The #Renovations Are Complete! Wait Until You See The Before And Afters... #Havenly #DIY

Remember how I started working with the interior design firm, Havenly, as a brand ambassador to overhaul my big strange front room? I am so excited to report, I'm finished! After three weeks of back breaking scrubbing, spackling, sanding, painting, DIY and renovation nightmares, the dining room, entry way and sitting room are finally ticked off my list! The most amazing thing is after all of that, I'd say I came pretty close to matching the interior designers renderings...



Are you ready for some seriously amazing before and afters? 

For those of you just joining me, Havenly interior design, is an eDesign firm that offers incredibly affordable interior design services! All you do is sign up, answer a few questions, send over photos of the room(s) you want designed, and then within 48 hours, your personal interior designer is calling you to make a game plan! 

It's a three step process:

1. Consultation.
2. Concepts
3. Rendering



This is what I sent Havenly to work with...




This is how it turned out...



Now... the details...

Lets start with the entryway, since that's the first thing you see when you walk in the front door... 

We began the renovations faced with evil green walls and doodoo brown trim. To each their own I guess... (Read: WTF WAS THAT LADY THINKING???)  

Once we primed the walls and trim, we patched, sanded and painted... We patched after priming because the filthy color covered the imperfections so well, I kept having to go back over areas, I finally got frustrates and paint everything with white primer to easily show the MILLIONS of flaws.  The house is nearly 100 years old, so it's to be expected...

As you can see, before working with Havenly, I was having a horrible time picking the colors for the room. I just kept painting colors all over, which I learned was a fail since the green skewed the look. Thankfully, Shelby, my interior designer, steered me in the right direction! 




OK, so it's not the same, but as much as I wanted that table, or really one similar to it I found at Pier1 Imports--that I visit from time-to-time. For now, the buffet that matches our dining table will have to do. Which is not such a bad thing! I'm still on the hunt for a similar mirror... or if I win the lottery, I can just buy that one!

Next up... our beautiful dining room!

This room needed so much work! The former owner put a massive built-in in this area. Being that I think it's a crime to block windows, we restored the walls, cleaned up the floor, primed and painted. 

This room was a true labor of love...



Even though the room is rather bare, I love that it lets plenty of air and light pass through the room. I now spend a great deal of time working at the table with the sun shining on my face. #Bliss



We still need to put in a light fixture, but other than that, we did great matching the rendering I'd say!

I did add a plant in the corner, and had to leave out the curtains from the rendering, because we had to buy new mini blinds for all SIX windows and the front door.  

FYI: The painting on the wall was painted by my grandmother, and hung in her dining room for years. It means the world to me to have it in my dining room now. Oh, and once we buy the right table for the entry, I'll move the buffet back behind the table. 

Last, but OMG, certainly not the least amount of work! To add insult to injury, the fire place was FILTHY! The former owner used furniture polish weekly for 50+ years to keep the Rookwood tiles shiny. Then she she stopped... 10 years later, the buildup is FUNKY! It took me hours to get the first few layers of gunk stripped back. I'm probably halfway finished cleaning it. I finally quit and decided every week I'll work really hard on a few tile squares until I have the fireplace restored to it's original beauty.


I'm SO happy with the final result. It was worth the blood, sweat, cuss words and tears. With six windows, one door and a ridiculous amount of trim, I will NEVER paint this room again! 



What do you think?  I know the rooms are not exactly like the renderings, but our budget was tight, so some of the accessories had to be left out.  I did spring for the rug, and a couple of Surefit covers until I can afford fabulous chairs. I was thinking I would do an update in a year to see how much has changed.  For now, I am in love!

So what's next?  Our bedroom, because I am exhausted and need a sanctuary. Next Friday, I'll post the pictures and the plan! Which pretty much amounts to new everything. Paint, furniture and most of all, a new Mattress! I need a king size mattress to fit my entire family comfortably, since it's clear, the toddler is not going anywhere... 

If you would like to have a Havenly designer help you with your next room design, it's $185 flat fee per room. To read all about the process, click here.  Or to just get started, click the banner below! 


To read more about the DIY and Renovations we have done to our recently purchased 1920's fixer-upper dream home, click here!

April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com