befores & not quite afters: living room

Our house is a basic 3 bedroom, 2 bath rambler. I was excited about the size (Micah was not, he grew up in a house similar in size & always wanted bigger. I grew up in a family of 6 so our house was always bigger and I thought smaller sounded nice. Always want what you didn't have!) but not so much the location. (I wanted neighborhood close enough to town that I could walk to the store, library, etc. & Micah wanted to live on land.) A woodsy neighborhood further from town with a decent sized backyard was our compromise. It works for now but we both agree it's not our true home....we're still working out where that will be & what that will look like.
We bought our house as a fixer upper and for the past six years (Yikes! Where did the time go!?!) we've been making it our home. While we're not at the "after" portion quite yet I thought I'd share our befores & not quite afters. So we'll start with the living room...
To start off let me set the mood of this room...dog pee & stale cigarette smoke. Yes, that's nice isn't it!?! The whole house reeked of it. The idea of having to touch the carpet with anything other than the bottoms of my shoes sicked me out. (I can never thank Micah enough for removing the nasty carpet all on his own saving me from hours of gagging.) Okay now that I have your senses going let's check it out!
before:

 The large interior window with huge spindles gave a sort of jail chic to the living room don't you think!?!

Sorry, this one is blurry. Our real estate agent (who is also a friend) was talking about what great before shots I was going to get and it made me laugh.

We just replaced the interior doors last week. We didn't have the funds to do everything & while they were ugly they were low on the list. When we sprayed the ceiling we sprayed all the doors to make do until we could afford new ones. I can't tell you how much I love our new doors!



not quite afters:

 We added the pellet stove which has been a huge blessing! It's very expensive heating a house with forced air!

The theatre chairs were our first project as a couple. We found those while we were in college & refinished them together. They were in Micah's apt. I love those chairs!

 The coffee table was my first project all by myself. It's not right in here. I have my dream table picked out and Micah can make it for me along with the side tables just as soon as he has a moment. *I may be waiting a while.

 We replaced the window because if you sat by the old one your hair would actually sway in the draft. Not good for chilly days! I found the side table on the right on the side of the road. It's covered with "stuff" right now. I need to clear it off again. The big orangey-red bowl is where I put my keys & other things I need to remember when I head out the door.

 I adore my orange door! It makes me SO happy!! Best thing I ever talked Micah in to!

Oh how I love our new doors!!!

I'm working on how adding more photos to this wall. The scooter is vintage & so cool. The guitar isn't really a guitar. Micah made it out of metal. It was a project he always wanted to do. It turned out really good if I do say so myself!

Hope you like the updates & if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!