How much have we spent on each room transformation? Well, I've decided to update some of my "before and after" posts to include a breakdown of the total cost in each room. We've made the transformations to each room over the course of 1 year. We spend a little here and there and do stuff to the house only when we can afford it so we're never in debt! Here's a quick update on the transformation totals: (for a breakdown of costs, click on the links below to go to the actual before and after post)
Master Bedroom - $1355
Kitchen - $1768
Pantry - $672
Downstairs Full Bathroom - $203
Office - $944
Guest Bedroom - $26
Upstairs Den - $510
Fireplace Room - $584
Dining Room - $65
Total = $6,127
(I don't think the total cost is too bad considering just a kitchen renovation alone these days far exceeds that total!)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Master Bedroom - Before and After
Brace yourself for some pictures of our bedroom when we first moved in!
Obviously this room needed some help if we were actually planning on transforming it from a teenager's bedroom to a master bedroom. At least it had a few good things we could work with including the cathedral ceiling and 2 good sized closets with adjustable shelving. Here's what it looked like before.......
Before - Yes, that is bamboo around the closet and clouds painted on the cathedral ceiling!
Before - The tropical scene was some kind of wallpaper/poster that was glued to the wall.
Before - Nasty green shag carpeting!
Before - That black contraption on the wall was a tv mount for a big tv (not a flat screen).
Here's a rundown of what we did to the room to to transform it to our bedroom:
After - We bought the bed from Overstock.com for $370
After
After - The bedside shelves are from JCPenney.com. We bought one of these and used some of the parts to make the shelves.
After - Someday I hope to either get rid of the dresser or get a new one but for now it will have to do!
Obviously this room needed some help if we were actually planning on transforming it from a teenager's bedroom to a master bedroom. At least it had a few good things we could work with including the cathedral ceiling and 2 good sized closets with adjustable shelving. Here's what it looked like before.......
Before - Yes, that is bamboo around the closet and clouds painted on the cathedral ceiling!
Before - The tropical scene was some kind of wallpaper/poster that was glued to the wall.
Before - Nasty green shag carpeting!
Before - That black contraption on the wall was a tv mount for a big tv (not a flat screen).
Here's a rundown of what we did to the room to to transform it to our bedroom:
- Removed tropical wallpaper and every single piece of bamboo that was nailed to the wall around the closet.
- Added two pieces of molding where the ceiling and walls meet.
- Removed the carpet and baseboards and installed new laminate flooring ($1.69 sq ft at Home Depot)and baseboards.
- Painted the ceiling a neutral color and painted 3 of the walls a warm green and 1 wall a light green accent color.
- Removed the accordion closet doors and had my Dad replace them with bi-folding doors from home depot and new trim. It sounds like it would be an easy project but it wasn't! The closet frame was crooked so the doorway had to be framed out correctly before the door could be installed.
- Removed the radiator cover.
- Mounted a flat screen tv ( I got a deal on the tv at the Circuit City Black Friday sale back in November :) ).
- Mounted a shelf for the dvd player.
- Added new curtain rods and drapes. Curtain rods - Christmas Tree Shops Drapes - JCPenney
After - We bought the bed from Overstock.com for $370
After
After - The bedside shelves are from JCPenney.com. We bought one of these and used some of the parts to make the shelves.
After - Someday I hope to either get rid of the dresser or get a new one but for now it will have to do!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Kitchen - Before and After
Our kitchen needed a makeover badly when we moved in. Aside from the hideous decor choices (i.e., hunter green painted trim??!!), the kitchen really was just a waste of space. Basically the only thing they had in the kitchen was the refrigerator, microwave, and a couple shelves. The stove wasn't even in this area because that was tucked away in the pantry for some reason. Here are some before pictures:
Before - This was one of the pictures in the mls listing for the house before we bought it.
Before - This was another one of the pictures in the mls listing for the house before we bought it.
Before
And now onto the after pictures. I don't know what we would have done without Ikea!! There was just no way we could spend thousands of dollars to redo the kitchen so we bought some free standing pieces from the Varde collection at Ikea. Check out the initial virtual plans we came up with by using the Ikea Kitchen Planner tool. We also had to move the stove from the pantry to this room which required the only help we've hired in our entire house transformation (we had to hire the electrician to move the outlet).
After
After
After
As you can see, we redid the floor with these vinyl tiles from Lowes and carried them into the pantry and downstairs bathroom.
After - For a closer look at the shelves, check out the previous post I made here.
After
We carried the blue and white that we used in the pantry into the border and trim of this room and used a neutral beige for the walls that I think works great with all the stainless steel. We changed out the ceiling fan in the room to the new light fixture you see above the stove and butcher block countertops. This light was a perfect fit for the room since it has directional lights and two arms that you can position in any way you want. We also added a ceiling fan where a regular light used to be. We absolutely love the stainless steel cabinet. We use this for all of our plates and bowls and the drawers are so smooth when you open and close them.
Right now the area above the stove is a little empty and its just asking for a range hood. Well, that will be fixed soon! I got this awesome range hood from my parents for my birthday!! So check back soon for updated pictures after we get that puppy installed. I really think it will look so sleek in the kitchen and not to mention the functionality of it!
**Update**
New range hood installation is complete! Check out my post about the new range hood here.
Before - This was one of the pictures in the mls listing for the house before we bought it.
Before - This was another one of the pictures in the mls listing for the house before we bought it.
Before
And now onto the after pictures. I don't know what we would have done without Ikea!! There was just no way we could spend thousands of dollars to redo the kitchen so we bought some free standing pieces from the Varde collection at Ikea. Check out the initial virtual plans we came up with by using the Ikea Kitchen Planner tool. We also had to move the stove from the pantry to this room which required the only help we've hired in our entire house transformation (we had to hire the electrician to move the outlet).
After
After
After
As you can see, we redid the floor with these vinyl tiles from Lowes and carried them into the pantry and downstairs bathroom.
After - For a closer look at the shelves, check out the previous post I made here.
After
We carried the blue and white that we used in the pantry into the border and trim of this room and used a neutral beige for the walls that I think works great with all the stainless steel. We changed out the ceiling fan in the room to the new light fixture you see above the stove and butcher block countertops. This light was a perfect fit for the room since it has directional lights and two arms that you can position in any way you want. We also added a ceiling fan where a regular light used to be. We absolutely love the stainless steel cabinet. We use this for all of our plates and bowls and the drawers are so smooth when you open and close them.
Right now the area above the stove is a little empty and its just asking for a range hood. Well, that will be fixed soon! I got this awesome range hood from my parents for my birthday!! So check back soon for updated pictures after we get that puppy installed. I really think it will look so sleek in the kitchen and not to mention the functionality of it!
**Update**
New range hood installation is complete! Check out my post about the new range hood here.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Mini Makeover
We're lucky enough to have a little laundry nook on the second floor of our house which makes it so convenient to just haul our dirty clothes down the hallway instead of down to the basement. The washer and dryer are tucked away in a louvered closet in the hallway. The only downside to the space was the dark wood doors that just didn't match the rest of the house. So I decided to paint it all!
Before
After
I also added a white cabinet that matches the louvered doors to the closet and changed out the knobs on everything.
Before
After
I also added a white cabinet that matches the louvered doors to the closet and changed out the knobs on everything.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Kitchen Pantry - Before and After
The kitchen and pantry have gone through some major changes over the past year. In fact, the pantry renovation was our very first project in the house. I started the day after we closed on the house! We did lots and lots of scrubbing and painting. Here's a look at the pantry and all its wood lodge glory.
Before
I have no idea why the stove was in the pantry. It made it so hard to cook, especially when it came to clean up since we didn't have a dishwasher.
Before
Before
Overall, painting, lighting and the new flooring did wonders for this space.
Here's a rundown of what we did in the pantry:
After
After
After
After
Before
I have no idea why the stove was in the pantry. It made it so hard to cook, especially when it came to clean up since we didn't have a dishwasher.
Before
Before
Overall, painting, lighting and the new flooring did wonders for this space.
Here's a rundown of what we did in the pantry:
- Cleaned, sanded, primed, and painted the inside and outside of the cabinets and the paneled walls.
- Added knobs and shelf liners from Ikea and hinges from Home Depot.
- Changed out the ceiling light to the Basisk light from Ikea and the over the sink hidden fluorescent light to these pendant lights from Ikea. We also added an undercabinet light above the dishwasher.
- Installed thick vinyl floor tiles we got from Lowes.
- Had a dishwasher and cabinet installed (thanks mom and dad!).
- Tiled the top of the dishwasher countertop space with marble tiles from Lowes.
- Added accessories from Ikea and other stores here and there like one of my favorite hit or miss stores, Ocean State Job Lot.
After
After
After
After
Friday, June 13, 2008
Downstairs Bathroom - Before and After
The downstairs bathroom needed a little tlc to make it into something presentable. We worked on the bathroom in bits and pieces but we finished it up in February '08.
Here's what it looked like before:
Before
The barn yard red cabinet needed paint, the floor was gross (dirty) vinyl tiles, the toilet had a soft seat, gross!!, the stuff used for the baseboards was the type of industrial rubber you would see in an office building, the faucet was ugly and old, and the shower head just wasn't going to cut it to be able to give Gary a bath!
Before
Here's what it looks like now......
After
We were going for a spa type serene feel in here. There were a few things we encountered when tackling the bathroom projects bit by bit.
After
Notice the new pivoting mirror I scored at Job Lot of all places. Not bad for $20! The faucet and light are from Home Depot. We had to settle for that light since I couldn't find another light fixture with a twist on/off base that had two lights on it. I'll keep my eyes open for another good one that doesn't cost a ton like the other one i've blogged about. I bought the shelf from Christmas Tree Shop and the white vase and bamboo plant from Ikea.
After - Here's a closer look at the baseboards Tyler put in.
Here's what it looked like before:
Before
The barn yard red cabinet needed paint, the floor was gross (dirty) vinyl tiles, the toilet had a soft seat, gross!!, the stuff used for the baseboards was the type of industrial rubber you would see in an office building, the faucet was ugly and old, and the shower head just wasn't going to cut it to be able to give Gary a bath!
Before
Here's what it looks like now......
After
We were going for a spa type serene feel in here. There were a few things we encountered when tackling the bathroom projects bit by bit.
- After removing the medicine cabinet from the wall, I discovered a hole and live wires that used to connect to an over the sink light fixture, which coincidentally don't connect to the light switch in the bathroom. We found that out the hard way when we thought the power was off and T got zapped! Oops!
- After removing the rubber baseboards, we found that part of the wall had come off with the sticky stuff stuck to it. Which is why we opted for some really nice and high baseboards from Home Depot.
After
Notice the new pivoting mirror I scored at Job Lot of all places. Not bad for $20! The faucet and light are from Home Depot. We had to settle for that light since I couldn't find another light fixture with a twist on/off base that had two lights on it. I'll keep my eyes open for another good one that doesn't cost a ton like the other one i've blogged about. I bought the shelf from Christmas Tree Shop and the white vase and bamboo plant from Ikea.
After - Here's a closer look at the baseboards Tyler put in.
Our Office - Before and After
Here's an update on the work we've done in our office upstairs.
Check out the pictures of what the office used to look like:
Before
Before
Before
And this is what we've done to the office. We completed this in April 08. We had to paint two coats of primer over the bright blue and multi-colored walls. We bought a nice new ceiling fan with directional lights from lowes.com to replace the ugly fan, or "circus fan" as I like to call it, that used to be there. Most of the workspace items on the left, my craft/work area, are from Ikea. The tall white stereo cabinet is something Tyler and Phil made out of mdf wood. Its secured to the wall so that the record player doesn't skip as much.
After
After
The shelves you see in the picture below are salvaged from another project Phil and Tyler worked on for a wall shelving unit that housed all of Tyler's CDs when we lived in Chelsea.
After
We decided we needed a tv in the office for when I do my crafts and ornaments and for whenever. I like to have it on in the background. We thought about changing the floor to match the laminate wood floors in the den, hallway, and master bedroom but after considering how much it would cost and the time it would take us to do it, we decided to keep the carpet. I think the blue kind of disappears with all the changes we made anyway and I think it goes well with the light gray we have on the walls.
