Let's Start At The Very Beginning...

The main floor of the house we purchased had been recently updated and tastefully decorated by the previous owners. We did very little to the main floor - those pictures to come soon. To my delight, however, the three upstairs rooms needed some help. Ok, a lot of help. Each room required a paint job and dramatic change in decor. I will revisit these pictures later as I reveal my "Afters", but these photos should give you an idea of what I started with. The top floor of our home has three bedrooms and a full bathroom.

First, the Master Bedroom "Before". I fell in love with the SPACE (after years of living in small, Chicago apartments) and the wall of windows. To my delight, the room has two closets; the lady of the house got the larger of the two, of course. The green color was not horrible, per say, but paired with the maroon...it was killing me.

Across the hall we have the Office. I believe the color was described as "motivational" by the seller. That's not the word I would have picked. Again, the color was not horrible, just entirely too much of it. I struggled for weeks on ideas for this room. I was interested in keeping the green, but I wanted to tone it down dramatically. The sofa had a pull out bed, but in my heart I knew it just was too fat and ugly to keep. (Yes, I admit I am very superficial with my furniture.) I did love the glass desks, though, and I wrote them into the contract for the house.

Last we have the Guest Room. The grey and blue color scheme was not doing ANYTHING for me. And, since we're painting all the other rooms, why not paint this one too, right? Ironically, I had the most "decorating dreams" about this room, but I haven't even started it yet. Reason: almost everything in this room is going to be a do-it-yourself project. An old desk will be refurbished. A new headboard will be made (yes, made). And curatins will be hand picked and sewn. My deadline is Thanksgiving weekend.