Room Redos Recap

There are few things that thrill me more than a proper room redo (also known to me as house porn). Not the kind you see in glossy mags that are all impossibly perfect - filled with the highest end furniture, designed by a famous decorator and fueled by a vault full of cash - the kind that "real" people create in their own homes. The rooms that you can tell just by looking at it how much time and effort and care was put into every decision until it all comes together.

PaintColorSelections

So why am I bringing this up? Because next week I have a handful of room redo's brought to you by some wonderful guest bloggers. I can't help but be excited to share these but until then I thought its only fair I do a cliff notes version of my own room makeovers (apologies to the regular readers - I hope this isn't too boring for you). And while they are not perfect or even finished in some cases, I like to think they make some fairly dramatic before and afters. (mostly because the house was in such terrible shape to start out with but I'll take the credit anyway.)

Starting off with the main floor:

Easily the most startling before picture of all time, the parlor bathroom. Parlor Bathroom BeforeParlor Bathroom
Long story short: It was pink and gross and smudged with mysterious brown stains. We gutted it and made it slightly smaller. We moved the clawfoot tub from the upstairs bath down here. Design choices inspired by the marble used in new york city institutions, I hung some of my favorite photos of Brooklyn in here.

Cliched but true, the most used room the house, the kitchen.
Kitchen BeforeKitchenatAngle
Long story short: Used to be a tiny water damaged bedroom. Blew out the wall and stole a few feet from the pink bathroom next door. Didn't try too match the original floors in the dining room next door - used a horizontal skinny plank instead. Maximized the vertical space to make up for the lack of square footage. White and gray and blue all over. Mixing metals = old world mets new.

Considerably less dramatic and still very much in progress considering I still haven't figured out a solution to the table dilemna, the dining room.
Dining Room BeforeDiningRoom4
Long story short: Already a great room that just needed some tweaks. We moved the pier mirror from the living room in here for added drama. Found and refurbished vintage light fixtures, a repro ceiling medallion, refnished floors and shades of creamy white make a nice backdrop for whatever get together we are hosting.

And the much discussed 'i admit, i love tv' living room.
Living Room BeforeDSC_0390
Long story short: Yes, I love tv. So sue me. I watch tv every single day so hiding the set from myself didn't make sense (although I agree the room would be prettier with a painting, just inpractical). Soothing tones of gold and grey (and mixed metals). It still needs a few finishing touches but I'll call it finished for now.

I'll recap the upstairs tomorrow.

Do you have a room makeover you'd like to share? I'd love to see it!

59 comments:

  1. I don't think I could ever get bored of your dramatic room redos!

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  2. Swoon. Love every single thing.

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  3. I love your kitchen. It gives me hope for my ugly kitchen :) It's the next project on my list. Your floors are just lovely. I heart them.

    I recently redid my living room with dark blue walls and a budget of $500 (including furniture). It's at http://geekdetails.com/blog/?p=2426

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  4. Anonymous10:25 AM

    I liked seeing these again! You did a wonderful job on ALL of your makeovers.

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  5. well, I would much rather live in your home than glossy magazine photos. And, as my husband says... you have to LIVE in it. So, the tv is perfect... it is you.

    Michelle

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  6. I always like seeing your before and after photos... they are timeless!

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  7. I will never get tired of seeing the bath redo....ever, ever!

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  8. Your makeovers are all startling, if you ask me! I think just the floors alone deserve to be reposted a million times!

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  9. Everything is just stunning! I keep telling my daughter "Let's move to New York to a brownstone" and telling her about your blog. We live in Florida. No great architecture there.

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  10. One of my favorite homes in blogland! I still drool every time I see your kitchen!

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  11. i love your house. we have a old house..and i thought it was bad when we moved in...but girl you had your work cut out for you and you rocked it! seriously so impressed. but i'm exhausted looking at the before and afters haha. you are a busy woman!

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  12. You really did an amazing job. Love your bathroom and kitchen and floors!

