The Reveal

i love HGTV. More specifically, I love ColorSplash on HGTV. I love the host, David Bromstad, the paint/design assistant Danielle, the carpenter Ian, the fabric assistant, Claire. I think that we are all friends, and together we traverse HomeGoods (which we dont have in PA, but its my fantasy, so there we are), HomeDepot, Home Home Home Whatever! I DVR this show and I watch 1 30min episode almost every single day.

At our housewarming party TWO PEOPLE told me that walking in felt like they were on HGTV. I almost died. Its the equivalent of telling a girl she looks like she lost weight, or asking a boy if he's been working out. No, its better! HGTV!!! Not to get too carried away, we have only re-done the living room (most important), bathroom, office, and master bedroom. But the only true HGTV worthy room is the living room with the bathroom a runner-up.

To drive the point home, one would have to have seen the house when we moved in. Every room. Yes. EVERY ROOM had wood panelling (painted high-gloss BEIGE- its like the worst of both worlds- high gloss and my least favorite "color"- BEIGE!!!) and drop ceilings. Now, my design mind is bigger than my wallet, so for now, for 2009, we are only renovating the downstairs. The office and bedroom have been painted, but alas, the drop ceilings remain. (painted, so less noticeable, but still there). I MAYBE will convince Reg to re-do the walls and ceiling of the guest room next year (because said guest room will perhaps someday be a nursery and thats like my golden ticket- if I can relate something to the baby that we may someday have, he gives in. the man wants a kid. more on the later, i'm sure...)

In August we had a contractor come in and gut and re-do the living room. Then we painted and decorated. It was not cheap, especially on our 1-income budget. BUT it was worth every sweaty cent!

the mid-construction shots. Of course I forgot to take good "before" photos. But just picture wood panelling and a BROWN drop ceiling! The left photo is the original wallpaper from the house, if you can't tell, its a victorian country scene. kinda cool.

FINALLY decided on an accent color for above the fireplace. I love orange in decorating- i want orange furniture or orange walls. The color is called "buried treasure." (btw- paint colors are like polish colors at the nail salon. there are some names that, despite the tint, you just cannot in good faith put on your walls!)

Reg painted the ceiling. PAINSTAKINGLY. i love that about him. he is so meticulous- the complete opposite of me. he should be the phd....but anyway- the ceiling color is "toasted marshmallow," and it is NOT white. :-)

FINALLY- it is complete!

the 2 accent chairs are from Pier One and took, oh, 3 months to find. (thanks mom for the help!) The Gillefonds are nothing but indecisive and buying chairs took more out of us than I care to truly admit.

oh yeah, and the wall color is "wild honey."

The bathroom we did the first week we moved in, with the gracious help of Reg's twin, Jean-Yves. The wall color is "rain drop." Putting in the bathroom fixtures is how we learned that sometimes the drill bit recommended by the product is wrong and puts a hole big enough to serve as a passageway to Narnia in your wall. Also how we learned about molly screws.

Before: it was painted a pale mint color that made you look sick when you looked in the mirror. they even painted the window frame itself! mint!!!

NOW:

the framed photos on the wall are from our most recent vacation to Riviera Maya, Mexico, our honeymoon in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and our primero vacation to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Kitchen

last but not least, for now, the kitchen. the ONE ROOM we have not had to change. We have eventual plans for a glass tile back-splash, but I promised, no more renovations in 2009 (does grout count as renovating?)