First floor details: Before and After

I suppose I should have posted the "before" photos before posting the "after" photos. Oops. Here's what the foyer and living room looked like when we bought it, with some of the seller's furniture in it. From these photos, it's a little more obvious what kinds of changes we made, and I'll give a little more detail about what we did. There aren't any huge changes, since the house was fairly updated and kept up well, but I always like to see befores and afters, so here we go!

Foyer before:

And after:

We painted the hallway/living room a light gray, called Brushed Aluminum. It's a Benjamin Moore color, color-matched to Valspar paint at Lowe's. The rug, teal cabinet, lamp, and frame are from Target. Still working on what to put on that long wall in the hallway. Definitely open to suggestions!

Living room before:

After:

The mantel already had gorgeous wainscoting so I didn't really want to change anything as it probably is what I would have chosen for a mantel myself! A lot of our furniture and things came with us from our old place, and we haven't bought much yet. The rug is from Rugs USA, curtains are from Target, and the furniture is a hodgepodge of hand-me-downs and Craigslist finds. The pillows are from Pottery Barn, Target, and the black and white covers are from the Blue Bird Shop on Etsy. We are planning on replacing the couch and chair sometime soon!

The dining room didn't change a whole lot, we just put our stuff in it and put up curtains. The light fixture is not my favorite, but it will stay for now.

Before:

After:

Kitchen before:

After:

The kitchen really didn't change much either. Thankfully it was nice and updated and we didn't feel like we had to do anything right away to make it pretty. I love the granite and back splash, even though I may have chosen something slightly different if I was designing the room. They're great neutral colors though, and go well with my red accents. And while the appliances aren't stainless, they are fairly new and the black doesn't bother me. The deep sink and pretty faucet are amazing, although it didn't have a disposal! Can you believe that? We installed that pretty soon after moving in, and all it took was an order from Amazon and a few hours of labor by Michael and my father-in-law. Totally worth it.

 

These shelves were probably the biggest addition to the room. I feel like they just complete it. They are simply white boards and brackets from Lowe's. I believe Target carries them too but Lowe's had better prices and more options. Plus I just trusted their durability a bit more at Lowe's, if that makes any sense? They're so simple but they make a huge difference, especially since that corner was just wasted space before. They look like they belong there! And they're functional. Win win.

See the full tour of our downstairs here! Upstairs coming soon...