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    • I'm Christina, a full-time web developer with a dog sitting business, home renovations, and a blog on the side.

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You are here: Home / Interior Decorating / The 2nd floor “Before” photos

The 2nd floor “Before” photos

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Interior Decorating, ORC, The Craftsman

So yesterday I showed you the first floor of our new house.  This morning I’m showing you most of the second floor.  It’s a quirky floor, and we’re using it in a unique way.

Also as mentioned yesterday, after just watching so many rounds of the One Room Challenge, this time I’m joining in.  I’m going to attempt a makeover (however temporary) of the space over the next 5 weeks.  So these are the official “Before” photos.

When you come up the main staircase, there’s a landing with doors to a bathroom and a bedroom.  Then you enter into a big, open second living room.

bedroom2

The main stairs are on the right and the back staircase is the open door on the left.  The giant stuffed bunny is the dog’s and I forgot to remove her from the shot. ?

The bedrooms in the house are fairly small, especially compared to the size of the house, and the master bedroom is in the basement (which you haven’t seen yet).  So the day we moved in, we just plopped our air bed in the upstairs living room until we figured out which bedroom we would use.

bedroom

Well, we kinda like it here, so we’ve claimed the big open space as our bedroom.  After sleeping on an air bed for three weeks, my back was VERY happy to have a real bed and real mattress again as of this Sunday.  And we picked up some $5 stools from IKEA so we wouldn’t have to use moving boxes as nightstands anymore.

We would eventually like to add walls to make this an official bedroom, but for now, even when we have guests, we can just close both doors at the tops of the stairs and we have privacy.

bedroom 4

The doorway in the corner is to one of the bedrooms and we’re using that as a library.

And now the quirkiest part of the second floor:

bedroom3

In the 1950s, the house was turned into a duplex.  The previous owners turned it back into a single family, but never took out the little kitchen upstairs.

Obviously, we are going to take that out…eventually.  So far, we’re thinking we will want to extend that partial little wall all the way and enclose the whole thing, then we’ll turn the kitchen into our open closet/dressing/sitting area.  But again, we don’t own the house yet, so we can’t make any changes like that.

I’m dying to pull up the teal carpet and layers of laminate floors that are underneath it, but I’ll have to be patient.

There is another bedroom in the far right corner, and the door next to it leads to the attic.  Which is amazingly huge, and unfinished.  So many plans for it.

But one of the nicest features of our giant “master bedroom” is the private deck:

bedroom deck1

bedroom deck

FYI: those photos were not enhanced at all, the grass is just that green and beautiful.  We love it here.

There is so much to do (and so much we can’t do yet) that I’m not even sure what my full plans are for the next 5 weeks of the One Room Challenge.  Here is what I do have planned so far though:

  • Fill in the grooves of the wall paneling so they don’t look like panels
  • Paint the ceiling tiles
  • Paint the walls
  • Hack the IKEA bed so it doesn’t look so…IKEA
  • Replace yellow mini blinds with shades
  • Hang functional curtains (a tricky task for bay windows)
  • Figure out more functional storage for our clothes
  • Make the kitchen less noticeable
  • Decorate (duvet cover, pillows, art, etc…)

And if we can get all that done, I’d love to get a little seating area on the deck too.

The plan for the challenge is to post an update every Thursday on our progress. We’ll see how much of that we can actually accomplish in 5 weeks! ?

View all posts in this series:
  1. The 2nd floor “Before” photos
  2. How to fill in the grooves of wall paneling
  3. I’m in love with this color combo (ORC week 4)
  4. Bedroom makeover with just paint and a few second-hand items

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  1. Abbe PB

    April 7, 2016 at 11:50 am

    OH MY GOODNESS. I totally missed that you had moved! I don’t think I got the emails about new posts 🙁 Or I missed them (silly newborn sleep brain). I love Craftsmans, I’m excited to hear more about your new adventures! (And wondering if you’re anywhere near me now, haha…)

    Reply
    • Christina

      April 7, 2016 at 12:58 pm

      Somehow, I had the emails turned off! No idea what happened there. 🙁

      No, we’re farther from you and your wonderful state now…back to the MidWest!

    • Abbe PB

      April 7, 2016 at 1:17 pm

      That’s what I had figured 🙂 Very exciting nonetheless, very much looking forward to your new projects!

  2. Sam | Away She Went

    April 7, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    What an interesting space! I’m so excited to see how it turns out! BTW, your dog is adorable!

    Reply
    • Christina

      April 8, 2016 at 8:52 am

      😀 Interesting is a good word for it. And thank you!

  3. Alana Wylie

    April 7, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    You know, I might keep some aspects of that kitchen…like a plumbed sink. It is so handy. Of course, it could also–eventually–be the start of a master ensuite. Oh and I’d love to be able to make coffee right in my room in the morning–or tea in the evening! Mean-time, some pax wardrobes right in front of the counters would hide it effectively. Excited you are doing the ORC!

    Reply
    • Christina

      April 8, 2016 at 8:55 am

      As soon as we saw the house online, I started saving images of ensuite coffee bars on Pinterest. 😀 We also considered moving the washer and dryer up here, that would be so handy.

  4. Anita

    April 8, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    Hi! Looks like you guys are having fun in your new place.
    I would totally make that kitchen up there an art studio/coffee bar. Most art studios need sinks for all kinds of things and I know you’d know how to turn those cabinets into cool storage space.
    What I wouldn’t give for something like that upstairs in our bedroom. Or even just a master bathroom. Creaky floors and sharing a bathroom with the guests can be problematic… but I digress.
    I love that you just plopped down the bed and said “let’s just make this ALL our bedroom.” I would have done the same thing. 🙂
    Looking forward to your future posts.

    Reply
    • Christina

      April 11, 2016 at 11:01 am

      So THAT’S why your guest had nightmares over the creaky floors. 🙂

  5. [email protected]

    April 10, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    I didn’t get in my inbox the previous post and had no idea you had moved, but the space there looks like it has great potential. It’ll be fun following the transformations you’r egoing to make.

    Reply
    • Christina

      April 11, 2016 at 11:05 am

      Yes, the emails got all mixed up. 🙁 This is why I’ve been so behind in reading blogs for a few months too.

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Before Footer

Finished! (ish) let's just pretend the new mantle Finished! (ish) let's just pretend the new mantle is painted a warm gray. It will be soon. 
It was $94 for the whole thing. 
Swipe for the before. See everything at littlevictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
So we were making great (though last- minute) prog So we were making great (though last- minute) progress. Then we're putting the picture hanger on the DIY art I made for the room when the 80-pound dog comes in and steps STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARTWORK. 😵 

Hubs is trying to fix it as usual. But seriously...I don't know if any more obstacles could be thrown at us during this challenge. 😂 

3 hours to go. 
#100roomchallenge
Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃

We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
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Right? We're getting back into the house restorat Right? 
We're getting back into the house restoration and we'll be working on the powder room in the master bed. 
Guys. It's bad. Swipe to see.
And we're going to try to make it pretty with a super tiny budget of $100 in 4 weeks and we're joining the #100roomchallenge to keep us (me) motivated.
The bedroom design is starting to come together th The bedroom design is starting to come together thanks to Craigslist and Goodwill. 
#OneRoomChallenge
@little.victorian

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