House Over Haul

We have been living in our house for 3 years and have made very few of the many improvements that we swore we would do when we moved in. Improvements might be the wrong word. I guess what I mean is making it our own. I think I have PTSD in regards to wall paper. I'm sure they have come a long way in styles and colors since our house was built, but the ones chosen by the previous owners are definitely not our style. We previously painted our bedroom and the kids' bathroom and have seen the huge difference this relatively inexpensive home improvement can make. We wanted to do more rooms but we always wore out after one room. Finally we decided to hire this sweet guy that did some work for my parents to finish up the painting and tile our master bathroom. Whoever thought carpet in a bathroom was a good idea? Well, I'm sure they had their reasons, I just have no idea what they are. Here is a tour of our home post update with a few before pictures as well.

When you walk in you used to look to the left and see this in the dining room/kids' playroom.

Now....it is a soothing neutral, our favorite and now primary color in our home, Gobi Desert. Though it looks much more subdued than most people's taste for a play room, it is perfect for our boys who are very easily over stimulated!

Straight ahead is our entry way and art niches. This was already a neutral color, but needed a fresh coat so we went with the Gobi. We also added a family photo wall on either side of the hallway leading into the living room. I got the frames on sale 1/2 off at Michael's and they are part of a very user friendly system called Hang Your Own Gallery. You use templates so you don't have to worry about figuring out spacing, configuration, and using a level to get them straight! LOVE it!
The art niches also got an update to more of a maroon than the brown they had before.

Our kitchen before was not very appetizing to say the least. The stripes were a bit much. During the process we noticed that the previous color of the living room had much more pink tones than we realized. You can't really tell in the picture but there was a major difference between it and the Gobi.

The after is much more of a clean slate and your eyes can focus more on the details of the curtains and other decorative touches.

Here is the living room after

The kitchen and our master bathroom made the most dramatic changes. Our bathroom was a different pattern of wallpaper than the kitchen, but the same colors and business was present. I don't think I have a before, but here is the after....

The tile makes it so much nicer...
Overall, we are very impressed with Mr. Mario's (the kids called him, Super Mario) work and the improvement to our home. It feels much more "ours" now!