You have done a fabulous job!

Kitchen/living bar area before:

After:

We do appreciate "afters!" Thanks for posting; you've done a nice job here. While you're posting, see if you can tweak so the pix enlarge and we can see the details.

Stairs and kitchen before:

Stairs after:

Kitchen after:

@decoenthusiaste I'm not sure how to enlarge them, but, I'll work on figuring that out! Thank you!

Kitchen before:

After:

Kitchen before:

After:

Breakfast nook before:

(Flo! I had to nix the reading nook idea-grandkids needed a casual eating area more!)

After:

Living room before:

After:

Living room before:

After:

Primary bedroom before:

After:

very nice transformation.

Primary bath before:

After:

Primary bath before:

After:

Screened porch before:

After:

Grandson's room before:

After:

Granddaughter's room before:

After:

Backyard before:

After:

Backyard before:

After:

Backyard before:

After:

So good to hear from you! The transformation of your home is nicely done - I loved your thread, and learned along the way, too!

Like finding a long-lost treasure! You have accomplished so much! It is especially fun to see the rooms you were working on two years ago. Just yesterday, I kid you not, I saw some drapes here on Houzz that reminded me of the ones you found for your dining room. Gorgeous!

So glad you decided to come back and show the final reveals.   I totally understand why you stopped posting. Something that should have been fun turned into the absolute opposite.   It all looks so fabulous.  I think my favorite is your living room, love what you did on the mantel with the art and big floral arrangements.  Love the new furniture, the new paint, the rug, the bamboo side table.  Just lovely.  Love the change in wallcolor throughout the main area, it just lifts the feeling of the space.  The new kitchen counter also does that.  Went from heavy feeling to light and airy.  Dining room head chairs are perfect.  Love what you did with the art in the entryway, love the vertical arrangement.  All the work outside is just stunning too.  Do you have a favorite?  So hard to pick a favorite...

A beautiful and gracious home! You should be so proud of yourself!

PJ- I hope you can feel all the caring and love each of us have for you and how happy we are for you! You have made a beautiful impact already on all of us here. 💃💃🍷🥇👏🏻

So glad you posted pictures. Your home is beautiful. So sorry that some people are less then nice on here.

@decoenthusiaste Looking at the teeny tiny picture problem, it appears that its a Houzz issue. Apparently their software shrinks them down to whatever size is best for their platform and there’s nothing to be done about it.

If you view the photos on an iphone, it allows you to zoom in on them, so, that will help. The pixels and clarity are bad, bad, bad though.

I’m surprised they havent implemented a fix for this, after all these years. Try it on a phone, if you can!

@cubby14 Thank you for coming back to look again! ❤️

@pat1250 Thank you! Houzz was definitely a shining light for me during the pandemic!

@dsimber Before doing this post, I skimmed through all of the 2900 comments(😳) again and was swept right back up into the thrill of the hunt! 600 dollars worth of drapes in exactly the right color, width, and length… for 60 bucks. When does that ever happen?

One thing I hope people learned from my thread, is that Facebook Marketplace, Restore, Goodwill, Ebay, Etsy and even estate sales and yard sales, can be some of our BEST sources for home decorating!

@Theresa Janssen THERESA!!!!!! ❤️ I don’t think I can ever have a FAVORITE favorite, because each and every piece has meant so much to me! I look around me and there isnt one single thing that I dont absolutely love!

I never got around to painting the bedrooms, guest bath, or second floor, but, I've actually enjoyed the contrast of color in those areas, versus the off white of the living areas...they feel cozy to me. If I was so inclined, I’d probably paint them a lighter color-not as light as the other areas….just lighter.

I found the dining room chairs at a consignment store. The tag on the bottom says they're a ten year old Ralph Lauren design, but, what do I care? They were only 75 dollars each and like brand new, so so, I’m a happy girl! I agree with you that they feel like the perfect balance in dialing back the formality of my existing dining room furniture, too.

I love the columns that @Flo Mangan suggested, with the ferns on top…never in a million years would have thought to do that, but, its EXACTLY what those corners need. i wish I had found something taller, but, the columns I have cant handle that much height/weight, so I stick with something smaller and I love it!

I love the arrangement in the foyer-never would've thought of the Audobon prints OR adding the color there, but, they’re one of my favorite things! Weren’t both of those your ideas?

If I was forced to pick a favorite, I’d have to say the mantel. That’s all @Flo Mangan and it’s perfection! I know y’all wanted more blue and white across the mantel, but, I love it as it is. I’d probably love it with more, too, but, this iteration feels comfy and in my wheelhouse, so, I’m sticking with it.

So happy you are happy...  its YOU!!

@Flo Mangan

What can I say? From the early days, YOU were the heart and soul of this adventure-the leader, the taskmaster, the teacher, the pace car, the voice of reason.

You have my complete blessing in using any and and/or all of the contents in this thread. The bulk of the ideas are yours, the work flow was driven by you, and you had complete veto power on what made the cut and what didn’t. I trusted you implicitly as did everyone who was helping me, so, yes….this project was and always will be your baby!

You will never know how much your generosity of time and talent meant to me then, and still means to me today.

Plus, what you did for me, you continue to do, day after day, year after year, for so many other people. Your contribution to the Houzz community is an extraordinary, amazing labor of love and I applaud you for giving so much of yourself, simply because it’s your passion!

Thank you will NEVER be enough, but, from the bottom of my heart, Flo…..I thank you! ❤️

@Business_Name_Placeholder Thank you! It has definitely felt like birthing a baby!! I’m almost sad that it’s over, because the process was so transformational for me!

