Home Renovations: The Photos, part 1

We're DONE. Mostly. I hate to modify "done" in any way, but there are still the odd outlet covers to be screwed on, paint dings to touch up, and wall-hangings to be hung. We'll get there, but we're taking a breather for Christmas

Update: Ten minutes after I typed this, the bank called and scheduled our appraisal for Wednesday. So, um, I guess those outlet covers are going on, like, TODAY. So much for my damn Christmas breather. Humbug.

I scanned back through my photo files until I lost interest and ran out of caramel corn to munch on. Turns out, I have no decent "before" picture of my living room. I attribute this to the fact

that I hated my old, cramped living room so much that I rarely took pictures there and to not having made nearly enough caramel corn. What I did find is this charmer of a photo taken in October, after we had scraped the ceiling clean and begun to pack things up. It gives a completely accurate idea of the total lack of space.

And do you see that little scalloped trim thingy above the built-in shelves? That made be want to strangle bunnies on a daily basis. I am not a scalloped-trim kind of gal (but I'm not judging if you are).

Same room (to the right of the framed partition), late October. I call this phase Early Sledgehammer. Although Mid-Mental Breakdown would also be correct.

And our living room today:

There are still major decorating tweaks in order. I haven't decided on window treatments yet, nor bought an accent rug for the center of the room, nor hung anything on the walls. But notice how the furniture is not jammed cheek-to-jowl along the walls? This, to me, is heaven.

This is our front door and dining area. The kitchen lies to the right, and although it was outside the scope of this renovation, we did refloor and repaint in there. I'll be refinishing the cabinets in January whenever I damn well feel like it. So you might see some pictures of it then.
This is the view when you walk in my front door (glider and window are in the master bedroom):

The living room lies to your right, the dining area/kitchen to your left. See the taupe-colored (and my! how beautifully painted!) wall in the foreground? That used to be the back wall of my house. The addition we built includes the hallway, the girls' rooms opening off either side of the hall, and the master bedroom/bathroom at the end.

Tours of the girls' rooms are coming up later this week. A tour of the master bedroom will occur when I finally get all the laundry folded and put away. As in, don't hold your breath. But maybe if the stars align and someone brings me more caramel corn. Maybe.