After
After - This is the narrow closet in the office. It used to be dark paneling but we painted it. We added a bunch of shelves for extra storage.
Check out the pictures of what the office used to look like:
Before
Before
Before
And this is what we've done to the office. We completed this in April 08. We had to paint two coats of primer over the bright blue and multi-colored walls. We bought a nice new ceiling fan with directional lights from lowes.com to replace the ugly fan, or "circus fan" as I like to call it, that used to be there. Most of the workspace items on the left, my craft/work area, are from Ikea. The tall white stereo cabinet is something Tyler and Phil made out of mdf wood. Its secured to the wall so that the record player doesn't skip as much.
After
After
The shelves you see in the picture below are salvaged from another project Phil and Tyler worked on for a wall shelving unit that housed all of Tyler's CDs when we lived in Chelsea.
After
We decided we needed a tv in the office for when I do my crafts and ornaments and for whenever. I like to have it on in the background. We thought about changing the floor to match the laminate wood floors in the den, hallway, and master bedroom but after considering how much it would cost and the time it would take us to do it, we decided to keep the carpet. I think the blue kind of disappears with all the changes we made anyway and I think it goes well with the light gray we have on the walls.
After
After - This is the narrow closet in the office. It used to be dark paneling but we painted it. We added a bunch of shelves for extra storage.
Guest Bedroom - Before and After
Well, the guest bedroom wasn't in too bad of shape as far as major changes we were going to make to it. This bedroom was far down on our list of rooms to change since we had bigger fish to fry with the kitchen, master bedroom, office, dining room.....just to name a few. Here's a look at what the room looked like before......
Before
Note the ugly "window treatments", dark wood trim, and feather technique painting on some of the walls. Let's take a closer look at the feather technique shall we? gag...
Closeup of ugly walls before.
Before
The dark wood trim and door were TOO dark for this space. Luckily they had a pretty cool fan in there. I found the instructional manual in the basement and its a
Minka Aire Concept II fan and after a quick search online I found that its really expensive! It retails for about $250. Maybe they got it as a gift or something because I sure wouldn't spend that much on a ceiling fan!
Before
And now onto the good stuff. The after shots....
After
After
After
After
This room might have been the cheapest fix so far. I painted the walls with the same paint as the rest of the walls. The paint was still left in the basement from the previous owners. Total cost of paint $0! My favorite! I also primed all the dark wood trim and door and then painted them with a white semigloss I picked up at Walmart. I changed out the hardware on the door and bought some roman blinds from Ikea and some inexpensive curtains from the Christmas Tree Shop. Voila! Guest bedroom transformed into something presentable for our guests!
In the progress of transforming the space, I also cleaned out and reorganized the closet in the room so I could fit my elliptical machine and all my exercise stuff in there for when I want to drag it out and actually work out.
Before
Note the ugly "window treatments", dark wood trim, and feather technique painting on some of the walls. Let's take a closer look at the feather technique shall we? gag...
Closeup of ugly walls before.
Before
The dark wood trim and door were TOO dark for this space. Luckily they had a pretty cool fan in there. I found the instructional manual in the basement and its a
Minka Aire Concept II fan and after a quick search online I found that its really expensive! It retails for about $250. Maybe they got it as a gift or something because I sure wouldn't spend that much on a ceiling fan!
Before
And now onto the good stuff. The after shots....
After
After
After
After
This room might have been the cheapest fix so far. I painted the walls with the same paint as the rest of the walls. The paint was still left in the basement from the previous owners. Total cost of paint $0! My favorite! I also primed all the dark wood trim and door and then painted them with a white semigloss I picked up at Walmart. I changed out the hardware on the door and bought some roman blinds from Ikea and some inexpensive curtains from the Christmas Tree Shop. Voila! Guest bedroom transformed into something presentable for our guests!
In the progress of transforming the space, I also cleaned out and reorganized the closet in the room so I could fit my elliptical machine and all my exercise stuff in there for when I want to drag it out and actually work out.
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