Wow! Just Wow! Thanks to you!

@Kay p Thank you! Bad juju is everywhere and Houzz is no exception. But, I’m a firm believer that Love Always Win….it just took me awhile with this one! 😇

@pljinco1 The whole house looks amazing! I love that you reminded us of the “before” photos. Wow. You must be totally in love with your “new” house. It looks so so good. Thanks for bringing us all back to your project. And yes, @Flo Mangan is our fearless, peerless leader!

This made my day, ladies.

@pljnco1

Surprise! You decided in the end to do "country" and not British colonial? I guess surprise is what I get from not following up on this thread from early on. How taste can evolve! I suppose that's the advantage of input from Houzzers.

😁😁😁 PJ!! 😁😁😁

I am sooo glad to hear from you again! Hard to believe looking back re 2 years gone plus pandemic . . . 

My favs:

Breakfast room--animal print; kitchen countertop; front entry with that runner, dining room feels easy breezy, collected feel in the living room, your yard . . .

And the rugs are spot on!

So glad you plugged ahead! I love it! A home anyone would be proud to show--especially the Facebook finds! (FYI bc of this thread I am hooked on Facebook Marketplace!)

👏👏👏

@RedRyder Hiiiiii!!!!! Yes, it was a long long, time between ”before” and ”after”. So many wonderful memories-most of them included you-Thanks, friend!

@tangerinedoor I wasnt going for ”country”, but, if that’s what you see here, that’s Shirley what I ended up with! 😎

@drblount10 It’s SO very good to ”see” you again!

OMG, the foyer runner! Do you remember how many times I crossed the state line to return a rug that I “thought” I liked!

I found this one at the Greent Front location that’s close to me, and I loved the way it meshed with the dining room rug I found earlier, so, thankfully, didn’t have to make another trip to Virginia!

Sheesh…we really had some rug drama, didn’t we!

Sorry, not sorry, for the Facebook Marketplace addiction. lol! Better quality pieces that are already broken in/dented/scratched up for us, at a fraction of todays prices? What’s not to love?

Take care!

❤️

PJ!!!!
So absolutely wonderful to hear from you and to learn you are thriving. I have been thinking of you and was sure your home would turn out great and not surprised you (and Flo) took it to the next level. Thank you so very much for sharing your house-to-home journey with us. You have utterly transformed every nook and cranny, and to think it started with a question about the hall bench! Fond memories…allowing Flo to nudge you out of your comfort zone towards blue and cream, finding just the right shade of white paint for the walls, crafting the staircase runner, moving your Secretary to the ideal spot by the breakfast bar, agonizing over a hall runner and DR rug (both are winners), dashing cross-country for velvet salmon colored DR drapes, discovering your innate talent for staining the Chinese coffee table, questing for a mini spindle chair, negotiating a great deal on a pair of fabulous Bergere chairs. Your art collection must make your heart sing in every room…the painting of the beach cottage over the bed, the palm court picture over the mantle flanked by olive branches just the right height, the blue Indian print in the entry, your colorful bird prints. I see your new collection of blue/white porcelain displayed everywhere. Love your vignette on the entry console. You covered Brit Col A-Z (including fake zebra rug, haha) in a heartfelt way. I see your bubbly can-do personality throughout. Bonus, you said you wanted to spend more time gardening and WOW - you created a very welcoming front porch, a fun back patio, and the charming cottage garden you dreamed of. I guess the metal palm tree is in the upstairs den? Kudos to you, many happy years in this home, and many fun visits with the grandkiddos, PJ.
Sincerely, Mary

It amazes me how much other people’s home (and happiness) starts to matter to us. This is the best part of Houzz. 😍.

@marylut

MARY!!!!!!

I just read through your recap of our Houzz escapade. Spot on, as always!

What we accomplished in our short time together as a team, continues to amaze me!

YOU were the one who, without fail, kept us on track!

YOU were the one who did summary, after summary, after summary for us of every single idea that was thrown around, every single pass/fail that occurred (no matter how big or small), and every loose end or agenda item that needed to be addressed!

YOU played a huge part in making my dream a reality! Because of your organizational and admin skills, we were able to stay focused and on task….never once skipping a beat!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mary!!! ❤️

PS…the vintage metal palm tree is still there….all seven feet of it….you just cant see it very well in the pictures. Look at the very last ”after” picture for the kitchen/living bar area and you’ll see it in the living room, just behind the bar stools and to the right of the plantation chair!

Such kind words, PJ, you made my day! Glad I had skills I could contribute.

GM Flo, I sent you a message. GM PJ, your after pics are an inspiration to start my day! GM Houzzers!

@Flo--check message (tag Flo)

I don’t have message? You can reach me at manganflo@gmail.com

PJ, what a happy surprise to see your post this morning. I check into Houzz every once in a while. Seeing your post and hearing how you are doing has made my day! Your home looks fantastic, inside and out.

@shwshw Thanks you! I always appreciated your input and perspectives!

I'm looking again! I love the mantle and vignettes in the living room--I remember auditing that class in Houzz. The fireplace art looks great! Also the creamy white made such a difference!

Thanks so much for the update; spoken from the bleacher seats where many of us lurkers loved reading of your design happenings. You have created a beautiful, sophisticated, and interesting home!

Thanks for the update! Everything looks wonderfully done and the landscaping is beautiful. Enjoy LIVING in your "new" home after all that work.