this one actually is. Maybe they changed them in the last few years?
The slipcover is machine washable, so we don't have to worry over the whiteness too much. But to reduce the number of times I need to wash it and put it all back on, we do have a "no food" rule in this room. ;-)

 

             

 

I think Priscilla approves of the room. ;-)

 

 There is a cute little bathroom off of the family room. I love the vanity. It looks like a piece of furniture.

 I wonder how much use this shower will get, though? ha Doesn't seem like it was needed in this bathroom, but I guess we will find out.

Master Suite, before and after

The master bedroom had scuffed up, blue walls and worn out, stained Berber carpet when we bought the house. It also smelled like a dog, since the previous owners' dog slept there.

 

                                    

 Ben painted the walls "Utterly Beige" by Sherwin Williams and we had new frieze style carpet installed. :-) The walls look more brown/tan to me than beige, so that name is not very descriptive of the color.

 I bought the ruffled "Simply Shabby Chic" curtains from Target. I love ruffles. ;-)

                                                     A view into the master bathroom...

                         The balloon shade/curtain is also "Simply Shabby Chic" from Target.

Our master suite now feels very restful to me. And we have both been sleeping better back in our own bed once again. Nothing like your own bed, after all. :-)

Joining the monthly Before and After Party with Sarah at http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

Entry Way, before and after

We have been very busy of late, settling into our lovely new home. :-) I am mostly unpacked now, and Ben is working on the all the painting that needs to be done. Our room and the baby's nursery are all painted, with new carpet installed, but I still need to finish decorating those rooms before I show pictures. ;-)

 

One "room" that is all ready to show you is the entry way, which leads into the formal living room.

Before, it was a shade of yellowy cream that I do not care for.

 

 It is now painted Diverse Beige, by Sherwin Williams. It is a soft, sort of greige color, and it has really improved the look of the entry way.

 I also added sheer panels to the windowed part of the door and the sidelight. It adds a little privacy, and also, I was being driven nuts by the smudges and finger prints that showed up so well in the afternoon sun. ha I just couldn't get those windows to look clean at all.
There is a little "mud room" before the entry way. A double door entry sort of thing. Not sure if you can tell in the pictures...

I can't wait until all of the living room and the kitchen are painted Diverse Beige, as well! I think it makes it look so fresh and updated compared to the colors that were in here before.