Before and After: Living Spaces

There are two living spaces in this house,

one at the front which I call the living room,

and one at the back which I call the family room.

 Living room at move-in,
ugly carpet, popcorn ceilings and all.

 Family room at move-in, ditto.

 more family room,

 and another angle of family room.

 This is the first manifestation of the living room.

The walls were painted a coffee color and we installed

some molding on the bottom of the walls as wainscoting.

The furniture was just moved in from our old house, as-is.

 This is the first look of the family room.

The walls were painted blue and the furniture,

again, came straight from the old house.

 A look from the living room into the family room.

You can see it is very open, but the family room was

an add-on and has a separate feeling to it.

I decided I wanted an all-white room,

so I covered the leather sofa with linen

and painted all the furniture white.

This worked well for awhile until I thought it would be a better fit

to move the all-white room to the front and the older (and more colorful)

furniture to the room that held the television and got more family use.

 A good idea until I realized it meant not just moving furniture,

but rugs, artwork, chochtkies and large shelves as well!

 It took quite a while to get everything moved,

 and I lived with combination rooms for a week or so.

But, eventually everything found their proper place.

 Mostly white and neutral, with a touch of pale blue,
very light and airy.

 The family room got a fresh coat of yellow paint

and a lot of color!

Both rooms continued to evolve,

with various furniture coming and going,

sometimes from room to room and back again,

changing from one season

to the next.

Sometimes bringing in new rugs and drapes,

slipcovering and painting the old,

and trying out different art and pillows.

Until we come to the present day,

combining the new 

with some of the old.

Using the same flooring throughout the house

gives it a good flow,

 and also makes it feel larger.

But I never know how long anything

in this house will last.

In fact, see that chair in the corner?

It's in the middle of a makeover as we speak!

Back to Basics- Why I Started This Blog in the First Place: Before and After Curb Appeal

The last couple of years have been a little hectic (okay, crazy) around here.

You probably noticed that my posts have dwindled to practically nothing

(sorry about that).

But now I am going to get Back to Basics and return to the original

purpose for this blog: documenting the remodel of this House with Potential,

turning it from a Rundown Ranch into a Cute and Cozy Cottage.

So, let's start at the beginning: Curb Appeal

 This house had none.   Zero.
But it did have a nice neighborhood,

a workable floorplan, a big yard and a low price.

 It's not any better from far away.

 I hated those arches from Day 1.
I just thought, "We'll take those downright away".

Trouble was, we had never worked on a stucco house before

and had no idea just how hard it would be.

We tried various tools and methods, but in the end, it was

sheer brute strength with a sledge hammer that took them down.

It actually took a couple years to complete this project and I

started to feel sorry for the neighbors!

But it was worth all the hard work!

We built up the columns and painted
all the trim a beautiful bright white,


to compliment the newly painted grey of the house,

and the pop of turquoise on the front door.

Add some cottage charm with a turquoise milk can, weather vanes

and crocks, even a turquoise beach cruiser,

a white fence and lots of cottage flowers,

like lavender, roses and geraniums.

From far away,

or close up,

This house now screams Cozy Cottage!

Family Room Reveal: Before and After

I was perfectly happy with my family room.

I loved the red check curtains,
the cottag-y slipcovers, and my dad's pine trunk.

I loved it even more when I got a new grey couch!
And it looked great with everything that was already in the room.
No need to change anything!

But one day, just for fun, I hung up some grey fabric
to see what it would look like instead of the red checks.

Then I just happened to find this great rug when
I was shopping on vacation.
I wasn't looking for it, it was just there!

Well, one thing always leads to something else,
so I made new slipcovers in a navy ticking
and new pillows to keep a pop of red.
(Plus, I wanted to keep the little red dresser in the corner)


I also brought in an old over-stuffed chair and painted it grey,


traded the heavy, dark trunk for an airy, white table,


and made new pillows for the couch,
including some red-checked ones!