And now AFTER:
Not bad for using the same old hand-me-down couch and not buying anything new for the space (except black spray paint to paint picture frames).Here is the living room downstairs as you look to the left from the stairs BEFORE:
And AFTER (sorry for the horrendous glare).
Here is the bench about a month ago. This bench was a super garage sale find for $12 about 10 years ago. It had been built into a kitchen as a breakfast-nook-bench. The best part about it is that the lids lifts up! Because it was built-in, though, it didn't have a back or solid bottom. But, my brother put those in for me so I could make it a toy box. 
After sanding and black enamel paint, here it is now. It looks good and it is very functional - you can't beat that! My sister drew the branches on the rectangles above the bench and I painted the branches. (The rectangles are repurposed placemat/trays I got as a gift from a Thai friend years ago.) The branches are a hint of what is painted on one of my walls upstairs (to be posted soon). The pillow cases I got in Thailand when I lived there over ten years ago.
This was part of the downstairs BEFORE:
(Inside were storage cabinets.)
And here it is now! 
There is a glare (because I'm not a photographer), but you still get the picture (and can see one of the two places where a cabinet door is needed). The paint color is chalky blue. It is a little more blue than I like, but I'm going to enjoy this color for awhile . . . I can always paint it a different color a year or two down the road. :)
Some of my favorite pictures of my neices and nephews . . . each at one year old.
From the new space, this is what you can now see. It definitely feels bigger, and that was the goal. Mission accomplished!
And AFTER (sorry for the horrendous glare).Here is the bench about a month ago. This bench was a super garage sale find for $12 about 10 years ago. It had been built into a kitchen as a breakfast-nook-bench. The best part about it is that the lids lifts up! Because it was built-in, though, it didn't have a back or solid bottom. But, my brother put those in for me so I could make it a toy box. After sanding and black enamel paint, here it is now. It looks good and it is very functional - you can't beat that! My sister drew the branches on the rectangles above the bench and I painted the branches. (The rectangles are repurposed placemat/trays I got as a gift from a Thai friend years ago.) The branches are a hint of what is painted on one of my walls upstairs (to be posted soon). The pillow cases I got in Thailand when I lived there over ten years ago.This was part of the downstairs BEFORE:
(Inside were storage cabinets.)
And here it is now! There is a glare (because I'm not a photographer), but you still get the picture (and can see one of the two places where a cabinet door is needed). The paint color is chalky blue. It is a little more blue than I like, but I'm going to enjoy this color for awhile . . . I can always paint it a different color a year or two down the road. :)
Some of my favorite pictures of my neices and nephews . . . each at one year old.
From the new space, this is what you can now see. It definitely feels bigger, and that was the goal. Mission accomplished!
Lisa & Jessie Wheeler got Abram this shirt this past weekend at Jessie's college orientation at William Jewell (in Kansas City). Jessie will be going there along with Nic, who just finished his first year there.