Before and After

Great Room before:

Great Room after:

bookcase not completely filled back up yet!
Obviously, new flooring, but also . . . 
new curtains, fewer things around (i.e. less clutter!)
no valances

Looking at the photos, keep in mind that the tile continues to have a film from the grout.
I have been mopping it quite often, but it will take awhile for the grout gunk to be completely removed and for the tiles to shine and look as clean as they can.
I'll keep updating you on how long it takes!


Greg reassembled the Foosball table today!

Books were the first thing to get boxed up and stored in the garage, so
they'll be the last thing to be retrieved and put back where they belong!

 Coffee table:

Seating area by the sliding glass door:

I hung these two paintings on the pillar by the front door.

They are from my parents, who purchased them in Asia

when they were travelling there as very adventurous young people.

The gold frames and beautiful colors in the paintings fit in very well!

Entryway after:

New flooring, walls painted, new rug, "sheepskin" throw on bench,
different paintings, less clutter

Bedroom before:

Bedroom after:

New flooring, walls repaired and repainted, no curtains, less clutter.
Very soothing and calming! 

Cool, bright, light, and organized, while still being welcoming and comforting.

Guest Bedroom/My Office before:

Guest Bedroom/My Office after:

New flooring, less clutter, better organization of shelves,
no curtains/valances.
The desk area is a dumping zone right now - I'll share photos of that
once it's under control a bit!

 Kitchen before:

Kitchen after:

New flooring, less clutter, no valences,

Guest Bathroom before:

Guest Bathroom after:

New flooring (no more crack in the tile!), border removed (not peeling off any longer!),
all walls painted.

In the bathroom facing the other direction
(photos a little blurry, but you get the idea):

I hung the painting up-and-down instead of sideways
and put the little skunk my Mom painted in the corner.

So there you have it!  You have seen all the rooms in the house except Greg's office, which is still undergoing reassembly.  His closet needed to be painted on Tuesday, and work for him has been crazy and stressful, so he didn't have a chance to reorganize until today.  He's hard at work right now (in spite of not feeling that great today, poor boy).


We have been taking many loads of things to Goodwill
(and the consignment store!), and while I was dropping off a big batch of stuff this past week,
I saw this chair sitting there, waiting to be processed.
I grabbed it!
I considered it to be a fair trade for all the stuff I was dropping off.



I LOVE these bent-wood chairs, and I love rattan.
This one was even painted a gold-ish color at some point.
It's worn off in a very pretty way.

Look at the delicate back!

It reminds me of swans or a heart.

I have a similar bent-wood chair in our bedroom that I bought at a used-goods store for $5 many years back when we needed extra seating to host a Bible study.  No matter what I use it for, I love it.  Like how it looks, like how it feels to sit on, like how light it is, and like how easy it is to transport.  

Another of our little cacti is blooming!

Pretty spidery white flowers:

On such an itty-bitty little guy!

It's crazy that any living thing can survive when it gets so hot outside!

Claude has been enjoying the "sheepskin" blanket on the bench
by the window in the kitchen.

Look at this cute ittle baby pretending that the blankie is her Mommy!

Precious!

Juvy has been enjoying the bench and blankie, too

(the two girls don't enjoy it at the same time, though;

they don't like each other much).

Happy weekend!