Feelin' blue...But in a good way

NOTE: "Before" pics were taken during inspection, when the former owners were still living there
When we first looked at the house we loved that the attic had been built out into a bedroom, sitting room and bathroom. The ceilings were high and there were lots of closets...but the walls were green. Not just green, either - violent, flourescent two-tone green. Think Wham! video, "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" green. A green so bright that these pictures do not do it justice. Clearly this wall color would not conducive to a tranquil night's sleep or a pleasant good morning.

Thankfully, over Christmas my wonderful sister Lisa helped me primer the entire upstairs and I then painted it a lovely shade of blue. I've always wanted a blue room, but as a renter I've never been able to be truly bold with color. Thankfully Chris liked my vision and I'm even happier to report he likes the final outcome. Well, not totally final as I still have the windowsill to paint and some fine-tuning to do, but you can get the gist.

Oh, we did the sitting area as well. This room has proven to be the perfect mini-home office and once the old owner's cat boxes were removed the coziness level went up exponentially. It's still a little cluttered while we're building out the closets, but it feels like home and we love going to bed and waking up in our very own 2nd-story loft.

Little things matter

Little things...like a thermostat...make a big difference. We'd assumed that our cold house had more to do with a lack of insulation and original, drafty 1926 windows than the thermostat. That is, until the furnace went out. Luckily Chris was able to diagnose and fix it (he is amazingly handy!), but we decided to get it serviced to be on the safe side. When we did we learned that the theromstat was about 10 degrees off...so when the heat kicked on, it assumed it was hot enough and shut it back off within a few minutes. We just got this fancy-shmancy modern, programable thermostat to replace our 1950's antique one and OH BOY are we toasty!