Our Eight Year Before and After Home Tour {Tons of DIYs!} | Thrifty Decor Chick

It’s been a few years since I’ve done an updated before and after tour of our home! I can’t even believe we’ve been here for eight years now…it’s absolutely flown by.

I’ve had an absolute blast changing up our spaces, and I still have so much I want to do. It’s fun to look back at how our home has changed over the years. 

If I leave anything out that you’re curious about, please let me know and I’ll include the details. 

ENTRYWAY/FOYER

Our entryway hasn’t gotten a ton of DIY attention, I think the real star in here is the furniture I added earlier this year.

I have always loved how open this foyer is — it’s so spacious and we love it!. This is what it looked like right before we moved in:

I copied the set up from our foyer in our old house, with the dresser I painted blue, the round mirror and double lamps: 

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Since then I’ve done a few simple DIY projects. 

Crown molding and a very light blue painted ceiling instantly made this area feel more grand. 

Look at our sweet Peanut lying there. 😥

That fixture is an unexpected, fun addition that is really quite beautiful! The glass bulbs have a detail that creates a pretty effect on the ceiling and walls when the light is on. 

My favorite foyer projects: 

GREAT/FAMILY ROOM

I surprised myself and wasn’t sure I wanted to build tall bookcases on either side of the fireplace. Instead, we purchased two consoles: 

We kept the neutral Agreeable Gray color everywhere as well: 

I soon realized that, DUH…this room was calling out for built in bookcases! After building those, I added decorative trim to the front of the fireplace wall as well. 

Big, open rooms like this can feel cold, so I wanted to add a rich color to the fireplace. I painted it and the bookcases all in a deep blue gray color called Cyberspace: 

MY OFFICE

The ideas were churning well before we moved in — I had the builder add an outlet in the floor so we could float a desk in the middle of the room:

We later had our hardwoods continued into this room, and then I got started on the wall of built in bookcases on the back wall: 

I wanted to warm things up a bit, and that triggered a bunch of updates over the past year. 

Now the bookcases are all that pretty, deep green (Vintage Vogue) and the added grasscloth wallpaper has really cozied up the space: 

This is my favorite spot in the house right now, not only because it feels like a warm cocoon, but because it’s filled with so many photos, mementos and things that I love!

My favorite office projects: 

 

A few years in, I had an idea to change up our basic island configuration and make it look more custom. 

Without changing the countertops I turned this side view: 

Into this view, with a much more substantial island that also gives our heavy countertops more support. We can still easily access the cabinets underneath as well: 

My first addition was adding wood beams around the perimeter of the tray ceiling (I had help with that installation). I stained the beams and then painted the ceiling a dark gray called Westchester Gray: 

Oh my, it feels so much more open and airy now…but still cozy. 

I have plans to do a new ceiling makeover soon — it’s been almost eight years and I’m ready for a change!

DINING/MORNING ROOM

Our dining room was labeled as a “morning room” on our home plans because of all of the natural light it gets: 

Plus it’s way less stuffy than a formal dining room, but that’s what we call it for simplicity’s sake. 

During the build I knew I wanted to add a built in window seat, so I had the builder move the overhead light over about a foot so it would be centered on the table:

Years later that window seat is one of my favorite additions to our home! There was some space next to the windows where I added some skinny bookcases as well: 

I LOVE the warm tones in this room is, especially this time of year! 

We had a combination of the two at our last house and hated it so much we ended up moving our laundry to the basement (and loved it). 

Now…that room was a fraction of this size 😂, so I should have kept that in mind. But I wanted to make the best use of this space so it wasn’t a constant dumping ground like our old one was. 

After living in the house for a few years, I decided to make some tweaks to the layout, and those turned into a giant makeover! 

I replaced our folding table with a built in with TONS of drawers for storage: 

Since we have top loaders, moving the wall cabinets to above the new built in made more sense — we couldn’t reach them where they were first installed. 

This DIY shelf works much better for us.

I smile when I walk in the door to this room every day. It’s so fresh and pretty! 

My favorite mud/laundry room projects: 

For a long time we didn’t have much other than a sectional and an old console table we propped the TV on: 

The past eight years have brought so many updates and now this is our favorite spot in the house! 

Moody paint on the walls and molding warmed it up a ton, and a bunch of secondhand finds have really cozied up this space: 

Years back I built this HUGE built in entertainment center with a bench in the middle. It completely transformed this room!:

My final before and after is one I worked the hardest on in the past eight years. Our basement kitchenette was a blank slate when we moved in…quite literally.

We had utilities run during the build, so the electricity and plumbing were set up. We didn’t even have carpet installed, thinking we’d start this addition sooner than later:

It was only about seven years before we started. 🙂

When I was sure of the layout, we purchased the ready-to-assemble cabinets for this room. I can’t recommend them enough! They are easy to build, offer high end upgrades and are a great price point. 

I had help with was the actual installation of the cabinets, thank goodness. I’m so glad I didn’t attempt that myself! 

Otherwise I figured out the rest on my own, and I’m really proud of how it all came together. Here’s how that same space looks now!:

My favorite kitchenette projects: