Friday, April 17, 2009

Before and After

After a lot of work and some camera drama (USB cables got lost in the move) I finally have some before and after pictures of the decorating we've done to the house.

First here's the kitchen before.
All the cabinet knobs were shiny gold, which really didn't go with the gray/white/silver quartz counters. And the wall color was much too warm and light.

This is after changing the cabinet hardware and before painting:


And the finished product. Well, almost finished. I still want to replace the sink and the appliances.


The walls are Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage. I got the cabinet pulls very inexpensively on eBay (less than $60 for all of them.)

Next, the breakfast room, which is next to the kitchen. Before:
Notice the lovely circa 1980s brass chandelier. Not my fave. In this room I painted, replaced the chandelier and got a new table and chairs. After:


I got the chandelier online, the table from Ethan Allen, and the chairs, believe it or not, from Walmart. They are surprisingly well built and sturdy, and they were much cheaper than buying them from a furniture store (or even used chairs on Craigslist). The walls are Silver Sage just like the kitchen - the color in these is much more accurate since they're daytime shots.

And finally, the family room. This one took the longest because we had to cover up the cranberry red on the walls.

Here's the room after three - that's right, THREE - coats of Kilz primer:




The color we chose was Restoration Hardware's Flax. I painted the mantel white to make it look more continuous with the trim and to "pop" more against the darker walls (incidentally, I don't think it's possible to talk about decorating without using the word "pop." Just watch HGTV for 5 minutes.) I got the drapes from JC Penney and curtain rods from Target - since this is our TV room we needed a way to block out sunlight from the wall of windows


We still have a lot to do in here - we're going to mount the TV above the fireplace on a tilt mount and install surround speakers. We also want a couple of new couches to make a U-formation around the TV/fireplace. And I can't wait to get rid of the huge white and gold ceiling fan, as well as move Eric's hideous (but extremely comfy) recliner into another room. It's really nice to have the red walls gone. I like red, but it was just too much since it's such a large room. At night time it felt like we were sitting in hell.

So that's phase 1 of my decorating plans. Next on the list is the 2 weird bedrooms (the tiled one and the sewing/craft room), my soaping space in the basement, and the bathrooms. I'm going to take a break first though.

14 comments:

  1. Chelsea- you are so amazing! Your house looks fabulous!

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  2. You did a great job Chelsea! I love all the colors you chose! Will you come do my house? Painting is so much work!

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  3. Beautiful! I love the color for the kitchen. Your cabinets look so much nicer with the black hardware. And the color you chose for the family room really does "pop" against the white moldings. NICE JOB!

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  4. First, I have one word for you--GORGEOUS!! It all looks so beautiful! I totally love your color choices. Despite my desire to be better at decorating, I could never do that good of job.

    You totally had me laughing at the sitting in hell comment. :)

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  5. Looks good so far!

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  6. I love it! Your kitchen color looks really great! Oh, and I love the Mantel in white instead of that other color. It does make it pop. What I hate is that you did half of this all by yourself ( you crafty lady you...)

    I LOVE it!

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  7. We'll be over for dinner around 6. We'll see just how sturdy those walmart chairs are...

    you've done a great job, can't wait to see it in person!

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  8. You all are welcome to come test the sturdiness of my chairs any time! :D

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  9. I love what you've done with the place!

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  10. Nice. Erin and I are impressed. Erin said that it must have been all you because Eric doesn't have the knack for decorating. Seeing the recliner, I am inclined to believe him :-)

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  11. So beautiful!!!!!! I still have to drop by and take a look in person!

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  12. I love your taste! You have done an amazing job. I would love to come by and see it sometime!

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  13. It is gorgeous! Silver Sage is one of my favorite paint colors - it looks perfect in hour house. And I love the new living room colors too.

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  14. Anonymous12:09 PM

    I love what you've done with the place. Are you available to do some work in Houston?

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