I always love watching those home shows when they bring in a couple of fresh faced, first time home buyers, they have a small budget but high expectations. And they turn up their nose at everything. The decor – the paint or the wallpaper is old fashioned, the carpet is old and the kitchen isn’t to their taste. I want to scream out- paint it princess, get over it, this is what you can afford, it’s a start, go for it!
Yes. Elodie is photo bombing! Now when we first saw this house I totally saw past the decor. This is the 4th property that we’ve bought since we got married and I always see past paint colours or carpet or the style and see the potential. I also see what we can afford. And generally it’s of the renovators delight variety.
And so it’s been almost 9 months in our house but we are finally getting the painters in. From the moment we moved in, I have said we will need to get the professionals in to do this job. Occasionally retro daddy would say that he would do it. But he is one busy daddy and so we’ve saved and put a bit away until I got the OK to go and get a quote for painting.
The painters will be with us for about 2 weeks. In that time he is painting all the walls and windows and replacing the doors throughout the house. The only rooms we aren’t painting are the kitchens and bathrooms. The colour scheme will be similar to our old house. Dulux Vanilla Quake half strength on walls in living areas, entrances and hallways. Dulux Vivid White for trims. In bedrooms we’re going to go use the old faithful Antique White USA.
Floors downstairs will be stained a lovely dark colour in February and once the downstairs floors are done we are hoping we have enough left in the kitty to do the carpets upstairs.
What am I most excited about? Seeing the staircase painted, removing the very Laura Ashley in the 80’s wallpaper in our bedroom. And you’ve wondered why I’ve never shown you pics of my bedroom before. Well this is why. It’s just wrong in the decor department. Peeling wallpaper, green carpet, plastic chandellier and a total clash of colours with our bedding colours. Yes, they really did wallpaper over the wall vents.
After the paint, floors and carpet we’ll be saving again to do window coverings (then light fittings). I’m thinking roman blinds which I love. These blinds are so old that when I’ve started to pull them down they’ve just cracked and ripped like paper.
The painter is also painting all of the built ins and I’m going to replace the handles with something in a chrome finish. They are going to look amazing once they are done. That airconditioner stuck in the window will also be going. I really won’t be missing that feature of the twins room.
And that is just a sneak peek of the before shots. We are very excited about having a house that matches our furniture and I can’t wait to share the progress with you……………………as well as take photos that don’t have green carpet or brown doors as the background.
My Brians a bit like those young people when we look at display homes. He finds it hard to look past the colours.
What is it with young people expecting their perfect, doesn’t need anything done to it, forever home up front anyways?
Goodluck with the painting. Can’t wait to see the after pics. I just love your house!
Can’t believe you have been there 9 months already!!!
Cannot wait to see the after shots, I’m so addicted to looking at real estate and seeing makeovers done on houses is very exciting.
Good Luck with the painting. If it were me I would save a small piece of carpet and some wallpaper as I a reminder of your houses history!
How exciting Corrie! I am currently looking for a new house as well and it will be the same…of the renovators delight variety. I love to look past the carpet and colours and to have fun making those changes myself. It is so lovely to add your own touch and can’t wait to see the end result. N x
So very excited for you! 9 months is a long time to be living with that carpet…..wow what a difference fresh white walls and timber floors will make
I can’t wait to see how it turns out. We are another that looks past the paint and current state of a house and see the potential. We are on to our 4th home as well, the first 2 were almost new, but the last 2 we have done a lot of work on and enjoyed every minute of it! I must tell you, you also inspired the colour in our current home! we have used the Vanilla quake half and it looks fantastic in our 80+yr old cottage
exciting times Corrie.
Its such a great feeling making changes to your home.
Putting your style to it. xx
I am like you, after renovating our home, I can now see past ugly carpet, wall paper and all them other ghastly things. Your home will be beautiful when you finish!
How exciting !! It will look fantastic. Can see the potential and can’t wait to see the result !
