Basement {Before & After}

I want to apologize for the half-heartedness of this post right off the bat. I am knee-deep in my #powersheets (and loving every second) and working on a few of my monthly and weekly goals like:

• trying to create and implement a time management system
• learning to set some boundaries with work and the kids, 
• and blogging more often.

I haven't quite got it all figured out just yet but, I'm working on it!

So, our basement. I didn't take many before pictures because this was one of the first areas we conquered and I think I was trying to block the whole situation out. I've since come a long way and have learned to embrace a good challenge but, this basement was a holy hot mess. There were cats (one of which they claimed to be the grandparent of Jinx from Meet the Parents...?! I can't make this stuff up) and birds...and a tanning bed.  

We started by ripping out the blue indoor/outdoor carpet and refinishing the floors (which I talked a little bit about that and the office HERE). Everything was a disaster down there and had to be re-done. Walls, trim, baseboards, ev-er-y-thing.

I'll start with my favorite room. Mostly because it's a long narrow room and we really had to be creative with how to best utilize it. It was originally a "media room". 

and who even has physical "media" anymore? Not me but, I do have wine. Lots and lots of wine.

Isn't that a much better use of the space?! Obviously, if you agree, we need to meet because we're destined to be bff's.

The wall color. Oh, the wall color. It's Sherwin Williams Ethereal Mood and although it's in the gray family, it pulls GREEN. I mean really green. I'd definitely do a different color if I had it to do over again, just because I'm not a huge fan of green on walls (unlike the previous owners) but, I chose this color off of a swatch instead of a sample on the wall. Big mistake, people. Huge. Rule #1 when choosing a paint color. Put it on the wall!

The racks came from Wine Racks America. They were super reasonable and great quality. I highly recommend them, if you're looking to do something similar in your home. The countertops are green onyx and I LOVE them. They are definitely unique and don't appeal to everyone, or look good in every room but, we wanted to add some character to the basement.

On to the living area.

I didn't get an after shot just like this one, because of the way the room is now put together but, you get the idea - hot mess city.

The after is actually shot from where that TV is.

{that couch and chair. another one of the husband's pre-marriage purchases...}

We opted not to paint the brick, like we did upstairs since I thought white would kind of compete with the floors. We sprayed the fireplace surround black and that looks about a thousand times better than brass. And you may recognize the built-ins. We repurposed the shelving in the media room and installed them out in the main room. They were sprayed in Sherwin Williams Dover White and the wall color is Sherwin Williams Useful Gray. I LOVE this color. It pulls a little tan (?) but it's a really great neutral gray that works in a lot of different rooms (It's also in the nursery upstairs that I'll be sharing later this week after the closet system is in). 

Here is the basement "bedroom" - which after shooting these, I realized that it looks a little more like a prison cell than a bedroom. This was a storage type room up until last week so, I've never spent any time making it into a true guest bedroom. I promise it's not this bad in person. Well, the rug is. I'd like to blame the husband but, I think this was a pregnancy brain purchase about 5 years ago. It's a king bed so the room is actually pretty big, but it was kinda hard to capture. Wall color is Useful Gray as well.

I will tell you, I am LOVING everything Nate Burkus at Target right now. #idie over these sheets.

The bathroom proved to be difficult to capture as well but, you can see the detail in the onyx a little more here. Isn't it dreamy?! The wall color is Agreeable Gray and this is another favorite. It pulls a little tan/green but, it's still gray. Definitely one you want to sample first, though!

So there you have it. The finally finished basement! Will be sharing some more #powersheet (are you guys sick of hearing about these yet?! Sorry, they are seriously just that amazing) awesomeness and my 5 goals for the next 6 months, as well as, my mission statement...that I've been meaning to actually come up with for oh, I don't know, 2 years now. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!

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Pantry // Mudroom {Before & After}

Excited for the group that's getting ready to start their 24 Day Challenge. Email me if you haven't received your stuff!

Now, on to some more before and after's. The pantry was one of the only things that I actually liked about this house when we first looked at it. Coming from a tiny little closet and seeing the rest of the house, this is all I had to hold on to...

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Main Floor {Before & After :: Part 1}

I found all the 'before' pictures of our house from when it was on the market (I apologize that they're not the best quality) before we purchased it. Get ready, it's....well, it's interesting. We'll just leave it at that.

So here we go!

What we have here is the sunroom. This was honestly the best room in the house, at the time.































