Parting with Paneling

I have finally finished shopping for The Mystery Thrift-Off! Whew! It was actually A LOT harder than I thought it would be.  Some of the items I ended up with are … special. Real special. Reallllly special. It’s going to be so fun to watch! I’m shipping them today, and the participants will have a few weeks to work their makeover magic. Then the fun begins for the rest of us! Follow along on instagram, with the hashtag #themysterythriftoff.

And now, to kick your Friday off right, please enjoy this living room and hallway makeover from Better After reader Angie. As you can see, it was previously a root cellar. I kid, I kid, butreally, it was DARK.  She said the entire room only had one ceiling fan for light. And did you see those ceilings? Let’s zoom out …

Oh no. I can see why one ceiling fan would not have done the job before. Not only did they add plenty of recessed lights, they also drywalled and painted over the paneling, which makes it feel 10,000 lumens brighter.  Is that a real measurement? I’m too tired to Google.

But don’t weep for the paneling. Angie still kept that woodsy feel by covering the beams and ceiling with cedar planks.  Mmm, I bet that smells as good as it looks.  I love the scent of cedar. I might have stayed up too late and this is my bone-weary exhaustion speaking, but don’t you think Cedar sounds like a pretty good baby name? Put that one on your list, expectant moms.  You’re welcome in advance.

This hallway is really magnificent. Very cathedral-like.  The before was so SO dark and gloomy, I don’t think I would have dared walk down it alone at night. Even just looking at the picture makes me nervous! But the after is so light and bright and airy, it’s like an entirely different room.  Great job Angie! We want to see more!