1 2 3 Magic...(Take 1)

It has been just over a year since we moved into our house. We moved in Aug 1 when I was 9 months pregnant, scheduled to deliver Ben on August 15th. We knew when we bought this house it would be in need of some renovations and we have been very busy the last year doing just that.

Since I knew I would be practically changing everything, I took awesome "before" pictures when we bought the house but I lost them when my computer crashed last Thanksgiving. I scrounged up these pictures from the realtor. They were the ones used when it was listed on the MLS.

Our first project started just 3 days after we moved in when we paid a crew to come rip out all of the old flooring downstairs: white carpet and glued down wood (orangy oak) floors. Many have asked for pictures and I have been reluctant to post any because I wanted to have it ALL put together before I did. However, finding the "perfect" art, chairs and money to do it all doesn't always come together as quickly as I'd like! So, here is the first area we tackled, thus far:

Dining room before:

White.white.white. They are invisible here but before the base boards were 2.5 inch off white.

Dining after: Weston & his brother Dustin installed the floors, during his paternity leave I must add. ;) Five inch hand scraped maple. I installed & painted the 6 inch square baseboards all throughout, curtain rods, hemmed linen curtains & painted all the walls.

Here is another view.

Sitting/Office area before.

After:

I have big plans to turn this into a mini library, adding more bookcases (we have like 10 boxes of unpacked books still), some comfy reading chairs and a love seat in this room but we are still working on the money tree thing & the energy to do it all. ;) Notice my bare walls. I have been searching for that perfect art for over a year now.

The lighting in this picture shows the true paint color a little better.

This is the best picture of the entry way before that I could find. This was taken at the YW Christmas party held at my house (they were performing the nativity). To orient yourself....here you see the piano (behind the girl wearing the blue sheet) and the front door entrance.

Front entrance after. (The piano is behind the pillar)

Another angle. The door you see is the entry to the powder room which is currently under construction but getting close to being done. Pictures to come soon. We replaced all the doorknobs, light sockets/panels, plug sockets/panels & painted all the doors. I plan to paint the stair railing all white like the rest of the trim. I have found my new console table but I am waiting to purchase......"oh money tree, oh money tree!" :)

Now this here... is a (insert Uncle Eddie accent) "fine piece of art". ;) I have also been searching for the perfect chandalier for the past year and I think I just found it but I am waiting for the darn thing to go on sale! Therefore, I am stuck with this one a little longer. For the time being, I am going to paint it junk chic style. Anything will look better than this. I will post pics after I do.

We have been working hard in other rooms as well (kitchen, family & powder room). Soon to be starting the master bedroom & bath. I will post pics of those when I can too. :)