First comes love, then comes marriage…
- Then came 18 months of nursing school… (Cause, you know, two degrees weren’t enough)
- Then came 6 months of applying to nursing jobs…
- Then came a job in Wyoming which had me commuting back and forth to Denver…
- A year later, I got a job in Denver…
- Then came a year of working and saving money in Denver…
Finally, four years after getting hitched, my husband and I bought our first home in Denver!!!
I was dying to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty.
I had attempted a couple of easy furniture projects while living in Wyoming, but nothing huge. At the time, I just needed something to distract me from the mold in the basement shower and general dust haze.
During the saving years, I was accumulating Pinterest files like crazy and dreaming about beautiful crown molding, tray ceilings, craftsman trim... *happy sigh*
All that pining paid off. Here’s a glimpse of the three biggest room overhauls during the 2.5 years we lived in Denver.
Room #1
Master Bedroom
Here's what it looked like when we bought the house:
I wasn't too thrilled about all the school bus yellow and crimson. As soon as we were under contract, I painted our bedroom sky blue.
I decided in that end that our bedroom was TOO blue. I like blue, but after a while it felt like we were drowning in a sea of turquoise. Also, I worked night shifts, so I wanted a space that felt dramatic but dark enough to support some serious day sleeping.
After much convincing, literal tears, and tangible proof of my plans (room mockups, Restoration Hardware photos, mapped out measurements), my husband finally let me have my way with the design.
Here's our bedroom from a different angle. Don't you just want to jump under the covers? Trust me, it was heaven after a 12-hour shift.
Additions:
- chair rail
- craftsman trim around windows
- crown molding
- walls painted Benjamin Moore Kendall gray
- picture frame molding
- repainted fireplace tile surround
- new outlet covers
- ikea curtains trimmed to custom length
Two windows had to be replaced due to some serious warp issues. That one put a nice little dent in our wallet.
There were SO many things left on my dream list when we sold the house. I wanted to make an upholstered tufted headboard in charcoal gray. I wanted to build custom bookshelves in the sitting area.
Alas, so many projects...so little time.
Room #2
Living Room
Here's what the living room looked like when we toured the house:
Here's what our living room looked like when we put it on the market:
We had to break up our sectional for staging purposes. I'm partial to how the space looked before we did that.
Additions:
- craftsman trim around the windows
- roman shade window coverings
- new blinds
- crown molding
- walls painted Alpaca gray by Sherwin Williams
- recessed lighting
- I painted the fireplace surround white after scrubbing away the glass haze
- new fan without droopy blades (Happy Birthday, Love Mom!)
- homemade Jacquard pattern blackout curtains, tutorial courtesy of Kelly from View Along the Way
- inexpensive 8-foot curtain rod made from electrical conduit, tutorial courtesy of House of Hepworths
- cornice (tutorial from me to come!!!)
Room #3
Nursery
Here's what the spare room looked like when we moved in. It functioned as a craft room for a while. Then I was forced to tackle it head-on when we learned it would serve a more important purpose.
And here's what it looked like right before my son was born.
Additions:
- craftsman trim around the windows (tutorial here)
- crown molding
- walls painted Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams
- rocker/glider chair
- DIY blackout curtains (tutorial here)
- DIY curtain rod made from electrical conduit (tutorial here)
- new door hardware
- $1 wolf artwork from thrift store
- area rug from RugsUSA.com
It's amazing how much a coat of paint lightens up a space. Crown molding added much-needed character to what was once a dark, boring room filled with cheap laminate flooring.
What I really love about this nursery is that it was fairly inexpensive to furnish. The changing table came second hand from a neighbor, and the rocker came from a nice family on Craigslist.
I had fun using chalk paint for the first time on the changing table! My application of dark wax was a bit shaky, but I liked the outcome nonetheless.
Crown molding always presents "fun" new learning opportunities, as I was forced to tackle bull nose corners for the first time. I was able to rope two of my nursing school friends into helping me since I was 15 weeks preggo.
With my morning sickness finally over, nothing was going to stand in my way. Even the 11 hours required to figure out all the right angles and get the pieces up!
Much like my son, the nursery was a labor of love. I'm so happy with how things turned out in this room, despite the stress.
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Very soon we will be looking to buy a new home in Georgia. I want something with good bones that will be just as forgiving as I make a whole new set of mistakes 😀
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