Before & After: Part 2

It’s been quite awhile, but I haven’t forgotten about the previously aforementioned before and after pictures from my brother’s new house.  In fact, you’ll find them below (FINALLY).  This was a fun project but we had an extremely limited amount of time and a very tight budget.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased with the overall results, but I’m more excited than ever to show you some of the other sets of before and after pictures we’ve got up our sleeve.  I’m waiting on some pictures right now form our parent company, Lillian’s Paintbrush…the transformations are really spectacular.  But I digress, the renovation we tackled at Joey’s was a definite success, especially when I look back to the house’s humble beginnings.  Check out these before and afters!

Kitchen Nook: Before, During & After

The men of the house enjoying their new kitchen.

We picked out a poster at Hobby Lobby that we knew we wanted to use, but first we decided to cut out the white space and frame it in order to give it a little more class.  I found four coasters of iconic musicians’ mug shots (Jonny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, Elvis) and immediately knew we had to get them…they fit the boy’s style perfectly.  We decided to frame these as well because we didn’t want them to go to waste and lets be honest…22 year old guys aren’t known for their extensive coaster-use.  Perhaps the best deal of the room, however, was the table and four stools we found for 50% off in American Signature’s clearance section.  I briefly discussed the clearance section a few days ago in Part 1 of this post, but just to quickly review, here is what we learned.  1) Items in the clearance section are typically there because they’re damaged.  2) Some damage is irrelevant and small, enjoy your discount and proceed.  3) Some damage is major or prone to get worse, walk away and do it quickly before you’re tempted by the savings.  

Bathroom: Before and After

There’s nothing that says ‘Bachelor Pad’ like pink tile in the bathroom…am I right or am I right?  :) Terrible as it is, re-doing the tile in a rented house is just an all around bad idea, so we had to go with it.  We decided to make it work by giving the space a retro feel, which we accomplished by painting the walls brown and hanging a vintage Jersey Shore poster (pre-Snookie, of course).  While the pink tile did stand in the way of turning the bathroom into an uber-masculine space, it didn’t prevent us from creating an area that’s attractive and inviting. 

Eli’s Room: Before, During & After

Elijah is a student, so he decided to go with a loft bed so he’d have more room for a desk.  We picked out his bedspread before choosing the paint for his walls because no matter how simple a room is going to be, it’s always good to start with an inspiration piece.  I’m glad we did, because finding masculine bedspreads (or masculine anything for that matter) ended up being a real challenge.  If we’d boxed ourselves in with a paint color, we would’ve been even more limited in our selection.

Dave’s Room: Before and After

Dave doesn’t live in Tennessee just yet, but he’ll be moving down in the next month, so we decided to prepare his room anyway.  Dave is, among other things (drummer, carpenter, lover of Shakira), a lumberjack, so not only did plaid seem like a good choice, it felt like the only choice.  His room is the most unfinished, but it’s still a big step up from the icky burgundy chair rail situation that was going on before.

Joey & Jon’s Room: Before and After(ish)

Joey and Jon’s room is nearly finished…we’ve still gotta find a desk and a few other decorative items and hang some things we’ve already purchased.  Their room is stylish but somewhat doom-esque…it’s practical for them, however, and at the end of the day that’s what’s important.  I’m sure their space will continue to evolve and I’m excited to see it come together fully.

Living Room: Before & After

I know I already previewed the pictures of the living room, but I was just so happy with the results in this space.  For complete details on what we did here, see Before & After: Part 1.