Polishing the Apple

We bought our 'forever' home 4 years ago. I have loved every inch of this house. It is far from perfect, and in many ways it was quite outdated. We have spent the past 4 years making this house our dream home. We love it; it is perfect for our family. Alas, we have come to the unthinkable decision to sell. This is not really by choice, but more by necessity. You see, the town we live in is a small town with very limited career options for my husband. We made the decision for him to work out of town on a rotational basis, and while it seemed to work out initially, we have decided that the best thing for our family is for us all to be together every day. We love our family time more than we love this house.

And so, to quote our realtor, we are in the process of 'Polishing the Apple' and preparing our home to sell. We have done most everything with the exception of addressing the master bedroom and 2 of the 3 bathrooms. Mostly this will be a matter of painting, but the bathrooms could use some further updates with counter tops and faucets. I will chronicle this transformation in the coming months.

I had already planned on putting up wainscotting in our entry way and stairway, and decided to still go ahead as it would take our entry from boring to beautiful, for little cost and effort.


Before:



This is actually a mid-transition picture. We already painted out the hand rail and trim along the stairway (they were originally an out-dated golden oak colour). If we were to stay, we'd replace the carpet on the stairs with wood.

We had previously painted the entry Florentine Plaster by Benjamin Moore, but I found it dull and dimensionless.

We repainted the same colour as our laundry room and kitchen/family room; Nordic Grey by Benjamin Moore. While I was nervous that it may be too dark, it isn't at all thanks to the white wainscotting (Cloud White, also by Benjamin Moore). We even enlisted the help of our little ones (in Daddy's painting shirt!).

After:

I love the character and charm of the picture molding wainscotting. I anticipate adding this to our new home too!

We also painted the interior of our door a shiny black. I was nervous to do this, but loved the look on other blogs and pictures I had seen. It is beautiful, and again, adds so much character to an otherwise plain room. You may notice that we still aren't quite finished painting the walls. That will be in part two: the staircase.

A close up of our faux picture molding wainscotting....such an easy process! I didn't do a tutorial for you, as there are already so many out there in blogland.

I distressed the mirror above the hall console, and added a decorative ribbon. Although I enjoy my fall tablescape, I think an urn filled with branches or foliage would look beautiful....I'm now on the hunt for the perfect urn =)

While I try to remain optimistic: a new house, a new city, an exciting adventure, this move will be the hardest one I've ever done. I keep in mind many of the bloggers out there who have left their beloved homes, only to find a new home to love and make their own.

Linking to my favorite Parties!