I love before and after photos; the satisfaction of seeing a project that really needed doing, completed.
Moreso if it’s something that is entirely relevant to my life. Something that doesn’t fall into that category but still really strikes me is before and after photos of cluttered spaces becoming beautiful and functional. I’m pretty empathetic, so I can almost feel the bustling mind of the owner of the clutter and I always want to help! Maybe one day I’ll start a decluttering business…
For now, my project is my flat. Bought 6 months ago, it’s a new build and a carbon copy of the buy-to-lets around it. In two words, it was magnolia and beige.
These are two pictures I took when looking around:
I spent hours scouring Pinterest and looking at paint swatches before the plan came together. With some help from mum and dad we painted the entire flat in a day. The same week all the flooring was changed. Then, the fun part, buying furniture and accessorising!
So, some before and after shots:
The lounge
The bathroom
Bedroom 1
A little about the Live Lagom project.
I applied after receiving an email sent to IKEA’s Family members. The application involved writing a bit about my thoughts and ideas and I remember writing about my hatred of waste and my inspiration for living a “not-quite-minimalist” lifestyle.
I attended the induction at the start of November to meet the other Bristol participants and learn more about the project. Then, a week ago, I got to go shopping to spend £300 on IKEA! Think of a much calmer, more well-informed, and certainly better meaning, version of Dale’s Supermarket Sweep.
Here’s my Dale, with our trolley load:
And this is what we got:
So what was all this stuff for? You might be able to work out the gist of it from my shopping list (a few of these items changed on the day):
If not, here are the two main resolutions. Not too dissimilar from many of the other participants’.
Just one week has passed, so the before and after photos relating to the project are a bit limited, but here’s what we’ve done so far:
- Replaced all our lightbulbs with LED bulbs which use a lot less electricity. We’ve also got new lamp shades in the bedrooms which give the rooms a much more homely feel. These were meant to go into the lounge but they didn’t feel right, so we took a few extra bits back that we didn’t need – waste not, want not, or the other way round, I s’pose!
2.Sorted our recycling and waste systems. Our recycling used to go in the bag at the bottom of the pull-out pantry. It’s now neatly organised in two Utrusta/Variera pull-out bins.
- Organised the ‘carbohydrate’ cupboard. I actually went back to IKEA today to add more bits to make this cupboard work.
4. Started work on the curtains and liners. The main reason for my return visit to IKEA was to pick up some special hooks that the curtains need so that they can be attached to the curtain hooks and rings. Now I can check the length, hem 8 lots of individual curtains, and finally the lounge will be snug. The lounge curtains are going to our spare bedroom which currently has this awful set-up (yes, those are office blinds):
The biggest change by far has been the lighting. We made this change to save electricity and a bit of money, but the difference it’s made to the perceived warmth of the flat is incredible.
With Less 