And here it is today.

If you're wondering why the side tables are a little bare, it's because I have the wildest two year old on the planet. He, like his father, cannot be trusted with small, breakable items.

*Pretend you don't see the driftwood stool by the door* It belongs next to the media console but, pregnancy brain forgot to move it.

We spend quite a bit of time in this room and I love, love, love looking at the gallery wall. I think everyone should have one in their home somewhere. Those fans however, not a huge fan of them, but they were last on our to-do/budget list so, they're there for now.

The wall color is Sherwin Williams Gray Clouds. To me, is the quintessential, perfect 'gray'. It doesn't pull blue, green, purple or brown (at least not in this room). We still have to switch out the patio (?) door hardware but, have yet to be able to find any. Seriously, does nowhere carry these?! I like to think that I can track down just about anything but, these. These are scarce. If anyone knows where one might get their hands on some, drop me an email!

We also chose to leave the ceiling and window casings in their original colors. It gave a room more character and depth. I think white would have made it too sterile but, maybe not. Erin, over at Sunny Side Up has a similar style and her new house is amazing so, it may have been fine but, I actually like the contrast.



Ok, moving on to the kitchen. Get ready for these...

Do you hear angels singing?! I did not when we first walked in. Thankfully, the husband, despite his aforementioned annoyances, has quite a design vision.

No words here, people. No words. I'm actually a little surprised I don't see the League of Their Own framed movie poster hanging in here that the previous owners gifted us (that and the table you see here...). The fact that Tom Hanks stayed in this house while they were filming was their main selling point. My only thought was, "wtf, Tom. I expected you to have better taste than this".  Never thought quite the same of him since.

And here it is today.

We basically gutted everything in this area. During which, I was confined to living in the basement making meals only in a crockpot and washing Charlie's sippy cups in the bathroom sink...8 months pregnant. If I could give you guys one piece of advice, don't do this to yourselves. I had more breakdowns than I can count and this is probably the time I developed the twitch I have now anytime I see a crockpot.

I have the boys' artwork hanging on the backsplash so, not sure if you can tell that it's white subway tile. I'm sure our realtor will suggest that I take it down but, not happnin'. I love looking at their sweet handprints and scribbles. Especially when I've got my head shoved underneath the cabinets trying to regain my composure after Breaker threw an egg at me while standing on the counter (true story).

If you look closely (or probably not even closely), you can see where I attempted to brush out a mop I left behind the chair in the sunroom. And that friends, is why I am not a graphic designer.

The husband built this table and I love it. We looked everywhere for a long, skinny table to no avail so, he found some barnwood on Craigslist and, handy little devil, built one himself. We put a piece of Absolute Black granite with a honed finish down the middle to put hot dishes on and the chairs are Restoration Hardware Remy Side Chairs. They're still on sale so, if you're in the market, snag these babies up!

Lastly, here is the living room. You guys, I can't. I just. can't.

Like what?! I don't even know here.


And here is the same view today.

Oh, no. It doesn't stop there.

Ladies, can you imagine your husband taking  you into this and saying, "yep, this is the one, Honey." I thought he had ingested some sort of a hallucinogen and lost his mind. I've since learned to keep a much more open mind but, initially this was tough for me.

I'll hopefully be back this week with more before and after's but, we'll see what the kiddo's and husband have up their dirty little sleeves :)

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Home Office {Before & After}

It takes everyone a year to finish a simple project, right? Please say yes...

No? Well, in any case wanted to share some pretty amazing before and afters of our current house. This is the first house my husband and I have purchased together so, you'll see a lot of his/her things. It's been an interesting transition but, this baby has come a lonnnnnng way from it's day-we-purchased-it state. I'm going room by room as I get them finished so, I'll probably be skipping around a bit, but ah...so is life these days :)

Here is the basement office, semi-before. Before-before was an even hotter mess, if you can imagine that. Blueish indoor/outdoor carpet and I'm pretty sure the previous owners had a bird in there (?!?!) Little known fact about me, I HATE birds. They just freak me out. #ihaveissues but, moving on.

Here it is after we moved in, painted, ripped up the carpet and did stained concrete. Which by the way, was a great idea, in theory but, I'd do tile if I had it to do all over again. It's gorgeous when it's buffed, but the minute you even look at it, it looks muddy and sad. But, it's concrete and we got a CRAZY good deal on it, so I'm not too mad about it.

So, back to the office. Here are some before's:

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