First of all, before we do before and after pics, let me explain a little about what we did inside.  Walls were sheet rocked, all ceilings were redone to get rid of that popcorn, all interior doors were replaced, all trim was replaced…crown and shoe.  The toilets were replaced, the bathrooms rebuilt, new central heat and air, all new light fixtures and ceiling fans.  The only thing untouched was the floor.  It was in good shape and other than being steam cleaned twice, it was left alone.

 

 

The colors I chose remind me of the colors I love in the ocean.  Each room is a different shade.  That was scary for me to do, because I could just hear my Mom saying ‘every room should be the same so the house does not look chopped up’.  🙂  But, my thought was that the rooms would flow together like the colors do in the oceans.  And actually there is such a subtle difference in the colors, it’s hard to tell they are different. All the ceilings are painted a very pale blue.  The trim color is called ‘Pure White’…though here it looks like ‘Pure Grey’!  The color on the far left is the ceiling color…it does not look that blue in real life!  The middle color is quite aqua, but is just doesn’t show up.

Now.  Our builder finished most of everything so that we could move in.  The painters were finished, and all was ready.  This is when my fun was going to begin!  My friend, Shirl, was chomping at the bit to get started, as well!  We made it to the beach late on a Friday afternoon with 2 SUV’s, a budget, and a house to fill!  And, I had had cataract surgery 2 days before…so no heavy lifting for me!  Ha! And, it rained everyday.  And, the huge dumpster in the driveway that had been used during construction, had not been picked up and was right smack dab in our path!  But, we were not deterred!  We soldiered on!

We went through the house, room to room, and made lists of what we needed to buy.  Then went to her house to spend the night…and make more plans.    She had nothing to eat except leftover lemon pie, and half a gallon of sweet tea.  A good enough supper for us!   We were up the next day, which happened to be my birthday, early…EARLY!  And, off we went.  Now we had 3 bedrooms, a den, 1 1/2 bathrooms, a dining room and a kitchen to furnish.  And, we brought NOTHING with us…except 2 lamps and a tiny bookcase that I had redone.   Hard work ahead…but oh! what fun!!!  First we went to buy the big furniture…a sofa, a chair, 2 beds and 4 mattresses.  To be delivered.  Then we hit the consignment shops…bought a bedroom suit, a table, 6 chairs.  This we had to haul in our own vehicles.  Back to the house, pick up another car, go back and get chair, etagere, 4 small tables, a large mirror, and a bookcase.  Since we were on two cars, we had loads of room and decided to stop by Wal-Mart on the way home.  Cause, I mean, furnishing a home?  How can you not stop at Wal-Mart?  And while we were there…Shirl bought me a birthday cake!  Which made me happy in more than one way.  It was my birthday and I couldn’t have a real birthday without a cake…and we needed something other than leftover lemon pie to eat because it was all gone!  Then we went back to her house.  And each got a fork and we had a birthday party.  Oh, we still had some sweet tea left, too.

 

I love Shirley.  Shirley loves lists.  She loves to make lists of the lists she needs to make.  She keeps it all in a notebook.  And, she keeps to a budget, too.  I am not talented in either area.  I make grocery lists and never take them to the store with me!  She keeps all the receipts and the money in an envelope.  And, she doesn’t lose it.  And, she writes down every dime she spends.  I, however, do not do any of those things.  I try, but, something will catch my eye while I have a receipt in my hand…and I’m a goner and the receipt is never to be found. And if I try to put all my lists in a book, I lose the book!   Shirley knows this about me, and loves me anyway.  That’s what a true friend is.  I hope you have a friend like that.

 

Birthday cake!  It’s what’s for supper!

So in between furniture deliveries and appliance deliveries, we made numerous trips to Target, the antique and decor store that was full of booths, back to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and once we had to eat something other than leftover lemon pie and birthday cake, so we went to the best steak house in town and sat and ate and enjoyed it so much!  But, friends, let me tell you…that birthday cake from Wal-Mart was delicious and it travelled with us back and forth from Shirl’s house to my house and back the whole 4 days!

