Big Plans

Hullo peeps,

Back in May 2012, we relocated our fam (which at the time consisted of Grover, Hershey, a one year old T and a burgeoning baby bump ... "burgeoning" is a weird word) to my childhood home. It's a lovely location, the house has good bones and lots of space, and it is a perfect place to raise kids IMHO. I don't have to worry about crime or T getting run over by a moped, there's tons of fresh air, we're a mile from a lake, and there's wildlife (which I fully intend to capture and domesticate). It's paradise.

The problem is, the house was built in the '70s. You know what that means? It was decorated in the '70s.



Now, I'm not harshing on that amazing era of grooviness. I love the '70s. I do not, however, love the '70s carpet.

Or the '70's wallpaper.

Or the '70s light fixtures.

Or the '70s color palette.

I think I am one of many millions who tolerates outdated decor for one BIG reason - money.

Or perhaps not. I could be the only one who's broke.

I'd really love to spend any extra cash (haha, what's that?) updating, loving on, and generally de-discofying the home I have many childhood memories in ...

... one time, I jumped off the stairs onto a gigantic stuffed bear.

IT WAS AWESOME.

So this post is the official "before". I am SO BAD about taking before pictures I took them all at once.

Here's a poorly drawn definitely not to scale layout. You're welcome.

Forgot to label the dining room. Whoops.

And here's a few highlights of the upstairs (top priority):

The nursery:

The crafting disaster area (AKA my desk):

The master bedroom (started this in a third trimester nesting blitz):

The bathroom:

The hallway (most exciting photo of my life. OF MY LIFE.)

The living room:

Around the corner:

From the TV's point of view:

The dining room:

The entryway (looking in from the front door:

The kitchen:

And finally, the pantry. Almost as exciting as the hallway, no?

These are SOOC (straight out of camera) so you can see what kind of lighting we're working with.

We don't have oodles of money to throw at this thing, so it's going to be done on a shoestring budget, meaning thrifting, praying for perfect mismatch paint colors, waiting for sales, penny pinching, re-purposing, more thrifting, and some good ole' DIY. That's the plan. It's a rather gigantic undertaking.

Pray we survive.