Empty Nesting

 

It's been a minute or . . . six (years) . . . since I took the time to write about my projects. The housing market in Nashville has been unbelievable in the time since I last updated y'all. Things were selling before they even made it to market. Houses that I wouldn't have given a plug nickel for were selling for above market value. It's been nuts. 

Now that things have calmed just a bit, I wanted to hop on and show you some photos of a recent renovation project on a 1990s era home. The kids have moved out and the parents felt it was time for a change. There was no massive construction undertaken in this project, only cosmetic updates. But boy are the results dramatic. 

For starters, the carpet throughout the home was removed and new hardwood was laid to match existing hardwoods. And when I tell you there was a LOT of carpet to remove, I'm not exaggerating. There was even carpet in the bathrooms. 😲

Fresh paint, window treatments, and new accent furniture pieces also helped to bring the home into this century. Take a look at these before & afters. 

The primary bedroom before was okay. It was neat, clean, and all that, but it lacked luxury and a cohesive look. So everything but the bed/bedding and those great lamps were given the boot. Dove grey and powder blue accent colors were introduced to the color palette and a pair of matching, chunky chests to flank the bed helped to make the room look properly filled out. Then new linen drapes, beveled mirrors, a soft rug, and art completed the transformation. Notice how much just changing the lampshades affected their appearance. It's always the little things.

One of the secondary bedrooms had been changed to an office a few years prior to the renovation, but like the primary bedroom, it left a lot to be desired. Old carpet, gold-ish paint from the early 2000's, and just a general "catch all" appearance certainly didn't evoke a feeling of productivity. So the carpet was ripped out, a new desk purchased, new Roman shade was made, new rug, updated lamps, and subtle navy & orange accents were added for the Auburn grad who resides there. 

Look closely at the art. See those little bits of orange that are near exact matches to the lamps? That's no accident. Let me show you how we pulled that off . . . 

The abstract art was purchased without any orange -- as you can see in the photo on the left. A quick trip to Michaels for orange spray paint (for lamps) and matching acrylic paint for the canvases and a custom look was easily achieved. The materials to create coordinated accessories cost about $15 and only took about an hour total. I'd say that was a great deal. Again, it's all in the little details.

The other upper bedroom was the biggest transformation, in my opinion. The "before" of this room is not the original "before". This room actually got a new coat of paint when the owners moved in because there was a 3 foot hydrangea mural/border painted around the base of the room. There are no pics of that because everyone has agreed to just forget it ever existed. But this room was painted in Tiffany Blue & brown shortly after the family moved in, because that's what every little girl wanted in 2008. And the room has remained largely unchanged since that time. 

Like the other rooms, carpet was removed, new paint on the walls, and new furniture was added. The most beautiful fabric -- Covington's "Joybird" in the Dove colorway -- served as inspiration for the room's decor. We put it on the upholstered headboard and made a new Roman shade from it. Here's what it looks like up close:

Finally, I want to show you my favorite part of the update -- the Jack & Jill bathroom. I warned you from the beginning that the baths had carpet which was definitely the worst aspect of this area, but coming in a close second as the worst thing about this bathroom was all the doors. 

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

It's natural to have a lot of doors in a Jack & Jill bath, but usually the number is around 4 -- one entry door from each room and then a door on each side of the shared area. But this Jack & Jill set up had SIX. In each sink/toilet area there was also a large linen closet with bi-fold doors. Had the sink/toilet area been large, the doors to the linen closet probably wouldn't have been an issue but the area between the vanity/sink and closet is not even 3 feet. Plus, when the entry door is open, it presses up against the linen closet. It is impossible to open the linen closet without closing the bathroom door. A better design choice would have been to just make the bath larger and ditch the closet; but the builder didn't ask me. 

Anyhoo -- the linen closet was useless and made getting ready quite uncomfortable. As much as it should be removed, this was a no-construction renovation. So the space remained . . sort of. We took off the doors and added a dressing table, complete with electrical outlets for hair dryers & curling irons, lighting, and new mirror. What a difference!

Here are a few more, larger After shots of the results. The photos just don't do the changes justice, but I hope you can agree it was a beautiful improvement.