Ta-da!

Thanks to my mom's inability to resist the urge to "tidy up" when she visits, the last few boxes that had permanently occupied various corners of the living room have been emptied and disposed of in the recycling bin. Apart from wondering where the heck a few things are now, I'm quite grateful. I was at a point where I barely noticed the unopened boxes strewn about the house anymore and when I did notice them, I opted to ponder the many ways that I could try to claim that they were part of the decor rather than, you know, do something about them. The best part about all of this is--aside from no longer living in what looks like a storage unit--that I get to present you with my first Before and After!

Here is the living room before:

Note that the pics above feature the previous owners' furniture and crazy ass book collection. I do not claim any of it.

Here is the living room after:

So much better, right? I wish I had known about this contest. I would totally enter. (I really need to see someone about my obsession with decorating contests. If last year's "Best Use of Fruit" Christmas wreath contest is any evidence, they are nothing but heartbreak.) Of course, the room isn't even nearly "done." I don't think it ever will be. We still need to hang art on the walls and there is hole above one of the windows that Jason cut out in an effort to "fix" a crack in the plaster that now actually needs to be fixed, but, the place is definitely feeling more like home.