A Look Back at My Madness ...

***(Sorry I haven't changed out my Christmas header picture yet ... am working on that right now ... lol!)***

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with their friends and families!  I certainly did ... just can't believe it's over already.  Now that Christmas has been packed away, everything in my home just looks empty and depressed!  Time to pull out my decorating magazines for inspiration, as well as checking out your new awesome decor projects ... all of which are such inspiration for me!

Before doing that, I thought I'd hop on the band wagon and show a few of my "before and afters" from last year. 

First off, le mantle.  It went from this:

To this:

I later attacked our master bath, which went from this:

To this:

I then, of course, had to hit the bedroom.  This little fella went from this:

To this.  I love how soothing it is in there now:

I slowly moved my way around the house, preying on the sitting room next! Out with the metallic chocolate brown walls, which I did love:

 And, in with the lighter and brighter wall color (BM Manchester Tan):

My poor dining room was next.  It cringed when I came in with a ladder, paint rollers, tape and plastic mat.  It knew what was about to happen!  So long dark walls and china hutch buffetr:

And, hello fun, new light, bright and somewhat shabby dining room.  PS:  I'm happy to report that neither the shelves, nor the humongous mirror, have come crashing down ... yet.  Yay!

Moving into the kitchen ... we removed the black granite island top:

And, replaced it with a larger butcher block piece, that I don't have to clean fingerprints off of *10000* times a day!  I love having more room there for parties (great spot for all the yummy appetizers), Jax's projects and place for him to eat at times:

We also retired the red accent wall in the kitchen, as well as the window treatments, chandie shades and rug.  Before:

After!  I love how the SW Ivoire looks in here ... the lighting makes it look as though the back wall is darker; however, it's all the same light and creamy shade.  The PB sisal rug works really well in here now, too.  I've already changed the panels ... again.  Shame.



Lastly, the mud room makeover was fun to work on!  While I loved the red, monkey/palm wallpaper, it was time to set them free back into the jungle!  Before:

After!  Yipee.  I LOVE the beadboard that we added!  And, the paint color (BM Manchester Tan) is fun in here, as well (although, it's more of a neutral tan than it's appearing to be in this picture):

And, I'm really pleased with how the picture wall and coat rack turned out.  (This pic also shows a *truer* color of the paint.  As most people enter/exit through our mudroom, it's fun for them to stop and take a peek:

Well, friends, sad to say that every.single.room. that I shared above has since changed (imagine that)!  Nothing big, just accessories and placement. We did purchase new furniture for our great room, which I'll soon share.  I look forward to seeing what decorating trouble I get into this year.  Might be time for an intervention!  Ugh.

I'm going to stop by a few wonderful blogs for parties.  Please come on along and join the fun:

Elements Interiors/Whassup Wednesday

Southern In My Heart/Inspiration Friday

French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday

Savvy Southern Style/BTB Party

Take care,

Becca