Before & After

A Welcoming Guest Room that Works

We’ve been renovating our you-know-what’s off for almost four months now. But we couldn’t rest until the guest room was ready for my Mother-in-Law (who is coming in two weeks!). Her sister is joining her, so we’ll have twice the fun! Here’s what we had to work with…the room was pink with brown carpeting, and [...]

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A Dining Room Move-in Makeover

My mom always taught me that if you can’t cook well, at least present well. When initially touring our home I could not imagine this dining room accomplishing that need for me. I knew this room was going to take a lot of TLC! But first, we had to annihilate the “builder’s grade” brass chandelier [...]

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Putting life back in the Living Room

Hmmm, what to do with this pink, isolated, formal living room off the foyer. In staging, we call this a “first impression” room.

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Painting Stairs: DIY FAQs and Tips

When we first looked at this home (before we bought it), I was rather turned off by the staircase. It was carpeted in dirty gray berber carpet which wrapped around the edges, suggesting mere yellow pine underneath. It was almost a deal-breaker. Because the stairs are clearly visible from the foyer and family room, we [...]

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Family Room Move-in Makeover

Every home has that one room where everyone tends to hang out. And usually it’s the family room. I didn’t get that good vibe when I first toured the family room in this home as a prospective buyer. It was dark and felt closed off from the rest of the house. The floor, walls and [...]

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Purple Bedroom to Ooh La La on a Budget

My five year old articulated it well when she first saw her new room. “It looks like Barney threw up in here.” The walls and doors were dark purple, and all the trim was dark pink. Seeing how we would be the ones painting it, I thought I would throw up too. That’s a big [...]

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Master Bedroom Move-In Makeover

The master suite is supposed to be a retreat to sooth the soul at the end of a long day. But we just weren’t feeling it from this house when we first viewed it online. It felt dark, dated, and yes, it looked like a lot of work! The reddish-brown carpet and pink walls almost sent us [...]

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The Family Office

What was I thinking! Since I scored a larger office in the move, and decided to make it a “family office” so I wouldn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. Now my Mom Cave home office has effectively become the upstairs family room (which honestly, I rather like). As usual, I didn’t want to [...]

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Laura’s New Kitchen

Meet Laura. She has lived in her 1966 New England colonial EXACTLY 10 years and 2 days. She wanted to celebrate with a new kitchen in time for the holidays. But…she didn’t want to spend over $500 to do it. So she turned the creative readers of YHOB to get some ideas on how to [...]

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Help This Kitchen for Under $500

A good friend of mine has HAD IT with her kitchen. While she dreams of a major renovation (don’t we all) she is motivated to (with a limited budget) do something about it NOW. She entertains family at the holidays, and would love to make some quick and smart updates to her kitchen before then. [...]

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