First up: Family room.
Bye, bye stained, green carpet! We're painting the walls a pale gray and installing a neutral carpet. My husband wanted a more modern look for the fireplace, so we're replacing the beige ceramic tiles with tiles in earth tones and changing the wood surround to white.
Next up: Nice, but dated kitchen.
No offense to all you wallpaper-lovers out there, but my husband and I prefer a straight-up paint job. We're taking down wallpaper, replacing light fixtures, installing new cabinets, counters, appliances and flooring. Basically, I'll be without a kitchen for 3-4 weeks. I'm trying to think of it as an alternate form of camping! It will be worth it! (I keep telling myself it will be worth it...)
Bathroom-a-rama!
The wallpaper continues...in every bathroom! Eventually, all will be removed and a nice, neutral paint will take its place. :)
Last, but not least, the sad deck. It looks better in this picture than up close. We originally wanted to tear it down and pour a concrete patio, but the budget actually laughed at us. Who knew a piece of paper could heckle? We're going to stabilize the deck then stain it. It will do for a year or two!
I can't wait to show you the "After" pictures when we finish the work. My husband already gave the garage interior a fresh coat of paint, and in a few days, we'll be moved in and ready to tackle the rest. Yay!
We can tell the previous owners took pride in the home, and we're looking forward to bringing it up to date. We also hope the owners of our old house love ours as much as we did!
How do you feel about wallpaper? Can't live without it? Or do you prefer paint?
Enjoy your day!
I wall-papered once--in the 80s. LOL. Like you I prefer a more understated background. It's less "noisy" when paired with furniture and rugs.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of work cut out for you. I love seeing your pictures.
PS I don't think your wood deck looks so bad. I'll bet some stain and a little landscaping around it will make it pop nicely.
Oh, the 80's!! We did too. :) And, you know, the deck seems worse than it is. My husband needs to stabilize the rails, and I'll stain the whole thing. I'll bet it looks great when we're done!
DeletePaint is so much better. I haven't wallpaper since I was a teen (it was picked when I was 13). Later on you couldn't see the flowery paper (which was pretty) because it was covered in posters of my favorite bands.
ReplyDeleteWe just rebuilt out desk (well the contractor rebuilt it). It looks so much better. :)
I had pink flowered wallpaper in high school, and I loved it! Mine too became covered in posters. Ah, the good old days!
DeleteCongrats on your new desk--bet it looks awesome!!
I hate wallpaper! Used to have it in PA but once we moved to FL we got used to the neutral look--so much better. I love a good remodel and can see it already! can't wait for the after pictures!!
ReplyDeleteI hate TAKING OFF wallpaper. What a nasty job. My sister-in-law and I steamed off all of the kitchen paper this weekend. Between the glue, the occasional dry wall pieces coming off with the paper, and the endless scraping, I'm not all that excited to tackle the bathrooms!
DeleteHope your move involves NO wallpaper!
I don't know if I've ever even been in a house with wallpaper? LOL Great pics!!! I can't wait to see the after ones. And as for no kitchen...that means no cooking or dishes, right? *grin*
ReplyDeleteJessica, I'd love to give you a "special" tour of our wallpaper-ridden home! But you're right--no kitchen, no dishes! :)
DeleteOh wallpaper ... ugh. Hate it. Always have, though some of my hate may come from painful memories of scraping decades of layers off the walls of my family's house when I was a kid. They were so glued on that even steaming only did so much.
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave woman, to be willing to go that long without a kitchen! It will all be worth it in the end, though!
Louise, we stripped the kitchen wallpaper out this weekend, and I know what you mean about the glue. Some spots were really heavy, while others light. At least we have one room clear!
DeleteI'm struggling not to panic at the thought of no kitchen. I find no kitchen to be chaotic. You can't unpack half your boxes and have no place to hold your everyday items. Praying our cabinet and counters come in quickly!
So much of that house reminds me of our old place in OH (especially the deck). Go, go, go. Yeah remodeling. Take your time. God knows we've been taking ours.
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
Ha! Ha! We'll have projects for years! But we like projects. :) You'll have to come visit!!
DeleteHave fun on the remodeling - my favorite part of moving! As for wallpaper, not a fan. Too much to maintain and too hard to clean. Can't wait to see the after pics.
ReplyDeleteI know, Stacy--it's fun getting everything our style! It's not fun trying to get it all done though. We're tired! :)
DeleteI'm not a fan of wallpaper. Although, I've seen some of this new modern wallpaper on HGTV that is gorgeous. But paint color is always easier and cheaper to change when you get sick of it. The house is going to be beautiful. So excited for you!
ReplyDeleteJulie, we toured a few homes with really pretty wallpaper in their bathrooms. It was a patterned ivory--I would have kept that! But, for me, wallpaper is just too much work to put up OR take down!
DeleteOoo, paint all the way!
ReplyDeleteThat carpet was quite the green color! Ha. Looks like you have your work cut out for you, but I can't wait to see the end result!
Yes, the blue/green carpet with brown stains was hard to say goodbye to. We managed to wave it out though! :)
DeleteNot a wallpaper fan, except for borders. I like wallpaper borders around the ceiling under the crown molding. :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the results. You're going to be a busy girl!
I like borders too. They're just enough accent, easy to put up, and easy to take down. They're ideal!
DeleteUsed to love wallpaper and I got quite good at hanging it, but now I think it looks dated and I prefer paint. I'm sure wallpaper will come back around eventually and we'll all be wanting it again.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte, due to my HGTV addiction, I'd say wallpaper is already swinging back around. We did see a few homes on our house hunt with very pretty bathroom wallpaper. I would have kept it!
DeleteCan't wait to see the after pictures. Go, paint! Yep, LOVE that paint. We had wallpaper in our kitchen when we moved in and it was the first to go!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah! Get rid of that wallpaper! Scott demo-ed the kitchen this weekend and my sister-in-law and I stripped the wallpaper. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the room already looks bigger!
DeleteStay safe, too, Cindy. I've been praying for you out there with those fires. *hugs*
I've used wallpaper sparingly, and for effect. But overall? No. Good luck with your redesigning.
ReplyDeleteI like your strategy. Smart! Thanks so much!!
Delete"But the budget actually laughed at us." HIlarious!! Can't wait to see the photos once you've done all the work. :)And yeah, paint paint paint...all the way. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, Melissa. That budget is doubling over lately! Ha! Ha! :) Thanks!!
DeletePaint. Easy to clean. Easy to change.
ReplyDeleteJill, I know this will be a lot of work, but yes, it'll be worth it in the end! My own kitchen is pretty dated, and I have a feeling your "after" photos will make me green with envy!
ReplyDelete