First Things First - Part II

After ripping off all the wallpaper in our living room- the real fun began.  Rob and I spent four days prepping the walls for painting.  We worked hours upon hours on spackling, sanding, scrubbing, and cleaning.  Once the hard work was complete, we were finally ready to have our friend Steve install a chair rail and crown molding. 

I decided to go with a chair rail and crown molding because it's an inexpensive way to dress up a room.  A simple paint job wasn't going to do it in here- I really wanted to bring new elements in to change it up.

Because I didn't know what furniture I was going to buy (and I had no idea what our budget would allow) or how I was going to decorate or the color pallete I'd end up chosing, I played it safe in picking paint colors and went with neutral choices. 

Check it out!  You can view the "before" pictures for this room by clicking here.

Total Cost: $574.00

Materials to Remove Wallpaper:

6 bottles of DIFF - roughly $36.00

Plastic scrappers - $4.00

Tarp - $5.00

Sponges for removing glue and dirt of walls - $10.00

Papertowels - $4.00

Paint Materials:

Paint - $120.00

Rollers & Brushes - $10.00

Tape - $20.00

Tarp - $5.00

Crown Molding & Chair Rail - $360.00

First Things First- Part I

If it wasn't for our dear friend Melinda, we would be living somewhere else. We wouldn't have found our lovely townhouse we live in today and that I've come to love so much. I remember seeing the pictures online of our town house- and although the price was right, the size was beyond perfect, the neighborhood desirable, and it had all the amenities we absolutely had to have- I didn't think twice about having our realtor show us around. I hated it. I couldn't get past the god awful wallpaper. Yuck. I clicked the "next" button on the computer and moved on to other listings. Just like that I'd forgotten about it.

Two weeks later: Melinda rang to notify me of a place that went up for sale on her street- just 5 doors down. I was so excited. When I pulled the listing up online I was disappointed to learn that it was one I had already taken a look at, and had quickly forgotten about. I explained to Melinda that although everything about it was perfect, it was ugly and dirty. Melinda convinced me to look at it anyhow- and we did.

Two weeks after that: Our offer was accepted on the house that Melinda encouraged us to walk through. I gotta give it to her- she was right! Never, ever, ever, ever judge a book by it's cover. The second we walked in the town house I KNEW the place was going to be ours.