My Five Favorite Before and Afters

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Today I am beyond thrilled to be guest hosting for My Five Favorite, a super fun monthly series hosted by Jennifer from Dimples & Tangles, Kris from Driven by Decor, Lisa from Shine your Light, and Pam from Simple Details.  I just adore each of these incredibly talented and genuinely kind women!  This month were talking about Before and Afters, which are probably one of my most favorite things ever.  If you have been a regular reader here, you know how much I love a good transformation.  If this is your first time stopping by, welcome, I am so thrilled to have you here!  Changing things up around our home, working with what I have, and DIYing is what this blog is all about.  You will find tons of before and afters and projects you can recreate in your own home.  I invite you to check out my current Home Tour, and visit my DIY and Home Decor posts for more ideas.

Let me tell ya, it was hard narrowing it down to just five favorites, but here they are!  I’ll include links to the projects where you can find more photos and information.

1. DIY Picture Frame Moulding

BEFORE

AFTER

The DIY picture frame moulding I added to our master bedroom did wonders!  What I love about this project is that it was such a simple update you can complete in one day, but it provides huge visual impact!  Before, the large wall behind the bed was just plain boring.  Your eyes fell straight to the bed and furniture that looks like (and pretty much was) just plopped in the room, and the high ceilings were completely lost.

After, the walls have visual interest without adding art or other wall decor, and it causes your eyes to move around the room and up to the ceiling.  Obviously, there were other changes I made to the bedroom as well.  You know how that goes.  It’s a can of worms!  But, one good thing led to another and before I knew it I was head over heels in love with our master bedroom.

You can read more about the DIY moulding here and some of the other updates here.

2.  Dining Room Makeover

BEFORE

MIDDLE

AFTER

When you move into a new home there can be an awkward period.  Furniture items that worked in your last house either don’t fit in the new space correctly or they look out of place.  That’s how our dining room furniture felt.  This was my husband’s grandmother’s set that he refinished right after we were married.  It worked in our last few homes, but felt out of place here.  Before, the dark wood blended in with the floors, and honestly we were over the super traditional style.  While I’m all about making it work, sometimes you’ve got to say goodbye.

I wanted to share the middle stage to remind us all that things take time!  It’s ok if you don’t get it right the first time!  Here we replaced the dining table with a larger, lighter wood table and swapped the matching head chairs out for larger slipcovered ones.  I did reuse the old side chairs, removing the slipcovers I made years ago and painted them.  I lightened the space more by removing the picture frames.

In the after I finally removed the elephant in the room, the dark drapes, and replaced them with my secret weapon… white sheets as drapes.  I also hung the bamboo blinds higher on the wall making the windows appear larger.  Whoa!!!  Immediately the space felt brighter and larger!  I moved the white mirror over the piano to our master bedroom and replaced it with the round natural wood mirror tying in the dining table and chandelier.

You can read more about this dining room makeover here.

3. Guest Room Refresh

BEFORE

AFTER

Ahhh the guest room.  Also known as the place unwanted furniture goes to die.  Here lies our old sleigh bed and tables that don’t have a spot anywhere else in our house.  There is nothing welcoming or inviting about our old guest room.  The sheets were clean, but everything else stunk.

I’m calling this a “refresh” instead of a “makeover” because all of the basic pieces stayed the same.  I’m all about reusing what I have, and in this room all I have are dark pieces of wood furniture.  To break things up and lighten the room, I slipcovered the sleigh bed in painter’s drop cloth.  What a difference that alone made!  I kept the mismatched tables as nightstands, but added in matching task lamps to give the tables some symmetry.  The dark art above the bed was feeling dated and wasn’t helping to lighten things up so I swapped it out for a collection of straw hats I had hanging out in the closet and my daughter’s dress up trunk.  While it’s still a room full of mismatched furniture, it now feels pulled together and collected.

You can read more about the guest room refresh here and the DIY slipcovered sleigh bed here.

