I originally published this post on April 28, 2019. And now I’ve made some updates on April 1, 2020.
Here are some improvements that we’ve made in our salon and staircase, compared to what it looked like when we first viewed our house two years ago, and moved in a year and a half ago. We still have work to do, but it’s better!
Below:
Before – this is what it looked like when we viewed the house.
Arrow #1 – see that partition? It was held up by only furniture. When we moved into the house, the owner and his kids (who are our age) removed the furniture, but stuffed the partition in a hallway. So we had to break it up and get rid of it.
Arrow #2 – the chimney area was in awful fuchsia wallpaper, as were other parts of the room.
Arrow #3 – there was a wood stove here, which we knew we didn’t want to use. It’s a romantic idea to have a wood fire, but a lot of work hauling wood around, getting chimneys cleaned and certified, etc., and the stove took up valuable room.

Salon and Staircase when we moved in

Below, what it looked like in April, 2019
  • Our new carpet and dining room table! Jeff found the table and chairs three months ago, to celebrate our six months of living here. The table seats six the way it is, and with its leaves, it will seat 12!
  • Jeff has painted all the walls in a lovely tan, and the baseboards in white.
There’s still work to do – we want to paint those fuchsia doors white. It needs curtains, and we’ll replace the red couch with our leather couch. But it’s come a long way!
See that armoire at the upper left of the photo? The previous owner left it behind – it was stuffed into a tiny hallway. Jeff knew right away that it needed more space, so now it lives in our salon.

Salon and Staircase in April 2019

Below: And now what it looked like in March, 2020

(but this photo was taken before we “closed” the stairs in March, 2020)

Salon and Staircase in April 2020

Below: What it looked like when we moved in.

Salon and Staircase in August 2018

Below: What it looked like in April, 2019
Someday to the left of this salon will be a new kitchen! (It will be in a space that doesn’t show in the photo.) We’re hoping for June. We can’t wait!

Salon and Staircase in April 2019

Below: What it looks like in April 2020

Salon and Staircase in April 2020

Salon and Staircase east view in April 2020

Below: And now there IS a kitchen in the room to the left!

Salon and Staircase New Kitchen

Below:

We love the “new” ceiling lights that we installed in our salon in October, 2019, before the winter nights became long. Prior to that, there weren’t any ceiling lights in the salon, and we used only table lamps, so our first winter here was very dark. We love the way these lights light up the ceiling – we’ve installed five of these lights throughout the house.

Below: This is what our staircase looked like when we moved in.
Gaudy animal wallpaper. What were they thinking?

Below: Staircase in April, 2019

Wallpaper is gone, and our staircase looks so much nicer! Yes – it really is the exact same staircase!

Below: Another view of the OMG what were they thinking wallpaper:

Below: What it looked like in March 2020.

Below: What it looks like in April 2020.

Carcassonne Confinement stairwell before and after

Below: When we moved in
The staircase at our ground floor had lemon yellow stripes.

Below: April 2019
Now, our staircase is all the same color.

Below: When we moved in

The staircase to our third floor.

Below: April 2019
There’s still a little painting to do, including painting the doors white, but it’s definitely better!

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