Decorating on a Dime...Truly The Last Time!

A month ago, as a final post in the 'Decorating on a Dime' series here in The Library, I promised to post some 'before' and 'after' pix of our kitchen, laundry and garden. Well, I stayed up late one night collating all the images, wrote a few funny captions, and pressed the 'Publish' button. In the early hours of the morning, though, I had second thoughts. Then third thoughts. Then so many thoughts running through my worried little head that I had to get up at 6am and delete the post. You see, I was terrified that the more professional designers among you would think our interior design efforts were laughable. I didn't want to be a poster child of The Utterly Dismal Decorating School.

Then a friend pulled me up. She said people WANT to know how to update a room in a weekend! They WANT to know how to tart up a kitchen for $250! Or even $2.50.

So here, dear readers, is the Post That Never Was. I'm publishing it to inspire you; to encourage you to get out the paint brushes and slap up a storm. And to tell you that you, too, can dress up a home with no more than a few dollars (we had a 2% decorating budget) and some creative thinking.

But I'm also publishing it as a little tribute to this house; to the sad little thing it was when we bought it on a rainy day in May 2010, and the happy little thing it's become almost 2 years later. We have now listed it on the market in preparation for our Big Move later this year. So if you feel cramped in the city and hate the traffic, the high density and the neighbours, and you'd like a lovely, rather large, 5-bedroom, 2-study house with libraries and lots of space on half an acre of glorious gardens in one of Australia's prettiest villages (which is only an hour to the city!), it's yours. We'll even leave all the furniture here!  {NB Some of you may have seen a few of these pix. Apologies to those who may be bored out of their senses.}

BEFORE: THE OLD ENTRANCE

I need to warn you. If you're allergic to 1970's panelling, look away NOW.  I'm certain that horrible beige carpet was a health hazard. A few weeks after we moved in I spilt a paint can all over it. Such a terrible shame. The next day I spilt some more. Just like that! I ask you, can a person BE that unlucky? (I would have spilt some more too, but the paint had run out. Shame, that.)

AFTER: THE NEW ENTRANCE

Two lovely Afghanistan tradesmen painted this double-height entrance. It took three coats to cover the pine. Three. I thought it might even take twenty. The green is Kelly green, with a little geranium and a dash of Kate Spade.  I love it. It's like walking into a summer garden.

BEFORE: THE OLD LIBRARY, LIVING ROOM & ENTRANCE HALL

Yes I know. More pine. Close your eyes if you want to. I won't mind.

AFTER: THE NEW LIBRARY, LIVING ROOM & ENTRANCE HALL

This beautiful bookcase is built in so unfortunately we can't take it with us on the move. Pity. An enormous library like this would cost $3000 at Perfect Pieces or Town & Country. I'm still hoping we can somehow cut it out, but I don't think prospective buyers would like that. The carpet is a pretty Dior grey. More on that further down.

MORE PIX OF THE NEW LIVING ROOM

The best decorating trick I've ever learned is that a simple can of paint will immediately freshen a tired space. I like black because it's sophisticated – and a little black always 'anchors' a room, but you don't have to go all high-glam/goth like this. I realise it's too much for some. We only painted one wall  (shown in the photo of the bar) and also the library in black. The rest we left as white. Only the furniture is black.

The 'painting' is a piece of wood painted with chalkboard paint and then scribbled on with white chalk. The best thing about these is you can wipe them off each week and do another one! They're great for filling awkward corners of rooms where you don't want to spend any more money on frames or artwork. (And trust me, we're at that stage!)

Cooper was our Project Manager. As you can see, he was very discerning. But I found he could be bought with a bone.

BEFORE: THE OLD UPSTAIRS BEDROOM

All the furniture you see in these 'original' photos belonged to the old owners. These pix were taken when we inspected it. I'm not going to say anything about the importance of styling a house to sell it. Uh-uh. Not a WORD!

AFTER: THE NEW UPSTAIRS BEDROOM

We couldn't install floorboards as they're simply too cold on the feet in winter. So, to save money, we used McMat's Carpets, which recycles office carpet. It's more durable than domestic carpet and yet still surprisingly soft. And cheap! The lovely Dior grey carpet we used for the entire top floor came from a business premise in the city: one partner had ordered it and the other hated it so McMat's offered to buy it from them. It had only been in the office for two days. Love those cheap decorating tricks. 

BEFORE: THE OLD FRIDGE ALCOVE

The previous owners tore out a cupboard door and installed their massive two-door fridge in the space. Then they moved. This eyesore is what we inherited. Nice. 

AFTER: THE NEW CROCKERY / GLASS CABINET

So I decided to hide our fridges away in the Mud Room (I hate fridges in kitchens – it's like 'TV decorating' in living rooms) and redefine the gaping space as an old-fashioned crockery cabinet instead. All it took were some white Ikea bookshelves, some Laura Ashley wallpaper and some fabric from No Chintz in Sydney.  So easy. If I can do this, anyone can. The best thing is that it's all removable, so if the new owners want to use the space for their fridges, they can.

BEFORE: THE OLD KITCHEN

I'm not a kitchen person, so I didn't care about this room as much as others might. I just hated the pine. 

AFTER: THE NEW KITCHEN

This kitchen cost us less than $2000 to dress up. We were going to rip it out and put in a new one, but I didn't want to spend $10,000 - $30,000 if we weren't staying here. The timber cupboards were simply painted in a grey shade called 'Country Lane'. I'm such a sucker for a cute paint name.

Here are some more pix. As you can see, I love black and white. Even our floor plan tea towels and 'display vegies' are black and white. It's a problem. I think I might need to go to a Black-and-White Anonymous group?

BEFORE: THE OLD LAUNDRY

So much pine! I think they used an entire forest to build this house?

AFTER: THE NEW LAUNDRY

Total cost of laundry makeover: $30. 

Here's my favourite part: the Aesop laundry detergent. (Middle shelf.) This bottle cost more than the total laundry makeover! (No one's allowed to use it. The pegs are for show as well.)

AND FINALLY...

BEFORE: THE OLD GARDEN

This part of the property was so sad. It broke my heart. 

 AFTER: THE NEW POTAGER AND PICKING GARDEN

Don't forget that before I came here, I'd never had a garden. I couldn't even grow a hydrangea! I terraced all of these areas myself over the summer of 2010/2011 by moving the old firewood pile and digging out the soil by hand. After a month, I'd finally levelled all the areas. Then I planted the potager, the picking garden, the box hedge borders, and the espaliered pears around the potager. Okay, so I can't quite GROW vegies just yet, but it's a horticultural learning curve!