I decided to take a break from design dump today to show you my house.

Yes, my house.

{For those of y'all who are loving design dump, don't worry, I have TONS more images to load up your desktop with.}  

But all these pictures of beautifully styled rooms keep giving me cold feet about my own space.  

Story of my life, really.

I never have quite the right furniture, or maybe I want more throw pillows or fall in love with a new pattern for curtains.

And then I get a little time and money and a decorating bug to tweak things.

But usually by then I decide I want roman shades instead of drapes and I get tired of moving pillows back and forth from the furniture to the floor.

And the whole things starts over in my head.

I feel like I've had so many "looks' that I love for a while and change them before I can take a picture.

I could fill an entire album with pictures of my rooms in various stages.

Yet I never do.

Anyway, this weekend while BabyGirl was sleeping I decided to swiffer.

Why does re-decorating always start with intentions to just dust?

And since my downstairs was clean I decided to take some pictures.

As is.

Missing curtain rods and all.

Of course, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it on my computer.  

I guess I'm my own biggest critic.

Okay, blah blah blah

Here it is!

My Living Room

Okay, who wants to play a little Before & After?

If you want to be even more convinced that a little style can be infused into anything just keep reading.

We added brand new hardwood floors, wainscoting & trim, fresh paint and built an entirely new fireplace mantle.

Also, removing the window screens and trimming the tree in the front yard went a long way to adding some much needed light into the space.

Please keep in mind the  before pictures were taken during the walk-through  before we moved in.

{ie, not my gnome}

Before

After

Before

After

Before (right side view)

Before

After

Before

After

It's funny how much more I like my front hall with some practical stuff added in.

{I'm not even going to discuss the before picture}  

I'm obsessed with boots and scarves and having a designated spot inside the door is a must.

Yet I always seem to try and hide those things when people come over. 

I'm going to stop that.

You can read more about the construction phases  here.