Thursday, May 19, 2011

Making a house a "home" - Part 1

I'd like to start a series of  "before's" and "after's" as we work our way around our new house.  Welcome to Part 1!
We absolutely fell in love with this house.  We loved the "bones", it had a great layout, the kitchen was fantastic with lots of storage and fun cabinets, but it did have oak - and lots of it.  Now oak is a nice tree, it has good durability, but there are two types of people: the oakey's and the not-so-much oakey's.  We fall into the latter category.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I am an 80's child and that was the thing then, I bet my children will think oak is the schnizz-nizz, that just seems to be the way styles revolve. 
We were fortunate to have a family friend/contractor that had some "insider info" about a place  near us that stocks all kind of trim for dirt cheap prices.  The day Eric and I went to check it out he had just gotten a shipment of 8" crown moulding.  Normally in the store it would run $40+ for 16 feet we scored it for (drum roll please....) $4.  Not kidding.  Now granted the reason this moulding is cheaper is because they are seconds, maybe a nick here or there, but what we got was great and totally workable!  As my husband would say "caulk covers a multitude of sins".   We were stoked.  What we saved on trim we could use to pay the contractor to put it up.  I really wish I was better about taking before and after pictures - I love to see drastic changes.  Here is a "before" of the office (taken during our initial walk-through):
Changes made: wallpaper removal (thank you for your help mom!!), new shades on chandelier, drapes, paint Sherwin Williams - compatible cream, and the crown which got finished today!
I love this room because:
A. It is a small intimate space which is so much easier for me to visualize decorated vs. the big open type rooms.
B. It is incredibly cozy to curl up in that chair with a book and look out at the gorgeous blooming flowers and trees.  (Ok, who am I kidding, books?  I so wish I had time - soon though, soon!) :)  I did do that once though and it was cozy!



I am thankful for this room and that it is finished.  There were a lot of emotions that came with moving that I was not prepared to deal with!  After all, we left the only house our children ever knew.  It was mine and Eric's "first" house.  We put blood, sweat and tears into it and we felt like we were abandoning it.  I know my logical side says its "wood, hay and stubble" which it IS, but all those memories and emotions were still there.  We are adjusting well and having things put together really makes it start to feel like home!   To be continued...