Then back to shopping for art and  accessories.  We had to completely furnish the kitchen with cookware and dinnerware and utensils and then bathrooms with irons and towels and tissue and shower caps and bedrooms with linens and art and lamps and rugs.   And, then there are nails and light bulbs and everything you could possible think of that you have in your house, we had to get.  And, we did it all in 4 days…with beds made, art hung and accessories in place.  Both of our cars were packed to the gills…over and over and over!  We were tired, we were dog tired.  It rained and rained.  I fell on my rear going into one store, and Shirl’s feet got so cold, she wore socks with her flip flops!  But, when we locked the door and headed home…it was perfect!

 

 

 

 

I worked hard and tried to keep from bending over due to my surgery.  Shirley worked hard and kept the lists and kept the receipts.  At the end, I presented Don with a wad of receipts of where almost every dime had gone!  I could never have furnished the house in the time frame we had with out her.  I don’t think I could have done it at all without her.  She worked rings around me, and we laughed and played and had fun and slept well.  It looks as good as it does because her touch was on everything.  I am blessed and blessed again by her friendship.  And, I thank God for putting her in my life.

 

OK, I’m trying to figure out the best way to do this without showing way more pictures than you’d ever want to see.  So, I’m going to show a before picture and then some afters.  I’m going to start with the kitchen and dining room.  The cabinets were so old and dirty and greasy and stained and unhealthy for all living things.

KITCHEN…BEFORE…  In this pic, we removed the cabinets over the refrigerator cutout…so we could have a ‘real people’ size refrigerator!  The wall paper…..well…the only word to say is ‘nasty’.  This really is a great kitchen, though.  There were loads of cabinets, though not too much counter space until we created the cut out bar.  The tiny door on the left in the picture below is a pantry. (Can you see how pretty the original back door is?)

  BEFORE…..This is the sink area…   And this is how it looks now…

I used a glass tile in aqua with an iridescent finish…A little ‘out there’…but, if you’re ever gonna be a little ‘wild’, a beach house is the place to do it!  And, I tend to like a little ‘wild’, now and again.

 

 

 

 

I chose a granite with a sandy colored pattern that actually reminded me of sand underfoot.  I loved the pattern in the slab.

This bank of cabinets and countertop below shares its wall with the den.  But, it also served to cut the kitchen off from the rest of the den and dining room and to block out the beautiful light coming in at the big windows.  We didn’t need these cabinets…there were already plenty…though we did need the counter top.  After it was decided that this was a load bearing wall and couldn’t be removed…we decided that was for the best and just cut out a big hole in it instead.

 

So it went from this….

 

 

And this…

 

To this…

 

And the dining room went from this…

 

To this…

This table we found in an antique store in Panama City and I loved it immediately!  The panels on the sides are what sold me on it!   And can you see how the piece at the bottom is curved.  Nothing had to be done, but a little sanding to the finish.  Also it is beat up and scarred already, so no worries that it will ever get messed up.  If it does, we can just sand it away!  All the chairs around the table will eventually be white!  We found 6 chairs and they are all different.  Actually, the table is designed for 4, but you can always squeeze in a couple of extras!  Right?

 

The clock below does have hands, it’s just hard to see them…

I’ve got Pop’s fishing hat by the door, ready for him to use…

And above these wonderful boxes is this sign I made.

 

The sign speaks to me of God’s unfailing love and mercy…of the majesty of His creation…and of the power He holds to control the world and everything in it!  (This is beside the front door, but in the dining room.)  Jeremiah 5:22…”God made the sand to hold the ocean back.  The ocean can not go past it.  It will do that forever.  The waves might roll, but they can not sweep over it.  They might roar, but they can’t go across it.” TMB

 

 

 

🙂 As you can see hanging on the back door…I may not make and keep up with lists, but I do know where to stick a post-it note so I don’t forget it!!!

 

 

 

So, I will end here and finish showing the rooms in the next post.  Then comes the funny story about the trailer.  Oh, it does just go on and on, doesn’t it?

 

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