The Den

I've wanted to paint our nasty old wood paneled den since before we even bought this house. It was pock marked and made the room feel dark and gross. To give some history, it had water damage on either side of the chimney that had to be fixed, the crown molding sagged in several spots and it looked like they let a wood pecker loose in there because there were at lease a bazillion tiny nail holes everywhere.

It looked something like this (This was the previous owner's set-up):

So after living here for a year and a half we finally got around to it. We did one coat of Kilz Stain blocking Primer and then one coat of our paint + primer that was the antique white we'd picked out for the room. 

It's not a perfect paint job; there was extensive stain damage to that wood (the previous tenants chained smoked) but it's WAY better than before. It feels so much brighter and bigger in there. 

I also wanted to turn the minuscule closet beside the door leading to the garage into a reading/play nook for Clive and Rooney so Dad came over and helped us do that. 

This closet has played several different roles for us. First it was a makeshift pantry, then it basically was just a place for our animal food bowls (those have been relocated). And now it's this:

Here are some "during" photos:

The den looks so great now. One more room down! Kitchen and bathroom to go....eventually.

Before and after: