A before shot from November. I was most excited to have bare floor under the dining table. I know that rugs underneath is the right look for a magazine, but with children, that means you cannot eat there.
Mainly, I knew it was time to redo the wall to the left of that picture. The fake tree was cheap a dozen years ago, and toddler Tyler in particular thrashed it. He ripped all of the "confetti" out of the bottom basket, so I saran wrapped it years ago, and then he ripped the leaves off higher and higher as he got older. That wasn't even worth posting for free anywhere. The credenza was in really good shape, but the drawers were empty now that the contents could fit into the kitchen where they belonged. I needed more shelves for my ugly tutoring books. and the decor on the wall was fine, but hasn't changed in a decade.
Before and After:
My inspiration pictures were rather close,
except that I didn't get the walnut front to my credenza that I pictured. I searched and searched, and even considered building the doors if not the entire thing from scratch, but it just wasn't meant to be.
I even bought a different credenza and refinished it. It was a really orange shade of wood when I got it, so I thought that a dark stain would fix that. It just went dark orange, so I did another coat, and another, and another, and when we finally carried it in, I declared it too dark and my husband declared it too flimsy. I never bothered attaching legs. Just sold as is.
Anyway, more before and afters!
I am amazed at how much better the rug looks just by taking away the carpet that was the same color, and moving it over.
The kids love the picture wall the most. I made each row grow chronologically, from wedding to family picture, and newborn to current for each child. I love having pictures of my littles on the wall!
My math books were rather crammed in with kitchen supplies, so I love that they now have shelves to spare. And there is even a shelf for piano music. Now the basket next to the piano can just have the ones we are currently using, and the rest can tuck away. I love it!
