dining room before and after.

to be honest, I'm not really sure how to go about this before and after business of posting these remodel pictures.  do I go room by room and drag it out for the next few years?  or do I post the whole shebang at once?  (which would never happen anyway because by the time I get everything decorated exactly how I would like it, we're looking at, oh roughly twenty plus years down the road, which at that point some of you may have already expired.  hey, not trying to be morbid, just stating the facts.  ideally, it would be nice to put together a video for your viewing pleasure.  but without having any knowledge of how to operate a video camera, I'm afraid you'd all need anti-nausea meds by the time you were a few minutes into it.  plus, my Minnesota accent is too thick, I just decided.

actually, the real reason I'm posting these pictures today is because my dad keeps pestering me every week, asking me if I'm ever going to post pictures!  haha, the truth comes out!  I can't blame him for being antsy, though.  with all the work he put into it, obviously he's anxious to see the final product.

so, dad.  here ya go.

BEFORE: besides an empty room, there wasn't a whole lot to show of the 'before,' hence the one lone picture.  but do note the awful popcorn ceiling, the horrendous gold walls reminiscent of baby diarrhea, and the seventies brown trim.  yuck, yucky, and yuckier. 

fortunately, the wall separating the dining room and the kitchen wasn't load bearing, so we, I mean Gary (gotta give credit where credit is due!), immediately tore that down to open it up.  but durn-it!  that very wall just so happened to house the plumbing for the upstairs bathroom! (see above left photo)  crap.  literally!  after several nights of fiddle farting around, Gary was able to reroute the pipe across the ceiling to the outer wall, and then, well, hopefully to the sewer.  only that cost us about a week, because Gary's plumbing skills are pretty weak.  a week for being weak.  actually, we haven't even used that upstairs bathroom yet, so hopefully nothing springs a leak once we finally do get it up and running.  if it does, you'll hear my cries halfway around the world.  AIEEEEEEE!

AFTER: oh but look at this next photo!  what a dramatic difference, hey?  gone are the diarrhea walls, replaced by Benny Moore Edgecomb Grey, which in some lights looks tan, and in others, grey.  greige, it's called.  and with the wall gone, doesn't it look so much more spacious and open?  why, yes.  yes, it does!  we, or my dad I should say (shoot, did I help at all with this project?!), also sanded and painted all the window sills and door jams throughout the house a crisp white.  a daunting task, indeed.  we did, however, replace the baseboard.  oh, and the wood floors were refinished by some guys from Coh-kato, Minnesota of all things.  they did a great job.  yah.   

please disregard the non-grouted subway tile on the left.  yeah, we still have a few things to wrap up over in the kitchen.

by the way, that 'keep calm and carry on' thing doesn't really work.  false advertising.

and then I had to get down on the floor in order to get this next shot.  OOF-DA.  days later, I'm still sore.  however, this is an extremely important picture because it shows that the popcorn was indeed scraped off the ceiling (by my dad, of course) and then floated off (?) and re-texturized (?) with a light knock down, which you can't really tell in this picture anyway.  the ceilings in the house all got a fresh coat of bright white paint.   

pendant lights are from West Elm.

I don't know about you guys, but I kind of like it!

-jessica