Before & After - Part I

Even though just yesterday I cursed the sponge paint, I now realize I should praise the sponge paint (and the 1980's-style valances and the mint and mauve paint...) since it was this poor decorating that allowed us to get this house at a relative bargain price. It also allows me to indulge my most favorite passion...home decorating. And I gotta tell you, I'm having so much fun decorating our new house! I awake each morning, lay in bed and come up with a list of two or three or six or seven sites I want to visit to shop for home accessories.

I, being a good Catholic girl, have raised price-comparing to an art form.

I LOVES ME A BARGAIN!

I recently purchased some cabinet hardware at The Great Indoors for $4.49 a piece. The Great Indoors is a retail store owned by Sears. Since The Swede had yet another-and this time his final-confrontation with Sears, he has forbidden me to ever step foot in Sears again. I have a confession to make...sometimes I sneak it. And to think in the paragraph above I said I was a good Catholic.

Anyway, during a recent price comparing-inspired browsing of the internet, I discovered the same cabinet hardware at Home Annex for just $2.55 a piece! The sad thing is, they say list price is just $4.29...even lower than what I bought it for at The Great Indoors. Since I had to buy 34 pieces, that adds up to a whole lotta money. It also shows how much cabinet space we have in our new kitchen! Not to mention our two pantries...not one but TWO!!!! (Have I said how much I love our new house??!!)

I love it almost as much as I love exclamation points!!!!

I thought it would be fun to do a "before and after" of this house. I hope this is of interest to you but since a blog is the quintessential self-indulgent outlet, I suppose I'm really doing this for me and The Swede. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take many "before" photos because I packed my battery recharger early on and was without a functioning camera for most of our move.

I'll start with our powder room even though it's still a work-in-progress.

Old Powder Room:
Now look closely. See the mauve-colored paint above the valance? And, yes, those are metal mini-blinds below.

Here is the old bathroom cabinet that I am salvaging. Wait...before you go and judge my taste, you'll see how it turns out. The wall color is our new color. It is a dark gold-brown-olive color. I love it.

Today I will be back at Home Annex looking for vanity hardware. Look for the "after" photo to come soon.