Lower Level, Part 1

Next up: the entryway.  I think the entryway might win the prize for being the most hideously decorated part of the house.  However...we will change that.

This is standing just outside our front door, looking into the house.  Where do I even start?

Hmm...here we go:

• Remove ugly wallpaper
• Replace ugly tile floor
• Remove ugly popcorn ceilings
• New light fixture
• Paint--I'm still deciding on color, but probably something neutral on the walls and freshen up the white on the trim
• Perhaps change out handle on door (lots of brass in this house, and I prefer silver accents)
• Quick spiff-up of the front hall closet, which is through that white door you see.  It's already in pretty good shape, so we might just give it a fresh coat of paint and some new hooks. (Ignore the sign telling people to take their shoes off when they tour the house!)
• Decor--I'm thinking hooks near the doorway and perhaps some small artwork.  There's not a lot of wall space in the entryway.  You can see the arch to the right which leads to the dining room, and then there's an identical arch to the left leading to the living room.  So we probably won't need to do much in the way of adding furniture--I think just removing the ugly from this room will be enough.

If you hadn't had enough, here's a closer view of the hideous floor and wallpaper:

Who chooses that?!?!

I cannot WAIT to get that space updated.  That tile is on the list of things that have to get changed ASAP.

Here's the view through the entryway, standing in the living room (with a sneak peek of the dining room):

Hideous wallpaper on hideous wallpaper!

I love the way the arches echo each other and I think it could be really spectacular if it wasn't for the HIDEOUS WALLPAPER!

Next up: the living room:

Thank God...no wallpaper.

This room actually isn't so bad.  At some point the owners must have had a moment of clarity and decided not to wallpaper the living room.  The color is off on this picture a little; the walls are taupe but are a little less yellow and more gray than this.  Not our choice, but livable for the time being--though I'm sure we'll paint it soon.

Gas fireplace and those awesome brass outlet plates...oops, did I say awesome again?

We're still figuring out what to do with the fireplace; the home inspector said don't use it.  It's not a gas insert, but some sort of other gas thing that they used to do back in the 70s and isn't really safe any more.  We may just put the TV in front of it until we can afford to upgrade to a gas insert.  I actually like the painted white brick--am I weird?  It's better than hideous dark brick, and I'm guessing that's what they covered up.  At least it's neutral.

Slightly different view of fireplace and north end of room, and better representation of the wall color.

The french doors above open out onto the patio I talked about in my last post.  Once that's filled up with flowers and plants, it'll be such a pretty, colorful oasis to look out at!

Final view, looking towards the stairway.  You can't see it in this picture, but you can get to the kitchen from the landing.

There is a weird two-tone thing going on with the stairs (all of the hardwood floors are blond, except for the stairs which are a darker red).  But we could fix that down the line.

The living room should actually be pretty easy.  Here's what we're planning on:

• Remove popcorn ceilings
• Paint--undecided on color yet
• Replace brass light switch plates & outlet plates
• New ceiling fan/lighting fixture
• Radiator covers (I like these but we'll need to price them out...)
• New window treatments
• Eventually add crown molding

The rest is all decor, and that will be the biggest challenge.  This is by far the largest living room we've ever had.  I'm thinking a sectional or L-shaped sofa, plus some sort of stuffed armchair to put near the french doors for reading and knitting. Lots of bookshelves, of course.  We'll spend a lot of time in this room, so I want something cozy and comfortable but still nice enough to host an informal party.  

Coming up next: the dining room and kitchen!