Rupe and I had such a great experience re-doing the cabin that we wanted to find a home in LA that we could also really make our own. After a long house search and riding the LA real estate roller coaster we finally landed on a little bungalow in our favorite neighborhood.

So, here we go again.

First up on the what will later be called the “before” tour is the kitchen and dining area…

kitchen before - empty
which is a bit rough right now. Mis-matched countertops can look great but in this case? not so much.

kitchen before - emptyThe cabinets were custom built and original to the house but they are in reaaally rough shape. At this point I’m not sure if we will try and salvage what is there by refinishing them or put in all new. Oh so many decisions to come.

kitchen before - emptyWe are so glad that the original hardwood floors are in pretty good nick and go throughout the rest of the house (with the exception of a carpeted addition that I’ll get to later, eek).

dining room beforeOur old townhouse had high ceilings, wide open spaces, and rooms that in comparison to our new bungalow now seem enormous. Most all of our furniture doesn’t even fit in these smaller rooms but we are going to do our best to open things up, add on a little space, and get this cozy house feeling like home.

Take a look after the jump for the really real before photos (ie what we saw when we went into the house for the first time).

kitchen-beforedining-room-before2p.s. don’t mind the random child, she will show up now and again on the tour. Remember when I told you we bought the house from someone Rupert knows? Well they didn’t live in the house, they were renting it out to a family that didn’t particularly care if the house sold or not, so the only chance I got to see the interior, the kids, the two dogs, the cat, the dad, and the nanny where all there too. Lovely people but probably one of the more interesting house viewings we had.

  • i really enjoyed following along as you transformed your cabin and the outcome was incredible – so i look forward to seeing what you do in your new home. i’ve recently moved into a new apartment and am slowly making it my own as well (though it’s a rental the landlord is very agreeable to all of the cosmetic changes i’ve asked to do…which is nice!)

  • YAY!! It’s soooo awesome to see these pics and can’t wait to follow along as you spruce up your new home! I looooove seeing the changes come with your cabin so my heart did a little flutter when I saw you had blogged this post 😀

    Congrats again & keep up the great blogging!

  • Ally

    I love your blog but its probably not appropriate to share photos of other people’s children on the Internet without their permission.

    • Hi Ally, thanks for voicing your concern. You’re right, I didn’t think of that so I blocked her face out so she’s more anonymous. Also, just to be clear I wasn’t taking these photos stealthily. I had my big camera, they knew I was taking photos and were fine with me taking them. I would have preferred no one to be present in the photos but they plopped her in the middle of the room so there was no way around it. 🙂

  • This is going to be exciting!

  • How exciting! And SO much potential!

  • I love it! It’s got so much potential! Can’t wait to see what your touch does to it 🙂

  • Kara

    I love how much sunshine your house gets!

  • Exciting! Looks like you’ve found a place with plenty of potential, random anonymous child included 🙂 Cannot wait to see what you do with it next…judging from your cabin renos, it’ll be amazing!

  • Lawny

    Oh this is going to be fantastic!! GREAT SPACE

  • This is SO exciting!! Congrats – can’t wait to follow along and see what amazing things you do!

  • I can’t wait to see what you do with this space and how you open up the living space to give it a more open concept feel!

  • Amy

    Hi Sarah! I’m a little late to the game but love your style 🙂 can you tell me what kind of floors you have? I know the stain is ebony but are they red oak? white oak? Thanks so much! xx

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