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  13. Room redos rock! So I am excited to see whats coming up. Btw, would you guys like to come to my home and do what you did your home to mine? I could pay you in cookies!

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  14. I don't think I've seen a photo of your dining room before, or at least this angle. It is beautiful! And yes, I agree with you, I am far more inspired when I see real people redoing spaces. It makes you think you could possibly attempt a similar project yourself, rather than feeling like any attempt is fruitless because you can never access those goods or have those windows or that chair...

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  15. Why is it that the walls are always that color green?

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  16. In a few months, yes, we will have some rooms to show the before and afters....yikes.
    pve

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  17. So much pretty. Love it.

    Kelly

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  18. Do you have a link to your living room? I'd love to see more of it! Your home is BEAUTIFUL! Nice work!

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  19. I want your house...there I said it. Could I buy it, then move it to CA??? : )

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  20. You totally had me at "house porn." Good description, as that pretty much covers it. ( =

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  21. Your before/after shots are the best - they got me through some hard times when I was remodeling my kitchen and bathroom. And congrats on your Design*Sponge cameo!

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  22. Love all your choices, and I LOVE that your TV is out for all to see. I am a TV watcher too, so hiding mine would be a sin. I'm glad I'm not alone :)

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  23. Wow you have accomplished so much! I just found your blog and it is so lovely!

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  24. You continue to be my inspiration! A good thing, because I'm heading into a kitchen remodel while pregnant. Be still my raging hormones! This reminds me to take some before shots...

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  25. i just found you via design*sponge — your renovation was amazing! you have lovely and inspiring taste.

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  26. Your renovation is beautiful. We renovated our home over the course of 4+ years :)

    You can see some of our remodel at http://chereemoore.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-i-met-my-house.html

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  27. Beautiful! Do you mind if I ask what color grey you used in your living room? Thanks!

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  28. It is so wonderful that you showed so much love to that older building! I love seeing things restored. :) You did a fabulous job! One question...for the pink bathroom redo, could you tell us what kind of tile you used on the walls, paint color, etc.? Or did you already provide that somewhere that I didn't see? Thank you!

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  29. Michelle: I realized as I was writing this post that I must have never done a proper living room before and after post. So I'll have to get around to that. Stay tuned!

    Christina: The color on the walls in the LR is Benjamin Moore Silver Fox.

    Eryn: The tiles are marble and the wall is gray owl but if you click into the link in the post for "parlor bathroom" you'll see I list out the materials. I think the answers are all in there but if I missed anything, don't hesitate to ask.

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  30. Our living room was probably the biggest change we made in our first home. Luckily we didn't have to do any reno, just a whoooole lot of paintings.

    http://onthisharvestmoon.blogspot.com/2009/12/our-living-room.html

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  31. Wow, all your redo's are absolutely amazing! I know how tough remodeling is, too. Yours are absolutely fantastic, and I love that you preserved the character and charm of the home and kept the feeling of the time period. They are beautiful! I'd LOVE for you to drop by and take a peek at some of mine, granted we are still in-process on some (more like all) of them, but we are super-proud of our work so far! Here's the link to our house tour page: http://thisfreshfossil.blogspot.com/p/house-tour.html

    I absolutely love your blog, btw! :)

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  32. Your house is beautiful and I share your sentiment about "real" redos by "real" people! We bought a pretty run-down 1910 house 3 1/2 years ago and are working our way through a complete remodel. We've finished the bedroom, bathroom and exterior and are in the throws of the big living/dining/kitchen project. It's so much work but lots of fun too!

    http://www.chezerbey.com

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  33. Our master bath just got a face lift!
    http://stereosandsouffles.blogspot.com/2010/05/master-bathroom-picturesfinally.html

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  34. How lovely! I hadn't seen your dining room before, so I had to click back to read more. Did you know that your dining table is actually a library table? It's meant to be used like a desk, with just a chair or two, so that beautiful base can be exposed.

