Now Here Is A Before And After

Good Afternoon!

I am officially done with the Byron Forest Preserve lobby and receptionist area.  I hope you like it..

This is when you would come into the space.  Behind that wall was the receptionist area.  Dated lighting..

After..space is opened.  Updated lighting and wall removed, new flooring (wood tile).  We also painted the walls a light grey and added new cedar to posts.

Before.. receptionist area that was behind the wall

After.. new appropriate lighting and wall removed.

brand new counter my husband and I designed

water feature to add calming atmosphere

 adding softness with curtains.

Before...sitting area

dated flooring, lighting and definitely not a place where anyone wants to sit and relax.

After.. Fresh paint, natural log seating, lighting, flooring, and art make the space more inviting to linger for a bit.

Custom wall art of the species you will find at the Forest Preserve..

 

Completely open to the receptionist area..

Before.. heading toward elevators.  Inadequate lighting and just a plain afterthought.

After.. we created an extra sitting area with brochures that you can catch up on the latest events in the area.  Lighting and a mirror were key to add more softness to this expanse space.

 No longer an afterthought..

 

Before.. restroom area and coat "closet"

After.. we thought it would be fun to add these cardboard taxidermy to the area where the kids hang their coats and on the way to the restrooms

I hope you enjoyed this before and after.  The Byron Forest Preserve was a joy to work with : )

BTW..

Thanks for all the prayers for my family in New Jersey in the path of the storm.  They are doing well.

Please contact the American Red Cross and see what you can do to help those that are suffering through this tragic situation.  God bless.

Wood Tile

Good Afternoon!  It has been awhile since I wrote..this has been an incredibly busy time for me but I have missed you all dearly.  

I am so happy that the floors are looking amazing.  The installation is going well at the Byron Forest Preserve.  We went with a tile that has a wood grain look to it without being literal as with a wood plank tile.  This would be a great alternative to those of you who want a wood look for a basement but might be concerned "if" you would have a water issue.  It is stunning and everyone who has seen it likes it.

 The posts have been stripped down and are getting prepared for new cedar wrapping.

 We have the new curved counter top (skeleton) being put up.  Clutter is gone and you really get the sense of space this place has.

All the painting has been done (Behr Paint)

I am so excited to see the first pendant light to go up : )

BTW..

I was so excited for my last little one to have his first day at school.  He was so excited.  There is nothing like seeing your kids come into their own.  I am in the middle of other design projects (which I love) and trying to get my bedroom at least painted and one of my nightstands some TLC, while being a full time Mom and wife.  One thing I have to say is I wouldn't trade all this for anything.  Hope you guys have a great weekend : )

One more thing..if you don't know about my project at the Byron Forest Preserve you can read the whole process here:

1. Out With The Old

2. Demolition Gotta Love It

3. Patching And Building

Catching Up

Good Morning!

I am so hungry.  My daughter is making breakfast for me..such a sweet girl.  

After the past couple days I thought I would never eat again..food poisoning.  Needless to say that restaurant will forever be off my list.

So, today I am playing catch up.

Painting my son's room.  Will show you the before on another post : )

How is your Monday going?

Can It Be? : Dining Room

Hello everyone!  I hope your week has been a good one.  We have been busy here chopping up the tree in the backyard that fell and stacking it for this winter.  Two of my kids were sick so I had my other daughter help me stack wood and did we get a workout.  : )

I wanted to continue on our "Can It Be" series.  Just in case you are new here this series is all about what seemed to be rooms with no potential and if they can be beautiful again.  My husband and I bought a 1950's home that was a fixer upper and we are putting some love back into it.  Is it a tedious process?  Yes!  But anything that's worth something means you have to put your time into it to see it blossom.

Do you remember how we put hickory flooring in our family room?

There's my awesome husband!  He did it all himself..what a man : )

We ended up doing the same thing for our dining room.  It just made the spaces between the rooms flow instead of it being choppy.

We used Behr paint and a venetian plaster for the chocolate walls.  We wanted a cozy feel to the room.  I love the fact that you can separate the dining room off from the family room space for sound control but still keep an eye on the kids through the french doors.  

When we bought this home we only had enough furniture for our family room and 2 bedrooms.  So we had a lot of filling up to do.

Here is the table we bought that was custom made and dining chairs we bought from Slumberland.

I was trying out the dining room this way to see if I liked the use of space.  Hmm...not so sure.  Will keep you posted ; )

Have a great weekend all.

Can It Be? : Hallway Finished

Happy Friday!  

Yesterday I was connecting with some great designers on Twitter via #DesignTv .  There are so many great creative minds willing to share secrets to help you with your spaces.  Would love to connect with all of you on there as well.

I haven't updated on our hallway for quite some time and if you remember it looked like this..

Remember the stained carpet?  We had painted the hallway a color from Behr called Head for the Hills.

Was not happy about the carpet so my husband

took up the carpet and we began the process of putting down hickory flooring that we had in our family room.

I love this floor!  My husband did a great job.

The hallway leading toward the bedrooms is a great place to hang photos of the family.  I put pictures of us by the bedrooms we occupy.

Btw..don't mind the smurf blue bathroom at the end of the hallway, we will tackle that at some point.

Have a great weekend all : )

Can It Be : Hallway

I remember taking this picture when I was doing my homework assignment for a home staging course..

This is our hallway.  Now we did paint the walls, a color that I love, called "head for the hills" by Behr Paint.  The color of the walls prior were white, just wasn't doing it for me. 

If you look closely there is that horrible carpet again that I loathe (yes, I know it's a strong word..lol) and the stains that wouldn't come out.

I guess you know what is coming...

And this guy, Corey, well,

he could hear me saying, "Oh, Honey, I have an idea."

Stay Tuned.