STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Hello. A little less than a year ago, I asked for advice on what to do / what not to do to my dad's house in order to put it up for sale in a very economically depressed town in Ohio. You all had some great suggestions.

My sister and I decided not to put it up for sale, but to offer the chance to our mom to live there and, basically, rent from us. My mom lives in the tiniest house now. And, while its small size was cute when she moved into it 13 years ago, it is really starting to get to her. She can't have people over easily, and it's just very cramped. She took us up on the offer, and--because of that--we were able to have some extra fun with my dad's old house in order to get it livable again. I grew up in this house, and I'll admit that it is going to be kinda weird to have it be "Mom's house" again--but, hey, you do whatcha gotta do.

Here are some pics.

BEFORE:

The last pic shows the lovely swirled countertop (1977 original) in the bathroom and the floral wallpaper my mom put up in 1992 or so.  The wallpaper was hunter green background with pink and dark rose flowers ---similar to this:

She painted the ceiling and wall above the shower with this silvery pink.

Top it all off with some corroded brass-tone fixtures/hardware, 70s-era, cracked tile floor, chestnut-colored woodwork, and water damage...you got a pretty happenin' bathroom (the only one in the house too)!

AFTER/DURING

Here are some pics of the bathroom. Not quite finished at this point, but you can already see the improvement.  That's just some paper towel covering the bathroom window temporarily. This was a group effort between three different people with three somewhat differing senses of style.

New tile, vanity, countertop, shower fixtures, shower curtain and rod, shower/tub surround, drywall, towel and toilet fixtures, electrical outlets/switches/covers, lights, exhaust fan motor, mirror, and fresh paint.

Here is the room that had the stationary bike in it. 

Fresh paint, new carpet, window trim on its way up. Ceiling fan paddles will be painted, new electrical outlets/switches/covers, and window coverings (panels, linen sheers, rods).

Living/Dining room -

Aaaaahhh the old, nasty, shag carpet is gone, and new wood-like laminate is in. Window trim is going up too.  My mom got a big drum shade lighting fixture for the dining room. Fresh paint. The couch is not staying.

Kitchen -

We removed the vinyl flooring (1993), painted the kitchen walls. New lighting is up over the sink (after this pic was taken). We're going to repaint the door.

We are holding off on renovating the entire kitchen until another time. My mom can live with it for now. They're not so bad for a 1970's kitchen (I mean, white countertops in 1977!?), and my mom scrubbed them several weeks ago and said they look much better. 

* * * My mom, of course, had to sell her house. She put it on the market, and it sold in less than 2 weeks for only $2,000 less than asking! So there you go.