I’ve been sharing teasers for so long, it’s ABOUT THYME I got to the good stuff! Right?Time for a reveal, room by room of the project I’ve been working on. The main floor is my wellness studio, the upstairs – finally: A luxury AirBnB apartment I’ve nicknamed “Suite Thyme”. Ready? Let’s go! Here’s the before and after when we walk in the door and up the stairs.

The Reveal

Before when you entered, it was old industrial blue carpet, dirty dingy walls and a 2nd floor landing without personality. Now it’s a welcoming, inviting entryway with a place to sit and remove/put on shoes, doors with keypads for guest self check in and keeping the wellness studio off limits, a bookshelf with information on the services offered by the wellness studio as well as information on local attractions. That back door, we call it the “hobbit door”…seriously watch your head, tall people! It’s locked from the inside (it’s access to the wellness studio/back door).

before – the banister and railing is original, probably at least 100 years old (beautiful!)

Good bye blue carpet.

after – the original pine floors are very scratched, marked up with paint and scuffs too. We’ll add that to the project list for another day and embrace the imperfections for now, okay? It adds character, my friends. lol

before:

after:

before: It seemed that this space and the entire upstairs was used for storage only in the recent past. It feels SO good to give it new life and purpose!

after: The stair landing is now an indoor porch area/comfy and relaxing reading nook for guests with a huge cozy egg chair, lots of pillows, a salt lamp and water fountain. The perfect spot to ‘getaway’ with a good book, to catch up on social media with friends or to take a little cat nap. There might even be room for two in that chair. 🙂 The electrical/light switch has since been updated. Oops! Just seeing that I didn’t cut that out of the shot. There’s a new wood beaded flush mount light fixture not shown. It has a very boho vibe and it’s one of my favorite spots in the apartment. Well, to be honest…wait ’til you see the rest. The entire apartment is my favorite spot!

before:

after: so cozy, so fun! A small thrifted basket gallery wall,

before:

after: clean and simple!

Share your thoughts!

What do you think? Notice the wallpaper on the back window wall of the landing?Wallpaper fan? Not your thing? Not your style? Know what I mean when I say I sure loathe the removal? Willing to change your mind and take a risk when you fall in love with a print/pattern and it’s just want you and in mind for adding interest? I felt like this print was less trendy, the design is traditional. How about carpet on the stairs? I partnered with Shaw (see the info HERE) to replace what was there. I love the subtle design and features for it to be a long lasting investment.

Let’s talk about that chair! It’s the OpalHouse Southport chair from Target. Something I really wanted but outside of the budget. And my entire family knew I wanted that chair. So when Mr. DIY asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day, he immediately knew the answer before I got the words past my lips. lol Then at our Mother’s Day dinner, I said to my girls “guess what I got for Mother’s Day?” and Evangeline “did you get THE chair?”, Alainee: “did he buy you the chair?!” Me: “I got the chair!” It was just like a “He went to Jared’s” tv commercial. Moral of the story: I got the chair. ::love:: And guests renting the AirBnB just might find me hanging out in it! (Just kidding!)

Next up:

One room combination living room/dining area/kitchen with a BIG WOW factor! AHHH! I can’t wait to show you!

Upstairs apartment door…

Sneak peek looking the other direction from inside of the apartment:

More about #helloredreno

The building has so much historical charm. It’s about one block from our town’s Main Street. The bus stop is literally steps away. There’s a gorgeous Butler, PA Bed & Biscotti across the street called Suite Retreat (how cute is that?!) and an antique shop nearby. There are breweries, the YMCA, shops, restaurants, salons, florists, candy/coffee shop, holiday parades and festivals within walking distance. So fun! If renovation from blah to ahhhhh is your thing, stay tuned!

So subscribe and be reminded of updates as the renovations progress! I’ll share before and after photos, projects underway and updates, plans and design boards, sources and links as they relate as well as fun events going on in and around the downtown area. I’ll be using a specific hashtag on social media to keep things all neat and tidy and organized.

#helloredreno and #suitethyme

I welcome your thoughts and ideas! And as always, thanks for your encouragement and support and for sharing in my joy and vision!

The #helloredreno project diary:

Project Diary Entry #1 – Hello Red Reno!

Project Diary Entry #2 – Efficiency Apartment

Project Diary Entry #3 Color Passive Paint

Project Diary Entry #4 – Full Bathroom Demo Day

Project Diary Entry #5 – Sealing A Wood Plank / Shiplap Wall

Project Diary Entry #6: Bathroom Flooring

Project Diary Entry #7: Sealing Brick

Project Diary #8: Hardwood Floors

Project Diary #9: Carpeted Stairs

Project Diary #10 Vinyl Floor Tiles

Project Diary #11 – Living Room Before & After

Project Diary #12 – Christmas at the Studio

Project Diary #13 – Wallpaper Mural

Project Diary #14 – Entryway, Stairs & Landing Before & After

Stairs and Upstairs Hallway

Let’s take a walk up my stairs beforehand. When we bought the house, it was covered in nasty dirty carpet. Mr. Handy ripped it all out.

After the carpet was torn out, here we go up the gouged staircase…

Not for the faint of heart: After turning the corner and a few more stairs. Here is what it looked like before. Not so lovely, huh?

Then:

Also in this project is this little storage cube (before):

Not very appealing, is it?

Now, let’s take that same path after stairs were redone (see below – red walls no longer there!):

And this is the new landing. A little paint (Ralph Lauren mahogany) and new knobs give the dresser a cleaner and more modern look. I think it’s over 40 years old and needed a face lift.

Notice the storage cube – I sewed a cover and cushion. All covered and pretty.

I also sewed a table runner to help protect the top (Mr. Handy likes to toss a drill or other tools here.)

All of the doors here have glass knobs. I love them. I wish we had the old skeleton keys. The dresser also has locks on each drawer, but…again, no keys.