Before and Improved

 

Houses, like people, have before pictures, but never an after. They are all…we are all…works in progress. Hopefully, in both cases, always moving toward growth and improvement.

                When we found this little gem on the lake, the bedroom we chose to be ours was a very different space than it is today. It was dark brown with tiny windows, heavy lace, and thick doors on the closet.

                We worked hard before moving in and tried to make it lighter, brighter, and cozier. And I think we accomplished it.

                Back when we bought the house, the seller told us his dreams for the house, and they included putting sliding glass doors in this bedroom and building a balcony off the side of the house. That idea intrigued us, but we decided we didn’t want to invest in the cost of the balcony. Without that, the sliding glass doors were pointless, but we did like the idea of a bigger window that would make the room brighter and allow us to see the lake better.

                So this summer, while we had some work done on the house, we made the window switch. We kept the window that came out of this space and used it to replace a damaged one elsewhere on the house. And when this new picture window went in, we realized why they called it a picture window. What a beautiful picture it painted!

                We had curtains left from our Bluffton house (which had more windows), so we were able to install those around the window. We shopped the house to bring furniture from other rooms to fit this space better than what had been here. And we used the time to reorganize our closets, drawers, and shelves.

                We also took the opportunity to update our bed cover. The previous one had taken a bit of a beating from a geriatric cat and playful puppy. We kept it to use as a spare blanket, but we brought in a new, brighter quilt. We added a bed skirt for a more polished look, and I donated some of our pillows while thrifting some plain blue ones that felt like they fit the room well.

                We love these changes. The space is even cozier yet. We plan to enjoy it for years to come, and one day, we’ll paint or change up the pillows or hang a picture or something else that brings us to a new version of the space. Because there is never an after. Just improvement.