Pictures from the “What Were They Thinking?” Archive #2

Before I sign off of the laptop for the night, I will post the Living Room realtor walk through pic, along with a most recent one from this past Christmas.

Before:

For the all of the before and after living room pics, click here.

Andrea

Pictures From the “What Were They Thinking?” Archive

I finally found my realtor walkthrough pictures of our house.  It is interesting to compare before and after pictures of some of the rooms.  I will post them all soon, but here are my absolute favorites….the kitchen before:

I don’t know which is worse, the red plastic handles on the cabinets mounted higher than you can reach, or the burgundy damask fabric that was stapled…YES, stapled to the wall, or the fire engine red laminate countertops.  The swags were also stapled to the window.  If you look close, you can see that they did not even bother to take down the old window hardware before stapling up the swags.  And, of course!!!!  I almost forgot!  The fingerpainted artwork on the cabinet doors!  At least it was acryllic paint and washed off!   The kitchen was also carpeted from wall to wall.  I can’t explain how gross that was.  We pulled it up to find a black and white checkerboard floor.  Which was a lot better than the carpet.

I accumulated two garbage bags of fabric that I took down from the windows, walls, and every other imaginable place.  Look at the front door..yes people, there is a front door under there somewhere!

These doors have: 1) a set of plantation blinds, 2) a lacy curtain, and 3) a set of swags.  Can we add anything else?

I do not have any “after” pics, but here are some “in process” pics that show you what things look like now.  The kitchen:

 

***Update to post: I decided to clean my kitchen and take a better picture.

This is not the best pic… it was taken last year when I was trying to clean some things out and get rid of clutter.  But, as you can see, the 3 layers are gone from the window.  I replaced it all with some very simple semi sheer ivory shades.  Isn’t this hall cool?  We were living in 700 square feet before we bought this place.  I could fit my old place in this hall!  I cannot wait until I get all of the woodwork stripped and those awful repro art deco lights outta there!

Well, until next time. 

Andrea

The Fun House

(Not to be confused with our home, this is the bungalow next door that we purchased last week)

Living Room and entryway

I use the word “fun” very humorously and saracastically.  Besides the “fun house” color scheme, there is nothing “fun” about this house!  The good thing is, it is in a LOT better condition than the other bungalow we purchased.  It took us nine months to return that house to a habitable state (this one is dubbed the “Little House” by our daughter).  This particular house (we shall name it the “Fun House”), was remodeled right before it was bought in May 2006.  The new owner made only three to four payments before he defaulted on it around late 2006.  On my way to work, I would notice now and again, things missing.  The blinds, a window screen, the flower pots, etc.  On my lunch hour one day, I caught a guy taking things in broad daylight.  He was cleaning the shed out.  He backed up his van and was loading flowerpots and other knick knack things that were housed in the shed.  I called the police.  By the time the cop got their, the other man was gone.  I gave her the license plate and told her that the man just left.  She said she saw him backed up to the house, but that he wasn’t taking anything real important, so she wasn’t really worried about it.  Besides (she said), I know him, he is harmless.  I stood there shocked!  He was stealing…….stealing IS stealing!  Since he was able to do it in broad daylight and the cops not stop him, that led to others coming in and taking what they wanted.  Anyway….we own the house now.  It is all shored up.  When I have the electricity turned on Monday, I will make sure the alarm is reset, have motion lights installed  and that will ensure that no one bothers this poor little house anymore.  I have not had any problems living in my house.  It seems that people will leave houses alone they know are occupied.  However, if they get wind that a house is abandoned or foreclosed upon, they come by looking to see what they can salvage.  But, even the richest neighborhoods are not immune to these happenings. 

Here are some pictures I took this weekend of the Fun House.  Besides a new paint scheme, it is in great condition and has beautiful columns and arches in the living areas.  I can’t wait to refinish the floors and have this little lady gleaming again.  I already have the paint scheme picked out!  The living room, entryway and dining room will all be painted “Timothy Straw” by Glidden, and the hall will be painted one lighter on that chip, “Cream Tan”.  The bedrooms will be painted a “Bone White” by Benjamin Moore and the back bedroom will be painted “Weekend Getaway” by Benjamin Moore and since the bedroom opens into the kitchen (Yes, strange I know), it will be painted a lighter shade on that weekend getaway card, a color by the name of “Aganthus Green” also by Benjamin Moore.  The bathroom will sport “Stratton Blue” by Benjamin Moore and the half bath (If I can talk my husband into it) will be painted a very nice “Spicy Cayenne” by Behr. 

The Benjamin Moore store is able to mix anyone’s paint colors.  I will probably take all of these chips to them and let them mix it.  I love Benjamin Moore’s second tier “contractor” paint.  It is of a much better quality than Behr and it rolls on so nice and smooth.  It has less of an odor than Behr paint too.  Even nicer are Benjamin Moore’s premium paints, but I hate spending so much money on premium when the second tier paints are of a better quality than what you can get at Home Depot or Lowes anyway.

Here is a Lowes Color pallette:

 I guess I need to give my paint contractor a call. I am sure you all know her. She also happens to be my daughter. I guess a visit to Chuck-e-Cheese will be in my near future 🙂

Wish us happy painting!

Andrea