Finally: Before and Afters!

How about a few before and afters (6 months late) better late than never! Also I think we need a name change. I was calling it Barlow Blue, it was blue and I thought we would be painting it a gorgeous blue again – nope. Taking any and all suggestions…

Most of the photos I was able to take from the same angle which I have to admit makes for very satisfying comparison photos. Next on my list will be some photos of how it looks now, a home is never finished, always new treasures to add, but I would love to show you how we transformed this once office to a cozy home.

A little back story: This is a home we helped renovate for Alex’s boss, we are renting. We had the amazing opportunity to work on it, make the majority of the design decisions within the budgets, and now live there. It was quite the project and I always like a challenge. It was fun to try some new things and get ideas for our someday future home. We still have projects we are working on, adding storage, never ending little things, like finally finishing the trim, etc. (95% club over here anyone?)

Despite some limitations in the changes we could make, I am so proud of what we were able to do with this place.

Ignore the dust as I scrambled to get some after photos as Alex was rushing to move in! Let me know in the comments what you think, I would love to hear.

Living Room

I am thinking we missed out on the convenience of a stove in the living room… What we did do: we closed off the doorway to the kitchen and enclosed the furnace. We are currently working on putting a built-in in the newly created nook for some extra storage. Also those windows and all that gorgeous trim is divine! And I would proudly like to say my dad and I tackled that trim on the windows.

Dining Room

The dining room didn’t change very much but I did score that chandelier on Facebook marketplace for like $30. And the trim on the passthrough to the living room is making all my Little Women dreams come true. Hanging greenery from it at Christmas made my heart so happy.

The Bathroom

This bathroom originally had a little room infront of it connected with a door to one of the bedrooms and into the kitchen. We were able to close off the access to the bedroom and make this all the bathroom. This handy bathroom had a rotting floor and a phone by the toilet – perfect for taking those business calls.

That vanity light – a score from the ReStore!

The Kitchen

The kitchen has to be one of my favorite transformations. We didn’t have many options when it came to the layout. Closing off the access to the living room was the only way to make it all make sense. I love the contrast of the dark leather finished granite and the white cabinets. I am still searching for the perfect shelves or cabinet to display pretty dishes but those treasures take patience to find. I am also on the hunt for a gorgeous light to replace the glass placeholder pendant.

The Bedrooms

So what do you think?

Do you have a favorite transformation?

You may think how boring are those white walls. Maybe you love the contrast with the dark trim. Reasons I went with white: in the given budget was one wall color for the whole house, since we weren’t living there I didn’t know how much light each room would get, it’s also a rental and I wanted a clean slate. We are six months in and I am itching to add some color. My biggest issue is I love dark walls and white trim – I love contrast – have you noticed? Right now I don’t really have the extra cash for some paint or wallpaper but I am dreaming. I would have loved to add some bead board, trim with more character, etc but this is a great base and it’s really making all my beautiful furniture shine.

I’ll be sharing some video before and afters soon as well. Finding all the corresponding videos has been more difficult than expected…