Our Townhouse – BEFORE
Today at noon Eric and I met our realtor and got official possession of our townhouse. Finally! It’s been a long road to owning this townhouse, let me tell you!
Side note: Eric was actually going to propose today in our new home, but he couldn’t wait. Awwwww 
So, here are the official BEFORE photos of our first home together (that we OWN!) Our new place is a 3-level townhouse, so I’m taking you on the tour starting on the first level working up!
This was supposed to be the master bedroom but we are using it as the spare room/gym! because we don’t want OUR bedroom on the bottom floor.
These photos honestly do not do the AWFUL, AWFUL orange justice. Please also note the floral wallpaper trim. Ya. We have our work cut out for us!
This shows the orange better. The photo below shows the ACTUAL colour. Please also note that the old tenants painted OVER light switches/plug-ins.
Oy.
This is the bedroom we’ll be using as the master!
This will be my office and I plan on taking over the closet in this room 
Aren’t the paint colours in this place awful? We really had to look past them when we decided to buy the place. I just honestly don’t know who in their right mind would paint these colours… Lol!
Eric was already getting started on the awful wallpaper trim when I came back to work this afternoon! It was NOT coming off easy – any tips for taking off wallpaper?
We are starting to paint our master bedroom TONIGHT! I’m excited. We essentially went with the same colours I showed you in this post (with a few small changes).
Can’t wait to show you the AFTER photos in a few weeks!
PS: I’m SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How fun!! Edible Ashley has been doing a ton to get their new house going. It’s fun to see how much everything changes. A few coats of paint and you’ll forget about that tropical green and mango orange.
CONGRATS!! How’s it feel to be a homeowner now?! If I was anywhere near you guys I would totally be over there helping you paint! It kind of sounds fun, actually!
I’m sure you and Eric will have some great memories to look back on as you set up your new home!
Awesome!! Congratulations!
Now this is the fun part — enjoy it and be sure to take tons of pictures. XO!
Congratulations on becoming a homeowner!!! Those paint colours are pretty awful … can’t wait to see what the “after” pictures look like
I actually gasped out loud at the second bathroom. For the love of god, what were they thinking?? It must have been discount paint. I remember one summer when I was working in Houston (BC) a whole bunch of houses were painted the same terrible shade of light blue. Turns out the local mill had been re-painting the cranes and had bought too much….so everyone got to take some home. LOL
I actually used to work at Lowe’s in the wallpaper/paint department, and the best way to remove wallpaper is to get a “scorer” and score your wall paper (basically punches tiny holes in the paper) and then spray a wallpaper removal solution (I like DIF–its the blue liquid in the spray bottle). Let it sit, and then scrape it up. That works best!
LOVE your kitchen cabinets–beautiful!
YAYYYYYYYY! A million congrats on the new house! I was actually wondering if Eric was planning to propose on the first day of the new place but couldn’t wait, I was thinking a random Thursday night probably wasn’t the original plan… but it’s fun anyway because i bet you had enough to be excited about today!
Those paint colors are HILARIOUS… the bright orange would kill me! We also had terrible colors in our house ( a red and green kitchen… i mean I love Christmas but WHAT, and the bedroom was bright purple which Eric was not okay with and neither was I haha). I really am amused by what people will do to their house! I have some wallpaper advice I am BBMing you.
Congratulations homeowner!!! Oh my gosh, I’m surprised you all aren’t starting with the orange or that horrible bathroom green! I would like to know what was going through the minds of the previous owners! Can’t wait to see some after photos!!!
Ahh, those colours are horrible! However, I do love your kitchen and am totally envious of your dishwasher! Some days I’d kill for one.
As far as wallpaper removal, I’ve heard that clothes steamers work fairly well, and I read somewhere that spraying a mixture of vinegar & water onto the paper helps dissolve the glue.
Congrats yet again!
So cute! Love it
ughh wallpaper. ewww…. im sure you guys will get such great practice that you will want to fly out and paint my kitchen/dining room/ living room when you are done??? i can provide food and beverages hahaha. my husband proposed on a random thursday as well, he had meant to wait until some time the next week when we were on vacation but as soon as he picked up the ring he couldn’t wait.
Yikes! Those colors are awful! (the old ones, not the new ones)
I rented a house once that had horrible wallpaper, I got this scraper / hole poker thing from home depot, then this spray get that would soak through the holes to get rid of the glue. It took some time – at least you only have trim!
I can’t believe they painted over the light switches – how lazy can you be?
Congrats (twice)!
Huge congratulations! Thanks for sharing those absolutely appalling colours, LOL – the makeover is going to look phenomenal. And look at the size of your new gym!
OMG wallpaper! After we removing the wallpaper (in only part of the kitchen!!) we decided the next time we bought a house we’d ask the owners to remove it. If you search my archives you can read about our trials with it. But basically we made a solution out of ammonia & water, and spayed it on the wall. When it was wet we’d scrap the paper off. It worked pretty well for the first layer, but not so much the second, and in the process of removing the 2nd we pretty much destroyed the wall. So maybe you shouldn’t follow our advice, but good luck!!
