My new house is a pretty little townhouse that I'm renting (so technically it's not "mine," which takes some getting used to after having owned all of my homes for the past 21 years!). I moved in at the end of June and spent the first few weeks of July unpacking, setting things up, and organizing rooms. It's a process that still isn't all the way done, but these are some before-and-after pictures from July for what I did get done last month.
My new office is now in the back corner of the living room, along with the piano. I spent a whole day organizing this space a couple of days after moving in.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I should have taken a better picture at the same angle as the "Before." I'll do that for a future post when the house is totally done getting all set up.
Also--I set up the computer all by myself! This was a big accomplishment for me! The only thing was that the sound didn't work, but at least the computer did! So I was able to get back to my editing work sooner than I thought I'd be able to, which was nice.
I have a good walk-in closet in my room. It was such a disorganized mess. It took me a full day of over eight hours of work to get the closet and my bathroom organized and put together.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
At the back of the closet ("back and center," ha ha) are my temple dresses. I like that they're the first things I see when I walk in there. It's a visual reminder of the things that matter most.
Just like at the old house, Violet likes to lay in my closet under the clothes. She's such a girly girl! 😆
I really like the master bed/bath/closet set-up. From the bedroom, you go into the bathroom and then from there into the closet.
Wondering where the toilet is? 😁 It has its own little alcove on the left side of this picture, between the shower and the closet.
I got a pretty shower curtain and new towels. My old shower had doors. I like having this curtain; it's like a flower garden in my bathroom.
My only complaint about the bathroom is that the water pressure in the shower isn't very strong. It also sometimes leaked onto the kitchen floor below when I first moved in, but the landlord took care of it and got it fixed. That's one benefit of renting!
I forgot to take "before" pictures of my bedroom, but here are the AFTERS. I'll preface them by saying that I really like my room. It's big but not too big, so it still has a cozy feel but it fits everything that I wanted it to fit and there's still plenty of room to walk around! It was a moving miracle!
I know it's pretty ghetto to have a treadmill in my room, and even worse, right next to my bed, but I had no place else to put it. If the third bedroom were available, it would go in there. For now, it goes here and is a good visual reminder to work out and stay in shape!
That door is to the bathroom.
My beautiful bedroom set all fit! 🙌
John and Sam have to share a room because my mother is still living with us while my sister and her sons are still living in my mom's house (which is why the third bedroom isn't currently available--if it were it would be a combination of John's room/guest room/workout room).
Here's the boys' room BEFORE:
And AFTER:
Good thing I got a bunkbed for Sam a few years ago!
(I hung up pictures throughout the house in August, so for all of these "After" pictures, the walls are still somewhat depressingly bare.)
This is John's little corner of the room for his things. Since he was leaving for college this summer he really didn't need to have a lot of space for his things.
My new library is in the upstairs hallway, which is actually quite spacious. Not spacious enough for my Beauty & The Beast bookcase of course, but spacious enough to hold three bookcases. I'm thankful for that!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
The books, bookends, and other things on these shelves were not yet organized (and as of this writing, they still aren't!). At this point, I just unpacked the boxes and put everything in them onto the shelves.
Another part of the upstairs landing, across from the bookshelves. I don't have a "before" picture, but if I did, you would have seen more boxes, more artificial plants, and a Patriots chair.
These drapes on the back windows of the living room were my landlord's, and although they're a pretty color, they just weren't doing it for me. They didn't match my decor at all. So I replaced them with nice neutral drapes that I got at Target. Along with my new shower curtain and bath towels, this is one of the only things I spent money on for setting up the new house.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
So much better! 😍
The basement is unfinished and became a dumping ground for so much. So, so much. Keep in mind that I moved from a ~4500 sq. ft. house to a 1700 sq. ft. townhouse (not including the basement). I'm still working on the basement, so I don't have any "Afters" yet, but here are the overwhelming and unapologetic "Befores"!
😱😱😱
I really had--and still have--my work cut out for me down there. But I'm up for the challenge! 😤
Despite all of the work involved and the fact that it's a big downsizing (no pun intended), I'm truly grateful for my new home every day. It's an important part of this new chapter in my life, and it provides my boys and me (and my mom) with a good place to live in the town that I love.
