{The Den} before and after

One week off due to one foot of snow means lots of rooms getting cleaned at my house.  And since several (as in 3) have asked to see more pics, here ya go!

When we bought the house, we felt like it had two wings.  His wing and her wing.  Can you guess who's side of the house this was?

 Nothing screams MAN like dark leather and dead animals on wood paneling.  The trim in this part of the house was all natural wood, but the trim in the rest of the house was painted white.  It was a split personality house.

The TV is in the spot where the original owners had a wood burning stove.  The second owners took that out.  We really debated painting the brick.  Well, white washing it.  I was very seriously considering it because it was just so very dark. 

We also considered painting the paneling.  But I was afraid of what type of job that would be and that it would end up not giving good coverage.  So down came the paneling!  Thanks to my daddy who took most of it down for us as a surprise (while we were at Labor Day Camp with friends.)  We are spoiled!

Jason has this grand idea that he will put it up in his man cave/basement. We will see about that...

We hired some drywall installers because we didn't have the time to do it ourselves.  Not that we could, neither of us have ever worked with drywall.  Nor do I ever want to after being around all of that dust.

Then it was time for paint and new wood floor!

Makeshift movies - the girls spent many nights watching here while we worked on the house

The floor we chose is a distressed engineered wood.  It is dark but has a matte finish.  We really love it.  We covered most of the downstairs with it and I wanted something that would be ok with kids and pets. We have lived here for a year now and I still love it.  I do have a Roomba that I run every day and I do notice dust bunnies sometimes but overall it looks good without much upkeep!  When I have company coming I use a microfiber mop with Bona cleaner. But I honestly don't do that often.

I took these pictures today so that is why I have Valentine's Day decorations up. 

Those cream vases are very special - I bought them in Chicago and they were in our wedding.  When Jason's Granny passed away my Granny gave us money to buy something special for the house that would remind us of her.  I took the vases to Trees N Trends and they did the arrangements for me.

Look how cute we were as kids!

I like Valentine's because I can put out some flowers we used in our wedding, even though the don't match a thing!

We painted the shelving white, along with all the windows and trim in the room

We try to collect coffee table books when we travel. Jason proposed in St. Louis, so we bought the snow globe as a souvenir.

Most of these things have special meaning - but I love the gold owls, they were in my parent's house for years (sorry Mom, I think I stole them!)

The rug and light fixture came from Lowes

Wall color is Benjamin Moore "James River Grey"

I took this picture at night so you could see the double curtains, which also came from Lowes.  I promise it wasn't some sort of Lowes decorating challenge...I just happened to find all of these things at different times from there!

We spend lots of time in our den.  If you asked Jason he would want a bigger TV and if you asked me I would want new couches, but those things will come.  We have room for all of us to sit together and that is what is most important!  I do love how it came together with the brick left unpainted.  And someday when I get tired of it like this I can always change it up.

PS- It is NEVER this clean...so don't assume we live like this!