Before and After, Before It's Gone

One of the reasons I started this little house blogging project is because my house is now for sale. And during the worst real estate market of the century, no less! (A new job will make you do stupid things.)

Anyway, in the process of getting it ready to show, I started to realize just how much work I had done over the past two years. (And by "I", I mean myself, my now-hubby Reid, my parents, his parents, and anyone else I could trick into holding a paint brush or hammer.)

Over the past 24+ months we slowly but surely overhauled every room, starting with only a few pieces of hand-me-down furniture. And because I am cheap as all get out, not a single item or stick of furniture cost over $300. Seriously.

So I thought what better way to kick things off than by seeing how far the whole shebang has come.

Without further ado, here’s the first room.

MASTER BEDROOM, UPSTAIRS

The Before: A perfect dentist’s office complete with metal vertical blinds!
It’s hard to tell from here, but the walls are actually covered in textured wallpaper and painted a chalky shade of lilac. They were then covered over with a good layer of cobwebs and grime.


And the after! First the walls got a coat of spa blue paint. Then the vertical blinds made friends with the trash collector, and were replaced with 2-inch faux wood plantation blinds from Lowe’s. To frame the bed I sewed up a pair of chocolate brown panels, then added the opposing nightstands, and matching end lamps ($80 for the pair at Marshalls).

The headboard is actually a solid old school door that I scored for $5.00 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I covered it in unbleached cotton canvas and added the nailhead trim to finish it off.