Well, yesterday was moving day. We've spent the last few months cleaning, painting and decorating Joe's place in the country. It was a lot of hard work that I didn't really enjoy. It's a lot more fun working on a house you plan to live in, instead of one you are selling. But the hard work was worth it. His house is sold; it closes on the 15th. Now we can get on with spending our time feathering our nest here in Havelock.
This morning I woke up to the sound of a horse and buggy, with Christmas bells jingling, trotting down our street. I love small town living!
Here's some pictures of Joe's place. I didn't take before pics. They were pretty horrible....
Here's the front. We didn't do any gardening. It was terribly neglected so it was cut down and the front door was painted.
These are living room and dining room pictures. Everything was painted. The walls were a darker green which closed off the rooms and made them feel smaller and dark. All the ceilings were painted white and Joe replaced all the trim from basic builder's trim. He did such a good job. It's amazing what a difference it made.
The walls all the way down to to front door were painted creme which takes on a warm glow when the sun shines in the front window.
Here's the kitchen which I'm actually pretty proud of....it had peeling yellowish vinyl and a very worn counter. The wall paint was a really sickly yellow. Honestly, with those cupboards, at first glance, I didn't think anything could help it. We didn't have the money to take it back to the studs, I started by deep cleaning. Those cupboards actually changed colour, ha. Joe had already bought new counter tops and sink. We got those installed and I picked out a complementary glass tile back splash. I painted the walls a warm khaki colour and replaced the floor. We installed a new light fixture in a bathroom at home so the kitchen got the old track lighting. It really brightened this room up. Joe had already put up a wall of built in shelves. I just painted them white and dressed them. This room became warm and welcoming.
The master was turned into a tranquil retreat. Joe had installed tongue in groove panelling. It was partially painted in a Wedgewood blue. Nice colour but just too 80's country style. He laid engineered hardwood in all the bedrooms...so nice. The master is large and features sliding glass doors to a bi-level deck in the back.
The walls were painted a warm sand colour and the black and white bedding added some graphics without being stark. Its a lovely room to wake up to in the morning.
The bathroom on the main floor was basically gutted. It was awful. Everything was worn and dirty from a defective water softener which we replaced. The beige tile in the tub had been inexpertly fixed. Basically they had a problem area and just tiled right over it with more tiles. It was incredibly ugly!
New tub, sink and toilet with clean, beautiful subway tiles. The same colourway from my bathroom on Morrow Street (reusing my shower curtain, etc). A new white "marble" floor and paint and trim made this room fresh and clean and spa-like. It was probably the biggest transformation.
I decorated the other two bedrooms for a girl and a boy. That was fun!
The violet girl's room had been painted a very dark teal and the boy's room was painted navy or black?!?
I was told one family that viewed the house had trouble leaving. Their son and daughter loved "their" rooms and didn't want to go. Unfortunately, they weren't the final buyers.
Now comes the challenge of integrating most of Joe's furniture into our new house. Eventually each room will be redecorated but I won't start that until January.
Now we need to get ready for Christmas! I cannot wait for the first Christmas in our new home.
So now we say goodbye to Fraserville. This is the lovely pastoral view from the living room.
Julie
PS Sorry for the quality of the photos. They are from the real estate ad but lost something in translation.
