This house tour is a long time coming. We've officially been in our "finished" house for one year, and we thought we'd celebrate with a big old fashioned house tour. So we're going to show you the super-clean, polished, sparkly version of The Curbly House...which looked like this exactly once, before we, you know, started living in it again!

Of course, no tour would be complete without a nod to one's roots, so we're posting the 'before' photos of every room, because it's important to acknowledge the past and - in our case - never repeat it. Here we go!

Before: Oh, sad, dark, dreary Edward Hopper-esque room, you were depressing and needed to lighten up a little.

After: Hello, gorgeous, feather-light room! You are so lovely and inviting; our very own watercolor.

We were fortunate to work with the super-fun, super-talented, queen of design, Ms. Emily Henderson, on this room and several others (namely: the master bedroom, sunroom, and dining room). Many hugs and high-fives go out to this gorgeous gal!

Before: This was the room of 99 problems; falling ceiling tiles and chewed mullion windows were among them. But, ample natural light wasn't.

After: New windows, new paint, new ceiling, new walls, new bench, and a reconfigured space completely transformed this sunny nook.

 

 

Before: This tiny cramped room was begging to be opened up so that it could breathe a little bit.

After: We now eat dinner in this room almost every night. It's a family space. The gallery wall of family photos is the heart of the room, and the entire downstairs.

Also, because we get asked about the practicality of a rug underneath a table where small children eat, the truth is: it's great! The wool is still kickin'.

 

Before: I get a little teary thinking about this old, decrepit kitchen. And, not for sentimental reasons. I loathed this room for its lack of appliances (no oven, no stove, and one 10amp outlet that required a trip to the fuse box every time we ran the microwave). I don't miss its color and mysterious animal smells either.

After: This is the room in the house that makes me pinch myself every time I walk into it. It's a kitchen, a family room, the place homework is done after school, and the place our friends congregate during dinner parties. It's the most used and most loved room in our house.

Mudroom & Bath

After: These two things are true about these two rooms:
1. There is nothing overrated about a mudroom.
2. Here's a joke that's no joke: We were really urine-ing for a half-bathroom on the first floor; now that we have one we feel a great sense of relief. 
Technically, there's no 'Before" here because the mudroom and half-bath were born out of our addition.

Apologies for the absence of 'After' photos of the half-bathroom; they are forthcoming once I decide which Rifle Paper Co. wallpaper to place on the walls. 

 

 

 

 

Before: Prior to being our bedroom, our master bedroom was a storage room. And by storage room, I mean, junk room. And, by junk room, I mean the room that could have landed us on an episode of Hoarders. Here's the empty room the first time we walked through the house (please excuse the gritty phone picture):

After: In my dreamiest of dreams, I never believed I would sleep in a bedroom so beautiful. And, there's a chandelier! And, you know I sing Sia's "Chandelier" every time I enter the room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Boy's room

Before: The day after we closed on the house two rows of acoustic ceiling tiles fell from the ceiling of this room. It was clearly begging for change.

After: We wanted to design a room that captured our son's sense of adventure, while feeling grounded in classic design. Hence, the mountains with a hint of mid-century modern. 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Girl's room

Before: During our closing with the relator, the daughter of the woman who previously owned the house told us that she once sat in this room and cried because it was her birthday and none of the children she invited came to her party. She told us that, for her, the house was full of sad memories. I panicked and feared we were making a terrible mistake purchasing a house full of sorrow. I then bought sage smudge in bulk and paraded through the house like a boss. I also placed little bowls of sea salt in all the corners to absorb the sadness (this, admittedly was a little cray-cray). If you look closely, you can see one of my sadness-trapping bowls in the picture.

After No. 1: This sweet, little bedroom is just like our daughter: joyful and bright. And, so far we're batting 1000 for birthday parties.

 

After No. 2: As our girl grows, so does her style. In 2016, we gave her room a new look.  

Before: This former bedroom was drab, bright yellow, and filled with thousands of bobby pins. Seriously, a truckload of bobby pins. They still mysteriously come up through the floorboards. 

 

After: Our 'Bonus Room' (that acted as a catch-all reservoir for far too long), finally became our cozy family den.

 

 

Den Resource List:

• Paint: Sherwin-Williams Origami White (SW 7636)
• Rug: Arcadia Rug (8x10)
• Sofa: KIVIK with Chaise in Hillard Beige
• Hanging Baskets: Hearth & Hand Flat Rattan Wall Art
• Pendant: Large Sculptural Glass Globe Pendant
• Sconces: Sully Warm Brass Plug-in Sconce
• Toss Pillows: Waraniene, Navy, Cream, Birds
• Throw:  TUVALIE
• Trunk: Vintage find from our neighbors!
• Face Planter: Head of a Lady Resin Planter
• Artwork: Edward Hopper + Ship

 

Kid's Bathroom

Before: This bathroom was full of problems, and they were all hidden beneath the raised floor that we tripped over every single time we entered the room.

 

After: Every single wall, floor, pipe, tile, chimney stack, etc. was removed from the old bathroom to make way for the new one!

 

Thanks for sticking with us this far. If you have questions about products, designs, or DIYs, please let me know in the comments! For more on the process of re-doing our house, check out the entire Curbly House Section!

A tremendous bouquet of thanks goes out to the wonderful, stunningly-talented photographer, Melissa Oholendt, who makes magic with her camera.