Changes in the master

Hello and good morning and Monday to you! Hope you had a lovely weekend! The sun is just starting to peek out here and we have progress happening in basement bathroom as I write. We may have a potty down there by the end of the week! WHOO. HOO! :) Today I’m sharing a a few changes I made to the master bedroom. I started these projects last weekend and finished up a few little things yesterday.

February Before and After

Hey hey! It’s that time again – this first Monday of the month ALWAYS sneaks up on me, I always forget to remind you about this party. Dang. I LOVE looking through all your posts and picking out some to share with the group every month, and yet again you did not disappoint. Let’s see what you’ve been up to… Pam shared how they made and installed sliding barn doors for their basement family

Painting a Rock Fireplace

Several months ago I had the opportunity, along with several others, 

to help give some friends a home makeover. It was a fun experience! 

One of my favorite transformations in their home was the fireplace. The original fireplace was rock. The rock was dark, multicolored, dated, and had been colored on by their children. It was in desperate need of an update.

I was so excited get my hands on it and give it a coat of paint 

but several of the other volunteers didn't agree with the idea. 

Luckily I've met with opposition on paint makeovers before 

(usually with my own family members) so I knew just what to do. . . 

go ahead and PAINT! 
 

I used a primer/ paint combo along with a paintbrush and roller. 

In less than an hour the fireplace went from dark and dated 

to fresh, clean and modern.

  

 Even the naysayers thought it looked awesome!

The volunteers had another inexpensive idea to update the home. 

They used wide baseboard, turned upside down, as crown molding. 

 
It cost less, is easier to install, yet still adds architectural detail.

Aubusson Blue in the foyer

Hey there!! Hope you had a great weekend! We got a lot done which always feels good. We got so much done that I was laying down yesterday afternoon, contemplating a nap…but this project kept nagging at me. I’ve been wanting to get this done FOREVER. And now it is. Done. ;) I’ve shown you our foyer a million times, most recently right around Thanksgiving:  I’ve mentioned once or a hundred

January Before and After!

Hellooooo there! Are you all starting to get back to normal around your parts? My hubs went back to school today for meetings and I have the Bub home one more day…real life starts again tomorrow. I’m a little happy and a little sad about that! I’m so confused. :) Today we’re kicking off another year of before and afters! I’m keeping these monthly shindigs going because it’s always fun to see

December Before and After

Hello all! How was your weekend? We got our beast of a tree decorated and I am so excited to have that done!! I’m pretty much done with the Christmas decor…says the girl who will keep messing with stuff for another two weeks. :) Anyway, today we are kicking off the last Before and After Party of 2012! There were so many great projects last month, but so many that caught my eye were furniture

November Before and After Party!

Hello there! Hope you had a great weekend! The early darkness last night threw me, but today’s bright, sunny morning helped a little. :) Today we’re kicking off November with the Before and After Party, and wow, there were SO many great projects last month I couldn’t wait to share with you! Check these out and then link up your own today! I have loved those sweet velvet pumpkins and acorns

Redo with CeCe Caldwell paint

Well first off, I have to say a big thanks to all of your lovely comments on the library built ins! I’m going to start calling it a library now I guess, since there’s no dining happening in there. Library sounds so posh though. “Would you like a cup of tea…in my library?” Ha! Anyhoo, I’ll go into more detail about the accessories soon, but one of them gets it’s own post. ;) Last week I got a

Library bookcases done. Boom!

Remember that one time, back in January, when I had that idea to transform our dining room into a library? And then, back in March, when we started the process of building bookcases for the new library? Yeah, it was eight months ago, so I don’t blame you if you can’t remember. ;) Well, they are finally done!!!! And I’m thrilled!! I have worked  my butt off over the past few days to get them

October Before and After Party!

