Thursday, February 3, 2011

You've All Seen the After....How About the Before?

Ok, so honestly...I've been a little afraid to show the progression on the living room. More than likely, you have seen all of the "after" photos in a previous post here >Pretty in Pink. Now for the "before"....Warning, it's about to get UGLY.



 Here is the living room when we first looked at the house.

Before
Here is the living room shortly after moving in. Now this pictures doesn't look terrible.....it's just not good either. A lot more Victorian style. Which I realized is not a style that suits me. Too dark for my taste. 

This was the first fake fireplace I had.
I drug it around from house to house for years and didn't want to give it up, even though it was too small for our space. It was free from someones trash during heavy trash pick up!
Then I found the one below at an Estate sale and gave up on the old one. I sold it for $100. The couch you see in the pictures was another trash find. I sold it for $200 when I found the round one I currently have for free on Craigslist.
After
Same corner....AMAZING improvement!

Before
And here is my current mantel, before the paint job. Oh yeah, pretty isn't it? (sarcasm) But I knew the second I saw it that it had potential. If I remember right I bought it plus several large antique mirrors, 2 pieces of French Provincial furniture and DOZENS of nik nacks for $75 total.


After
MUCH better!

Linking up to:
The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Jennifer Rizzo for Style Evolution Party
Remodelaholic  for Anonymous 57
My Romantic Home  for show and Tell Friday
Between Naps on the Porch  for Metamorphosis Monday
Cottage Instincts  Make it 4 Monday

22 comments:

  1. Wow! That is amazing! It is beautiful and I am in LOVE with that couch! Free you say???!!! OHMIGOSH!! Great find!

    Polly

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  2. You rock! Love everything you've done and to think you did so inexpensively. One would never know. Looks divine.

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  3. Amazing befores and wonderful afters. You have to make your pics larger....do you know how to do that? If you click on the pic when you are loading your blog page during the post set up you can select large or extra large for the pictures. That way your readers can see your images better. I would love to see these in bigger sizes! You can try editing your post to see how you like it with bigger pics.
    Anyway your vision is quite good that you were able to create that pretty room.

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  4. @Amy @MaisonDecor
    Amy, I made them a little bigger. The blog template I have doesn't give a lot of space and if I widen it it cuts into the sidebars....Wondering if I should go with a different template? But then that seems like a lot of work to get everything on the side bars back on here and adjusted. I'm sooooo behind on these things and figuring out how to do it all!

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  5. Your house looks beautful! And you have kids that live there?!?! I love before and after pics. Thanks for sharing those.

    I was thinking you should try to go to the little store that damask designs owns. (see my sidebar on my blog for their blog) I think you would like it. It's a French country style store and they only open now and then. It's small, but I sure enjoyed it the last time I went there. Their sale is next Thurs. Fri and Sat. If the weather holds out I'm going Friday morning. Cindy Bee

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  7. I'm dying to know where you find such gorgeous stuff! I would love to find such great stuff here on the southside. Love your living room. If ever you need a shopping companion, let me know. It's obvious you know the places to hit!

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  8. @Inspired by you
    I am in the process of getting together a Thrifting Tutorial! There are definitely places that are much better to shop than others, also days that are better.
    I would be happy to let you know next time I make a day of it if you want to come along!!

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  9. That couch is gorgeous! and I love seeing the changes you made. It looks gorgeous! Thank you do much for sharing your lovely home and joining in on the party!

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  10. Very nice transformation...you really made all the difference with the painted fireplace and that beautiful sofa! I love it! :-)

    XO,
    Jane

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  11. @The Vintage Farmhouse
    I'm always up for a day of thrifting! Would love to learn your secrets!

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  12. Beautiful before and afters! You have great taste and luck in finding treasures! Traci

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  13. OMGoodness, you did a beautiful job. Love the transformation. The room is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Wow, This is gorgeous!! I especially love the mantel, cabinet and your mannequin. Everything is beautiful. I am now following.
    Hugs,
    Sherry

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  15. What a beautiful and elegant room you have made and with such a thrifty budget! I can't believe someone gave away that beautiful couch! You certainly have an artist's touch when it comes to decorating. I'm so glad I came over from Show And Tell Friday to visit your lovely blog.

    Sherry @ A Happy Valentine

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  16. Yes, they look better bigger. The room looks so pretty. I know what you mean with your template. It does dictate how big you can go and I was scared to mess with mine so I had someone do it for me and she was very reasonable.

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  17. Oh this is a lovely lovely room!! It was wonderful before but you have added such great personality to the room. The free couch was such a great find!!!

    bee blessed
    mary

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  18. You've done a nice job pulling the room together! Dropping by from Met Monday. I hope you'll come see my daughter's dining room redo.

    Allison
    Atticmag

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  19. Such a nice home.. Love the fireplace mantel..
    Sandy
    thewondersofdoing@blogspot.com

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