4. Builder Grade Bathroom Makeover

BEFORE

 

AFTER

This is the attached bathroom for our guest room that you just saw.  Before, it was your basic builder’s grade bathroom.  We built this house about three years ago so there is technically nothing wrong with the bathroom.  It was just BORING.

The main change in here was the DIY shiplap I installed using thin plywood cut into strips.  This gave the bathroom so much more character!  I also kept the frameless mirror, but reworked it by attaching it to plywood and trimming it out.  The towel bar above the toilet was replaced with art, and the shower curtain was replaced with a taller shower curtain I made out of a sheet and some fringe.

For more information about this bathroom makeover, visit my post here.  We also did the same thing in both of our children’s bathrooms!  You can check out my daughter’s bathroom makeover here and my son’s bathroom makeover here.

5. Liming Wax Table Makeover

BEFORE

AFTER

This table we’re using as my husband’s nightstand was in SUCH rough shape.  It was my parent’s and sat in their basement housing our massive computer when I was little.  I always loved the shape and knew it had potential so I eagerly accepted when my mom offered it to me.  Unfortunately, I sat in it’s before state for far too long while I decided how to refinish it.

I ended up going with a liming wax finish and am completely in love!  The bleached look it has now helps it tie in with the slipcovered nightstand I have on my side of the bed and the lighter wood dresser opposite our bed.

For more photos and a step by step tutorial on how I got this finish, check out this post!

A HUGE thank you to the awesome ladies listed below for having me guest host with them this month!  Be sure to head over to their blogs to see their Five Favorite Before and Afters.  You will not be disappointed!!

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Comments

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  1. Lisa Avatar

    Okay WHO is Stacey? She has some mad wood carving skills 🙂 That limed table is SO pretty Shelley……love your dining room style change through the years (your table…..so gorgeous!)…….I was thinking about your gallery wall at the top of your stairs too, that is a wall transformation. You’ve done so many great projects and I pretty much adore everything you do!! Thanks so much for joining us today, so fired up to have you guest host!!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      LOL!!! That was my little sister carving her name into the table. She realized she gave it away as to who did it so then decided to carve my name in as well! I absolutely adore you as well, Lisa! Thank you so very much for including me as a quest host. It was truly an honor!

  2. Calypso in the Country Avatar

    Beautiful projects! I am so inspired by that gorgeous bathroom makeover. My kids’ bathroom is the same layout and to think it could ever look like yours turned out is so encouraging!
    Enjoy your day!
    – Shelley

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      Aw, thank you so much, Shelley! I am so thrilled you are inspired by that bathroom makeover, and I have no doubt yours will turn out stunning!!

  3. Lauren@SimplyLKJ Avatar

    I really like the picture frame wall. It is amazing what impact just a few small details adds to a room.

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      Thank you, Lauren! I have found that sometimes it’s the little things that make such a huge difference 🙂

  4. Jennifer Griffin Avatar

    I love that liming wax project! I’ve been thinking about doing something similar to a table I have. Thanks for showing how easy it is! So happy that you joined us today, Shelley!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      Oh my goodness, Jennifer, you will love liming wax!!! I’ve become a bit of an addict. I keep side eying furniture around the house wondering what will be my next lime project 😀 I just adore each of your ladies so much, thank you for having me!

  5. sandi Avatar
    sandi

    Shelley…Love the wall color in the Dining Room Makeover. Do you happen to remember the paint color?

  6. Jolene Avatar

    Love your makeovers and refreshers! The little table redo is beautiful and the lime wash gives it a totally different feel. It is so light and airy, yet still full of character. Your bathroom makeover gives me ideas for our builder bathroom. I have been wanting to try shiplap and the bathroom may be my perfect opportunity to experiment. Thanks for sharing. Your home is lovely!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      Thank you, Jolene! You should definitely give the DIY shiplap a go!

Meet Shelley

Hi, I’m Shelley! My belief is that with a little creativity and elbow grease, you can make your home look like a million bucks without spending it.

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