Have fun Corrie, new paint, new home, woo! woo! Very exciting look forward to the following blog entries.
Lyn
I really am looking forward to seeing the progress and now that you have shown us your bedroom I can understand why you feel the need to change it. I can usually see some good in any kind of decor but that just doesn’t work. When we bought this house everyroom was painted pink, salmon and peach, with floral wallpaper friezes around the middle of the walls. They are now Crewel Work half strength and look fabulous. The pink curtains went, as did the plastic light fittings. It makes such a difference to the way the house looks. Our bedroom is still rose pink after 4 years but I can live with it as our linen is neutral (with a tinge of green) so it is quite restful, if you have very low lighting!!! That is my next painting project.
Please keep us up to date with your renovations. Love the fact that Elodie just had to be in one of the pics. Such a sweetie.
Can’t wait to see the after photos. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do. We rented for the two years we lived in Sydney, and when we were searching for a house we told the agent (who was also our landlord) that if he bought the paint and let us paint the house we would take it. He seemed very pleased to have someone do the hard work for free. It transformed the house from something dark and dingy into something bright and open. It prompted him to get us new verticals on the windows as well. Two weeks will go quickly and before you know it you will be in your new home! Best of Luck
We look past the decor in any house that we have brought. We have had lots of OMG what were they thinking moments. We have a horrible brown carpet in our current bedroom which I had grand ideas in pulling up, hoping for the wide floorboards like other parts of our home, until I saw the cream and organge paisley lino and there is also another layer of lino under that, the brown carpet suddenly wasn’t so bad, that job will wait until our new bedroom is ready to occupy.
We finished our last house, which had three bedrooms, rumpus and a new kitchen and moved 700kms to this house. It had two bedrooms a sink and stove for a kitchen and had been rented for many years. It is nearly 100 years old and we are currently in the middle of renovating it and it has been our biggest reno. I keep saying this is our last one reno, (next move nursing home I say, we are only in our 40’s, but said that in the last two houses!!).
Though I am throughly sick of the dust, it is exciting to get somebodies else bad taste out of the way and our taste happening it finally feels like our home. Putting in the kitchen so that I could actually have cupboards, bench and a clean oven to cook in was the best feeling. Most of our boxes that were packed 6 years ago are now emptied and our home is looking good. Friends that we have made here come in now and say ‘wow that looks great, you have done such a good job’, and I think to myself ‘I hope you don’t think that we lived like that all the time’, but I say thanks this is the true us.
A tip for the curtains, we went to Spotlight in our nearest regional town to look for ready made for a sliding door that was put in and is the only standard sized window/door in the house. Nothing in the ready made so we looked at their custom made section. Out of interest we picked a fabric and had a quote done for eyelet curtains, so over pinch pleated and those hooks. The lady finished the quote then said if you wait until their next 30% off (in a week) it was cheaper. So it worked out to be the same as if we had got ready made, much much better quality (or fabric was from Holland). All we had to do was sign up now and ring on the 30% sale days and give our credit card details. We had a quote for a small 90cm x 110cm roman blind from a local shop and it was $800+, my sister said tell them you already have the window.
Good luck with the painting, and I will be looking forward to the after photos.
p.s. I sorry but I have just looked at the bedroom photo again someone had a lot of time on their hands to paper that vent and the paper looks like its raining roses.
You’ve got a pretty good eye for style Corrie! Can’t wait to see it all lighten up! I can’t get over the mix of the wallpaper and the carpet!
I love watching the progress of renovations.I followed your last one in your last home and just loved it.Good luck and don’t forget the photos for us all.Take care.
Joanne
Oh, Corrie…what were people thinking with the whole wallpaper thing? We are in a heritage Californian Bungalow with beautiful patterned ceilings in each room – which some clever person wallpapered over! Argh! We recently did a low-cost kitchen reno to survive the next 2 yrs before big renos…amazing what white paint, new doors and handles can do for a room. Next rooms for me to paint are the lounge and bathroom at the end of this month whilst I have Mum visiting to keep the girls busy! Looking fwd to your progress.
