Saturday, November 26, 2011

Some before-and-afters

The last few days have sort of been lost in a black hole. The day before Thanksgiving -- Thanksgiving at which we were hosting 14 people -- Clementine came down with a stomach virus. Which made prep interesting, but guests were bringing many of the side dishes so we didn't have to do everything, and we managed, and Clementine got to feeling a little better, off and on. Thanksgiving was lovely, I was fairly useless owing to having an under-the-weather Clementine attached to my side, but Jim and my mother and our friend Andrew pulled off the cooking marvelously. Yum yum. And then, shortly after our last guests left, I started feeling ill. With, as it turned out, the same stomach virus. And then a few hours later: Jim got it too. So all of yesterday was a fugue. Clementine was now fully recovered, and Jim and I played "vomit tag" -- one of us would sleep, the other would watch Clementine until they barfed, and then we'd switch. Ha ha! And she was such a good kid all day, taking it easy on us, content to lounge, giving us lots of kisses to make us better, and asking us, "Are you okay?" in her precious, concerned little voice. Until, phew, around 6 pm when my parents and brother and niece came to fetch her for pizza and a sleepover, after which Jim and I slept for about twelve hours. And are now feeling much better. And still have Thanksgiving mess to clean up. Oy.

Anyway, you know how having guests always spurs a bit of housework, we had managed to pull some things together over here at the work-in-progress, so I thought I'd show you some before-and-afters. Fun!


DINING ROOM -- BEFORE




Love that pea green! 




This was the first or second time we looked at the house. Our poor patient realtor brought us over at least a half dozen times as we tried to decide if we could really do it -- really do all this work.


DINING ROOM -- AFTER






We've only just begun to put things on the walls; there's a lot blank yet. But we have hung some pieces by our favorite abstract artist, Clementine Pie:





LIVING ROOM -- BEFORE

This one's the real doozy. The wallpaper, the carpet, the knotty pine!








LIVING ROOM -- AFTER









And now I'd better stop avoiding cleaning the kitchen ...

Cheers, and happy weekend!




23 comments:

philippa_moore said...

It's like two different houses!!! You guys did a brilliant job, I love it. Just gorgeous!!

sunihali said...

Glad you're all better! Thanks for sharing the pics. Love the metamorphosis!

Love, Chelsea said...

Just beautiful!

sarah said...

What a lovely home! So much light and warmth. I am amazed at the transformation.

Unknown said...

Ahhh! I LOVE the pretty! :envies: You did a magnificent job!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that looks amazing. Great job!

Shveta Thakrar said...

Glad you're feeling better, Laini. Eesh!

I can't believe how different the house looks in the after shots. The glimpses of Laini's Ladies make me smile. :)

Evie said...

Spectacular transformation! It looks fresh and comfy with so much personality. I LOVE the daybed with the distressed blue wood and throw pillows. Did you find it at Cargo? I covet thy poufs and green bench!

LOL at the photo on the mantel of Jim and Clementine.

Glad all of you are feeling better. Hope your guests escape the virus.

Commander Kip said...

Oof, sorry about the pukey virus. On the other hand, I am majorly drooling over your picture rails!

June G said...

Thanks for sharing such lovely pictures of your home. It's inspiring!

~Michelle~ said...

So beautiful!

Rhiannon said...

Absoloutly stunning. You should put together an Apple photo book for yourselves when it's all done showing the befores, durings and afters.

Kristan said...

Wow, love the transformation! You really brightened those spaces up and modernized them. It's like a bonus day of Before & After from design*sponge. :)

storyqueen said...

Laini, thanks for sharing! I so look forward to your eye candy and glimpses into you adorable house!

Hope you are feeling better.

Shelley

Rich said...

Random Comments:
-Love your house transformation. We just moved in March, so I can relate.
-Read further down about typing "The End" and crying. I so remember that with my first book. Best feeling in the world, scary, humbling. To actually finish a book!
-Finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone a few days ago. Have to tell you, I was totally hooked at: "Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well." I posted that on Facebook with your info and told it to my writing friends. Overall, I was aching inside about 2/3rds of the way through--because I knew I would come to the eventual end. What a fantastic story. You did good.
-I have to compliment you on such beautiful descriptive language. I kept stopping and highlighting on my Kindle app (on iPHone). If I ever get to teach a writing class, I'll use some of your words as an example of how to do it!
-Look forward to following your blog and seeing what comes next.

Katie Anderson said...

I am still amazed y'all did that all by yourselves. IN-CREDIBLE. and stunning!

Laini Taylor said...

Well, Katie, we didn't do it all by ourselves. We had contractors :-) Jim did the floors and painting, but we left everything else to the pros! The decorating is us, though :-)

Life is Good(ell) said...

How can this be the same house? The transformation is unbelievable! And I can't believe how teeny-tiny Clementine is in that before picture!

So sorry about the flu- ugggh- I got struck with that, too, which kept me from going to your signing at a Children's Place. Boo! And what a sweetheart of a daughter you have, taking good care of her parents like that!

Tinker said...

Wow - what a transformation. It looks amazing. Great work!

Being sick is never fun, but somehow even worse on a holiday (especially if you're the one hosting - and cleaning up -- yikes). Glad you're all feeling better now, though. Hope maybe this will have earned you a ick-free pass through the Christmas season!

tone almhjell said...

Oh, but the white is a perfect canvas for all your colorful things. It looks amazing, so beautiful, and so liveable, if you see what I mean. Not the sort of house where a guest would hover in a corner, afraid to ruin the decor. The sort of home where a guest would curl up in the sofa and have coffee. Love it.

olugbemisola said...

what an incredible about of work you did -- and it's beautiful!

Kate said...

Very well done! It looks great! :)

Bets said...

It is so fun to see the changes you've made!

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