Hey hey! I totally spaced it on this month’s Before and After Party – I guess all I was thinking about was my project fail I told you about yesterday. (Thanks for all the ideas by the way, I think I have a solution!) And hello…October has totally sneaked up on me in general. People, it will be Christmas before we know it!! So let’s kick it off by sharing just a few of the awesome projects

Show us your basements (fun spaces)

Well hello there! I’m back on this beautiful (chilly!) Monday with another Show Us Your House link up! This time we’re sharing basements, playrooms and rec rooms. (Does anyone call them rec rooms anymore? How old am I?) As many of you know, we finally finished our basement this year. I say finally because we’ve lived her for 8.5 years and every four months or so of the past five we’ve said, “

Faux metal (Goodwill makeover)

Hello there! I’m back today with a super easy Goodwill project that almost never happened. ;) Last year I found a cute terrarium for only $5 at Goodwill, but it sat in my storage room all this time because it was just kinda…well, bland. I love white and bright as much as the next person but this one was just there and not doing much for me: I wasn’t even going to keep it -- I had it in my

September Before and After Party!

Hello hello! It’s time again! Doesn’t it feel like we just did this three days ago with the August Before and After Party? It does to me. The holidays will be here in a blink…it’s unreal. It’s time to do it again peeps, and like always I want to share just a few of the projects that caught my eye from last month. I’m blown away, yet again. You all inspire the socks off of me! First up, you

A Living Room Makeover

 

I recently came across this sunny living room makeover on Facebook, and since we all love a good before and after, I asked Amy if I could share on my blog. . .  This space was previously used for toy storage, but Swoon Interiors transformed it into a pretty, yet still family-friendly space.

 

 

Before. . .

 

 

 

 

After. . .

 

 

 

 

I asked Amy to share her sources for designing this room without breaking the bank:

“To achieve this look on a budget, I shopped around big box stores, West Elm, Macy’s, Home Decorators, Ballard, Wisteria, to find pieces that had a similar look to some of my favorite high-end pieces ... a mirrored table, wing-back chairs, a tufted sofa, a geometric rug. I designed the curtains through Village Workroom, which were surprising affordable, yet, I think, totally make the room. Then, of course, I turned to Etsy to find pillows made from designer fabrics and unique artwork.

Finally, I shopped flea markets to find some of the fun accessories. My client and her husband did the painting and hung the curtain rods.  And, she enlisted her dad to help give an old armoire new life with several coats of white paint ... so it was a family affair!”      Amy Tausk, Swoon Interiors

 

 

 

 

 

Before. . .

 

 

 

 

After. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see more of this room on the Swoon Interiors blog.

 

August Before and After Party!

Hello all! How was your weekend? We took a little family trip to Chicago for a few days of shopping, eating, Legos (the store and Legoland!) and just enjoying each other. It was just lovely. Perfect way to end our summer, cause both my boys (the hubs and the Bub) go back to school very soon. And I told you I don’t want to talk about it! ;) Anyway, it’s time for the August Before and After

Pink walls, begone!

Heyyyyyya! I’m back to show you a HUGE change we made to the house a few weeks ago, and it was a very long time coming. When we built more than eight years ago, we found out during the process that the builder would paint the interior walls for us if we wanted. Since our dining room, living room, loft and staircase are all connected, and all but the dining room have soaring ceilings (about 25

July Before and After Party!

Hey there! Welcome to another week! I’m looking forward to temps in the 80’s around here this week – compared to “feels like” 110, it’s going to be positively fallish! Since I was on a little vaca last week, we’re moving the July Before and After Party to today -- hopefully it works out well for all of you. Like always, I want to highlight a few of the awesome projects linked up last month

Show us your outdoor spaces!

Hello all! How was your weekend? Great I hope! Today we are continuing the Show Us Your House linky parties with a look at outdoor spaces. I’m really excited about this one! (I say that every month, I know.) Last year our backyard underwent a HUGE redo – we built a large deck on our sloping backyard soon after moving in years ago, but other than that we hadn’t touched it. We finished

June before and after Party!

Helloooo! It’s that time again! Another month has come and gone and we’re here again to show off your before and afters. I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with this month. :) First, as always, I want to share a few of the awesome projects from last month’s party. It’s always so hard to narrow the highlights down to just a few – I’m always blown away by your talent! We’ll kick it off

May before and after party!

It’s that time again! It’s almost summer, can you even BELIEVE it?? I can’t. Today we kick off May (I know it’s already been around for a week, whatever) with this month’s before and after party! First, some of the awesome projects linked up last month! Rasha updated her IKEA sofa with a little somethin’ and it looks fantastic!: I’ve had the supplies to the do the same and this has inspired