Wow love it. I agree you have such great style.
Wow, that bedroom wallpaper and carpet combo is a shocker! Your house looks like she has wonderful big bones, lots of space and lovely windows. Should be gorgeous once you have made these changes. We are slowly changing our custard walls into white and hoping to get a new kitchen in the next few months. Love following other renovating bloggers. mel x
Your going to have so much fun when its all painted and you can decorate!
Its all about the ‘bones’ of a property, completely agree. We are in the midst of our 3rd reno with a new build in there as well for some fun. Enjoy!
You wouldn’t believe it but we just saw a house today that we will be making an offer on with that exact same carpet, best part is that I know there are gorgeous floorboards just waiting to be discovered under there. Exciting times ahead.
Exciting! You won’t know yourself once its done.
Reminds me so much of our house when we first moved in, however hubby had ripped up the green shagpile carpet and it wasn’t as nice as your swirly carpet (yes, yours isn’t as bad as ours was). Exciting times ahead!!
Exciting, it’s going to look great once it’s all done. Can’t wait to see it.
Can’t wait to see how it looks without the splash of green and that wall paper is something else.
I’m so excited for you. Your house looks very similar to my mother-in-law, the green carpet (looks just like yours but a shade darker) and the wallpaper on every walls (including toilet). She just recently had this removed (after 35 years), very big event for a lady in her 70’s. For some reason, she still can’t part with her green swirly stain-disappearing carpet.
Hi Corrie! It’s great fun and hard work all at the same time isn’t it!? It’s funny to think someone chose these decorating styles of the past. Times certainly have changed for sure! We are lucky nowadays to share our ideas and changes with each other.
oh and her wallpaper was soooo retro all paisley and sort of ridged like those kids books where the image can change when you tilt the book. I was fascinated with this wallpaper and would look for the patterns in the print. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
On the subject of carpet of the past, I can still vividly recal my Nanna’s carpet chosen in the 60’s, these funky designs do stick in your mind and have character that’s for sure
Oh WOW Corrie, this is so very exciting, I can’t wait to follow the progress and see the ‘after’ shots of your renovations. I think a coat of paint and all those little aesthetic extras you are doing are going to make the world of difference to your home.
Love that first pic, with a little Elodie (??) curled up on the floor in the background, very cute xo
We have just moved into a renovators delight ourselves but the guttering, plumbing, electricals, tree lopping and fencing are taking priority over the interior decorating. I am excited for you and going to follow your example of living with someone’s else’s taste whilst saving up for renovation costs.
Getting rid of the 70’s carpet and wallpaper will make such a big difference to your home. Going for neutral walls is a good safe option but I think having some colour would make it even better. I know you admire Sarah Richardson’s interior designs and she uses lovely colours in her very classic American interiors. If you haven’t seen her blog already check out Georgica pond blog.she is a northern beaches gal who created a hamptons style home. She has some coloured walls.
It all sounds great and very exciting but are you really going to paint over those stunning timber wardrobes door in the twins room, they look fantastic. New handles and new carpet and painted walls, maybe the doors would work left natural. I would kill for those doors. Just a thought !! Enjoy!
How exciting for you guys! Can’t wait to see all the progress pics.
btw…. cutest little photo bomber ever!
Ohhh, LOVE renovating! My hubby isn’t so keen… He see’s dollar signs, I see updated personalised comfortable beauty.
Currently painting the house we’re in so we can sell & move. I’m painting while he watches the kids. He’s too impatient & messy. Lol.
9 months already?? That has FLOWN!
Wow! I can totally see how gorgeous your house is going to look!
When we bought our house, it had pine everywhere- walls, roof, the whole kitchen, but I could see how lovely it would all look painted white. I love it so much now!
I too get super frustrated with those tv shows where they’re like “I hate those tiles” so they don’t buy an otherwise perfect home! Some people have no vision!
I look forward to seeing your home progress.
Rach x