I interrupt the Mudroom Makeover...

To announce that we're getting a laundry room.

Finally.

We haven't had a washer & dryer since we moved into the Behemoth, that means for 9 months & 7 days I haven't been able to do a load of laundry at our house.

We've decided to move the laundry room from the basement to the first floor. We'll be changing the small room that was originally built as maid's quarters then used as a breakfast nook to our laundry.

The plumber is coming this week & Jus will be laying the floor soon but we started with a little paint.

Easing myself back in

When we first bought the Behemoth the view from the front door looked like this.

Once we started taking down fabric & mirrors we discovered a built in shelf. 

Why the previous owners covered it up with the mirror I have no clue, except for the fact that there were like 50 mirrors in the Behemoth when we moved in.

I knew that I wanted to tackle a project at the Behemoth this past weekend and I knew that this little shelf would be the place to start. I started by painting the background Woodlawn Bedroom Grey (the same color as the ceiling in our living room).

Then, I found a design I liked and printed it at 180% it's actual size.

via

I cut the design out & traced the design on the wall with a pencil.

Then I filled in the outlines with gold craft paint from Michael's.

Erased the stray pencil lines, et voila, a fancy pants built in.

And of course I had to grab some goodies from around the house to style it up.

I spy a little bunny from this wonderful lady, a penguin clothbound & a photo from this talented blogger

All in all I am absolutely thrilled with our built in redo. I love that it's a little unexpected and dresses the space up more, and the view from the front door isn't half bad either.

Before & After: Master Bathroom

Before I jump into the photos I have to tell you, I didn't style our bathroom for these, I just used my point & click camera and forgot to take the pictures during the day.

So anyway, these aren't the photos I hope to one day submit to Design*Sponge but rather the photos I'm dying to share with you because one of our rooms is actually done!

Before:

Yuck! I can't believe all that dirt!

After:

We painted the walls Valspar's Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue and the trim Pittsburgh Paints Oyster Pearl. We still need some curtains and Jus wants to regrout all the tile so that it's pure white instead of dirty black grout but for now it works.

I promise to post some more before & afters up because the Behemoth is starting to take shape!

Powder Room Reality

One of the best things about renovating a house is seeing progress and knowing that you are responsible for what has happened.

And what has happened recently is that the powder room under the stairs went from looking like this...

To looking like this...

Our gold chrysanthemum wallpaper is up with bright purple trim. We're still looking for a light fixture & mirror for the space