Okay, so I know I promised that I would take pictures of the house all spiffied up before the staging crew came in and made our house look all designer and stuff, but when you consider that we were up into the wee hours the night before (morning before?) and I was vacuuming about 30 seconds before they arrived, I hope you will forgive me for not having time to take pictures right then.
But now! After doing a quick tidy, I ran around and took pictures of what our house looks now, compared to what it used to look like before The Purge. Of course, I didn't think to take actual "before" pictures, so I had to scrounge these up from the archives. The house really only figures as a background to the hilarity/cuteness of the photo's subjects, but it should be enough.
Since we redid the whole house, I'm breaking this up into a couple posts so as not to make you feel obligated to take up your entire afternoon reading about my stupid house makeover. :)
First stop, living areas on the main level.
Living Room
Before
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| Easter Egg hunt in progress |
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| books, books, books! clutter, clutter, clutter! |
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| another view of where the couch used to be for Christmas. |
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| despite my best efforts to organize them, these shelves ALWAYS LOOKED LIKE THIS |
And now...
After Staging
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| Shazam! |
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| Bing! |
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| Ka-pow! |
Now for the REAL After:
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| usually this floor is covered with little cars |
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| haven't removed all the staging materials yet... |
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| cozy little kid nook |
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| also, hidden behind the open front door is the kids' coat rack full of jackets |
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| I also retraced the gold lettering in the powder room (yes, it really is called that) which had almost totally faded |
Dining Room
Before:
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| Happy New Year! |
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| computer cabinet & filing box in the dining room -- convenient, but claustrophobic |
After Staging
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| ooooh... |
the REAL After
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| it's a lot more echo-y now! |
Kitchen
Before
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| old appliances, dark kitchen! |
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| fake wood laminate countertops |
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| just lots of stuff everywhere! |
After Staging:
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| ahhhhh... |
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| o the brightness! (who can spot the painter's tape we missed?) |
the REAL After:
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| had to take this shot at night -- the only time I could actually keep the counters cleaned off! |
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| painted cabinets, new handles, granite counter tops, white appliances. Why didn't we do this sooner?!? |
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| the beloved undermount sink. just look at all that extra counter space! the faucet is also a pull-out sprayer, hallelujah! aren't you impressed that Mr. Pickles attached that himself? |
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| can't wait to get the staging stuff out -- this feels too cluttered for me now! :) |
So there's the main level. Looking at all the before pictures make me feel so sorry for my past self -- no wonder I always felt so anxious and depressed! Clearing everything out makes me feel like I can breathe better. I'm finding that we're not really missing most of the things in storage....
It's not stupid! It's fascinating!
ReplyDeleteIt's not stupid! It's fascinating!
ReplyDeleteYou trying to pull a fast one on us or something? Clearly, they contracted out to ILM to produce a CGI recreation of your house for the staging shots.
ReplyDeleteThese shots are exactly why I LOVE a beach vacation. Renting a house for a week in which there is nothing but essentials is so freeing. I can see why the religious give away all their things because the feeling is so uplifting. I think I will pack another box of stuff for give away!
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen is the most impressive of the befores/afters. It looks like a whole new place! I really enjoyed looking at these and getting ideas. Thanks for posting!! :)
ReplyDelete