living room
kitchen
dining room
office
Here is how it looked the day before we moved in:
And here is how it looked the day after we moved in (yes Toto snuck his way in):
Can you see how this room took on so many "hats?"
Here's another picture of this room I wanted to include. I don't know how Jesse feels about me including this one (I didn't ask) but I wanted to make a point that two people can still love each other when they are going through a renovation :)
I will also add that this was our most controversial room in the entire house. Everyone had an opinion on what should be done with it. I've come to the conclusion that there are two different types of people in this world: paint lovers and wood lovers. I'm a paint lover. Jesse's a wood lover. Wood lovers love their wood. I mean, they seem to me (a paint lover) very possessive over wood, even if it's not nice wood. In general, the men who stopped by our house voted on keeping the wood. Some even went as far as saying it is an absolute sin to pain wood! They (Jesse's friends) loved this room in its original state and had the "grand" idea of turning it into a man cave. In its original state, it sort of already was. Jesse called it "the boat room." It looked like it and had rope trim to match. Yes, I did say the trim around the ceiling is ROPE.
But, with some womanly support, I finally convinced Jesse to let me paint it. It is, after all part of our main living area. I conceded the room above the garage to Jesse for the purpose of someday being his man cave.
I have to tell you, this room was a lot of work and I had some regrets after putting on the primer. First, I sanded all those hundreds of knots in the wood. Then, I applied BIN primer-the stuff that gives you a headache in just a few minutes. When I applied the first coat of primer, the room literally took on the look of a torture chamber-way worse than a man cave or boat room.
Here's how it looked:
Yikes! Once again, my mom-in-law saves the day and came over while I was working to apply the second coat. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures until after we had carpet installed which makes this room lovely :)
I absolutely love this room because of all the windows. This was the only room we have not replaced the windows because there are so many! We replaced 18 in the entire rest of the house and this room alone has 8 (not including the two door windows). So...this room's windows will just have to wait until our budget grows some more.
Here's how this room looks now with my added touches :)
First, I added a picture/favorite verse/card display above the desk. This is super easy to do. Just buy a lot of one color of frames and arrange them how you like!
Then, I made a comfy sitting area complete with my favorite plants and coasters to enjoy (yet another) cup of coffee. Oh, and this love seat also converts into a day bed! I love things with double purposes! You can find it at World Market :)
Finally, I bought some baskets and arranged all of my card-making materials here. Mason jars are great containers for storing beads, buttons, and thread. Oh, and all those books? Those are all "Bathrooms for Dummies," "Electrical for Dummies," "DIY Kitchens," etc. types of books. So no, we are not pros.
Last, but not least, I made use of a hook that had come out of the ceiling (yet, another reason it was called "the boat room") and have placed a cute little air plant here dangling from the ceiling. These guys are neat and low maintenance so here he is!
Thanks for letting me share my favorite room with you! Hope you got some fresh ideas :)
