Befores and Afters

First, can I just say how I am NOT OK with the sandbox in our backyard? And I'm not all that OK with sandboxes in general. I think they're gross, and they attract things that make my skin crawl. Like bugs, and stray cats. (But I'm ok with house cats, don't get me wrong.)

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, I am going to "do something" about that sandbox.

Also, off topic:

Thanks Kathy Lee and Hoda for sharing! This makes me laugh 1) Because it's funny and 2) It's a bunch of engineering students and you can see that some of them are clearly annoyed that their test was interrupted. Case and point, check out the guy at 3:50 on the bottom of the screen.

Now it's time for befores and afters! I love putting a before and after side-by-side so I can see how much progress we've made. It's one reason I love vacuuming! Or, it's one reason I love the idea of vacuuming!

A while back, I shared my plans for our living room here. 

Here's what it looked like before. Like way before...like previous owners before.

Here it is currently. For some reason, that wall color looks green, but it's grey. The reason is because I keep using my iPhone to take pictures.

The room is pretty bare for now, but that's where we're at. Now we just need curtains, things on the wall, lamps on the console, yadda yadda.

NEXT! The office!

Previous owners sitting/music room

Current office

I painted the office and now it also needs to be decorated/organized. This room has no closet, which is a bummer. Our old office had a closet and we hid so much junk in there. Now we actually have to organize things and put them away.

Basement!

Before: Dark man cave

After: Fam cave! (Kudos to Kennedy for coining this phrase)

Also, just to brag about Kennedy's skillz (yes I did), let's see some during photos. He's amazing.

First, he had to patch up a bunch of places where wires were embedded into the walls and then painted over. Then, he wired his sacred surround sound BY HIMSELF. I'm impressed he knows how to do this, let alone makes it look professional.

Kennedy painted over alllllll that red, which took him forever. Then he added the wood planking per my request. He's sweet to me.

Here it is again, all done. Except that now we need to decorate in here too.

One last before and after that's not a room, but an upholstered bench! I shared on the last post the fabric I bought for this upholstered bench at the end of our bed.

Well, I did it. And I am patting myself on the back because sometimes I buy fabric and then I just don't get around to doing the project ever. It actually did not take that long all together, but there were lots of interruptions. So I did a little at a time over a few days.

Here's the bench BEFORE.

Here it is looking all sad and stained and gross. Also, one of the dogs chewed a button off the top, and the foam is a bit askew after Cece claimed it for her bed a while back.

Here's the new slipcover! I heart slipcovers because they fit in the washing machine. Whereas, that bench does not.

So hooray for us, making progress on the house! I can't wait for it to all be decorated the way I want so I can enjoy it.