    Just wanted to pass that along in case you were feeling guilty about it not working very well in your space. ;-)

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  35. This house is cookoo gorgeous. When are we invited over? :)

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  36. Consider your TV as a piece of art work?:) Why hide the things we commonly use everyday..especially when it is a TV as sleek and stylish as yours. I, too, heart your floors and your marble bathroom. A lady in our neighborhood has an original bathroom similar to yours, it even has a mustache sink and a foot bath.

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  37. It would be kind of funny to frame the TV in a big ornate gold frame as a big "eff you" to all the haters.

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  38. I feel like this was a trip down memory lane - I forgot how much I love your whole home - and how much renovating went into it! And I love tv just as much as you - proudly displayed over our fireplace!

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  39. Your home is beautiful and I enjoyed looking back at all your hard work.

    I love tv too:) Are you still watching 9 by Design? We need to dish!

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  40. Thank you for posting these! I love seeing all of your rooms in one place.

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  41. Anonymous10:44 PM

    Great post! I especially appreciate how your "before" and "after" shots are each taken from the same perspective. Others don't often do that--thanks!

    Lodi2k6

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  42. Wow, those wooden floors look amazing! Loving your blog.

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  43. Love, love, love what you've done. Your before and after shots are the definition of inspiration.

    I've blogged about our basement bathroom redo, bedroom re-dos and I just realized I really haven't blogged about my final finished kitchen (which will need to be my next post).

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  44. Thanks for recapping your renovation for those of us that just discovered your blog. The before and afters are so inspiring.

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  45. Loving these before and after photos.

    Very inspiring!

    Have a Happy Weekend!

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  46. I never tire of your gorgeous home. Moreso because you did it yourself, with your imagination. As for the TV, good for you for your honesty about TV viewing.

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  47. The floors are sooo lovely...

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  48. I am honestly overwhelmed at your fabulous taste and excellent eye for potential. I would be scared to death to tackle such a project, but you took a needy house that had such great bones and made it into something stunningly beautiful.

    Will you adopt me please? Can I come live at your house?

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  49. Love these posts... will add them to my weekend links! have a nice one!

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  50. Love your home!
    I'm wondering, what is the table dilemma in the dining room? (This is my first time here.)

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  51. Oh gosh Mrs. Limestone you did an AMAZING job! Standing ovation from the peanut gallery!

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  52. These seem to always be works in progress (kitchen STILL needs window treatments), but alas, here are our renos:

    Kitchen 1: http://amandajillsblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/kitchen-remodel.html

    Kitchen with some more decorative details as seen in the last photo of this post: http://amandajillsblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/picture-post.html

    Master (it's so tiny, I know) bath: http://amandajillsblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/master-bath-remodel-finished.html

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  53. I LOVE your style!! I always tend towards loud, bright colors in real life, and yet I am so drawn to your subtle style..Keep up the great work, it seems you are not afraid of anything!

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  54. Decided to go back and look at the before & after pics of your kitchen - I love it!! Beautiful!

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  55. This makeover is amazing! I love how you kept the feel of the old home, but updated it. Very respectful and chic.

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  56. Michaelroddgers12:29 AM

    Wow, so beautifully a house renovation is done. Very wonderfully it is designed, putting nice furniture and using an attractive color for house. I like the dining room more then other one. Thanks for giving a wonderful idea.

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  57. Hi there.  I'm new to your blog (got here through Uncommon Goods via FB).  Wondering if you basically had to rip out all your old plaster ceilings to get wiring for lighting?  Our 100+ yearold victorian in Chicago has no ceiling lighting and I need to figure out the best way to get it without ripping everything up.  Any thoughts?

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  58. MrsLimestone12:06 PM

    Well we did a complete gut renovation so we replaced all the internals like plumbing, electrical, etc.. In other words, we had to rip a bit into the walls to do that so doing so to change the electrical wasn't an issue. We didn't really have to go too much into the ceiling b/c we were able to use the open space in the walls and the holes made for the recessed lights to do most of it but in some cases, holes had to be made. There really isn't any way to replace the electrical without it - but if you have the right contractors, they will do their best to make the damage minimal.

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