Small Changes Inspired Busy Single Dad to Keep Things Looking Nice

When Jason moved into his new house, he didn’t bring a lot of furniture with him (though he did have a good amount of nicely framed art and concert posters). Even so, we only purchased a few new things to transform this space. We painted three rooms and one accent wall, and most of the other changes came from rearranging art and furniture.

I painted one wall at the end of the entryway hall (Jason’s idea) and hung a print by Penelyn Van Orange because its pink and blue mat echo the colors in the snowboard coat rack that Jason made and hung in the hall.

When I first came to the house, the TV, two recliners, and a loveseat were in the living room. The room at the front of the house next to the dining room held a pingpong table and two gaming computers. After a little rearranging (and the unfortunate death of the pingpong table), Jason and his three boys now have two living spaces downstairs instead of one.

We found the vintage yellow chair at Eloquence Antiques and the orange side table at the ReStore and added a large rug we got for free. (The floors were very cold.) Jason found yellow pillows for the loveseat to echo the yellow in the chair.

Jason bought the cabinet above at the Habitat ReStore for $40, and I painted it teal and polished its pulls, which turned out to be brass under all the black tarnish. Jason bought a glass top to protect it, and we turned it into a home for all the plants he received as housewarming gifts when he moved in.

We relocated several pieces of art and moved the wood table to the other side of the room. It now holds the stereo, speakers, and about half of Jason’s colorful handmade tape collection.

We remade the pingpong room into a family room by adding the two chairs and TV from the living room, a cabinet from the dining room, and purchasing a new couch from Article. We painted the walls a warm yellow, added two matching lamps we got for free, and hung several posters and prints that were previously in other parts of the house.

We opened the dining room up by taking out the large black cabinet and reorienting the table. We rehung the art, and Jason spray painted the switch plate covers black.

The downstairs powder room doesn’t get any natural light. To give it some personality, I painted the walls a pretty spring green and the vanity and mirror black to echo the art that was already in the room.

Jason told me he feels happier since we made improvements in his house. All the changes inspired him to keep things looking nice. It may be a small thing, but I think it says a lot about how good a well-appointed home can make you feel.