That is so exciting – and I love how Eric couldn’t wait to propose and did it early! Which probably was a good decision because you guys have your work cut out for you! So if he had proposed tonight, you proably wouldn’t have gotten anything done.
How exciting, though! The colors are awful, but the home is beautiful – esp all the wood floors! Love it! Once you get a different paint color up, it will look like a totally different place
Cant wait to see the after pics. Happy painting!
Looks like a great place!! I absolutely LOVE before and after pics and am looking forward to seeing the finished product
I’m just catching up on all your big news…what a crazy few weeks you have had!
Lucas and I bought our house the month before we got married, so you’re ahead of the game.
Spray bottle with warm water and Dawn (or equivalent) dish soap. Spray it on there liberally, let it sit for a few minutes and then go to town with your scraper! Enjoy that!
Scraping and painting will make your arms sore so there you go, free exercise!
Congratulations again on getting the keys to your new place today! So, so exciting! The paint colours are terrible in the before, so they can only get better from here
Can’t wait to see what you guys do with each room 
yay new house and painting! be thankful the wallpaper isnt worse….. oye the headaches!
Wow the house looks AWESOME. I have to admit I’m not in love with orange walls, but those are obviously fixable. Love it!
hahaha those orange walls are sooo not awesome! yipes! congrats though! it sounds like so much fun
It is amazing the colors that people paint their homes! I have seen some pretty oranges in houses but it is rare. Have fun painting! So exciting!
The whole moving/painting/decorating, etc. will be a ton of work but you guys will have so much fun. Enjoy it! Those are some interesting paint colors but besides that, the place looks like it’ll be great!
Very exciting! Wall paper is the WORST….the biggest thing is to really make sure you get it all off as it will completely show through when you go to paint. Can’t wait to see the works in progress!
I like the colors… But not for a whole room haha. Accent wall maybe, pillows/curtains/etc, definitely.
Love the place! Can’t wait to see the after.
Wallpaper – get it wet with hot water, let it soak in and peel. You may have to keep peeling and scrubbing the adhesive layer. The scorer tool helps water penetrate – found at any home store (your new bff)
I actually like that orange color. But maybe for one accent wall and not all over the place. That green in another story! But holy crap, you can see some awesome potential in that place. I bet it will be beautiful when you’re done with it!
I love it!!!! Other than the questionable paint color (and painting techniques lol) I think it looks really great
I can’t wait to see what it will look like repainted and decorated!!
I lOve DIY before & after! Keep the photos coming.
My bf bought his house before he met me in hopes of remodeling and flipping. It’s straight out of the 70′s in color & decor. He tore out the blue carpet, installed hardwood floors and painted everything a modern color. He met me & we gutted the kitchen completely. We are still remodeling but it looks better. It’s fun and tiring!
The new home looks great. That orange is just awful. Can’t wait to see what you guys do with the place.
Im so excited for you!! Cant wait to see the after pictures.
Is it bad that I kind of like the orange? Theres too much of it, but in small doses I think it might look nice.
Haha, oh those colours. The previous owners musta been… somethin’.
So happy for you and Eric! Happy painting!!!
thanks for the tour! Glad to see you have extra rooms
Blogger meet-up FTW in your town! Good luck with the painting and getting everything set-up. I’m sure you’ll be able to do it and it will look fabulous.
So excited for you both!!!!
Congratulations! I agree, the colours aren’t great, but you were absolutely right to disregard that when you bought.
And I love that Eric couldn’t wait because he was too excited!
Congratulations
I would suggest if you have a lot of paper to take down to painting over it with oil based KILZ and then you can paint over it. I did that at the suggestion of some guys in the paint department of Home Depot and it worked great- in two rooms. I also saw where you can put a textured paper over it and its to pint over, looks really cool you might look into that but since you just have a border if you dont want the whole wall the texture just paint it with kilz and then paint over it, its a lot easier i think.
YAY! Congrats on the move! But damn those colours are vile. How could anyone go into either the living room or the 2nd bathroom first thing in the morning. Or after a hard days work in the evening. Or any time at all, in fact. Good luck on the redecorating – that’s always fun.
Re: the wallpaper removal – have you tried getting hold of a steamer thingumy? The steam is supposed to be a real help in removing well-stuck-on wallpaper.
Oh, gosh. You guys have your work cut out for you!
But I’m a little jealous of all the painting you guys get to do! Heh.
You guys have some great natural lighting, especially in your living room and dining room. I can’t wait to see how you guys change it up!
I’m so excited for you!! I can’t wait to buy my first house.
The paint in that house really is awful. What were they thinking? Maybe they were colorblind?
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Wow, there is so much you can do with this place! Beautiful!!
I can’t wait to see all the amazing things you will do to your house.
Oh my, that greenish color in the bathroom is awful. Other than that,though, your place looks very nice and huge! Enjoy this phase, you can make it look like you want to. Good luck!
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