People (at least on HGTV) always claim that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes. I disagree. Chandeliers sell homes. There’s nothing more important than lighting. The right (or wrong) lighting can impact how everything looks—from the furniture to the wall color to the size of the room. There’s nothing worse than bad lighting. Just ask anyone who has ever tried on jeans in a Walmart dressing room.

Lighting is something that people don’t always invest in because they see it as decorative and unnecessary or frivolous. I think it’s very necessary. A $12 light fixture technically does the same thing as a $2500 light fixture, but I like my money where I can see it—hanging from the ceiling!

This isn't our first renovation. Our home in Colorado was quite terrifying when we bought it in 2013. It was a short sale. It was the first and only house we looked at because it was the only house in the neighborhood we wanted to be in that we could afford at the time. And it had really good light.

We toured the house in November of 2012, put the offer in the week of Thanksgiving and then finally received approval to purchase the house in late January. Short sales are a nightmare but worth it for the savings.

We moved in on Valentine's Day of 2013. Five years later, we moved into Gaye Gardens on Valentine's Day. Apparently, moving into homes on Valentine's Day is our thing!

We named our Colorado home "Little House on the Prairie" because it was quite literally a little house on the prairie. When we moved into the house, there wasn't much built beyond us. The Arapahoe County Fairgrounds and some cows. It had quite the view!

The living space was just under 1,800 square feet—about the size of our current attic. The lot was 3,920 square feet—the size of a postage stamp.

The house was disgusting when we moved in. We bleached the walls and ripped out all of the carpet before we even brought in the first box. The house smelled like cat pee and designer impostor body spray. The previous owner had multiple dogs, cats, snakes, and very bad hygiene.

Look at how beautiful this carpet is! When we first went to see the house, there was a bed covering the bleach stains on the carpet. I’m pretty sure someone was murdered or permed in that room. Perhaps both.

I’ll give you the full renovation tour.

The house when we listed it for sale. #sad

This is the old living room. It came with these really depressing drapes and weird light fixtures… I’m not sure why anyone would put those up on purpose. Or hang the curtains so far from the ceiling… flood curtains?

This is what it looked like after we got done with it.

We painted everything Balanced Beige by Sherwin-Williams. I don’t love neutrals but it is a really pretty grayish brown color that looks expensive. All of the trim was Dover White and Gary put in new baseboards and crown molding. Everything is prett… — We painted everything Balanced Beige by Sherwin-Williams. I don’t love neutrals but it is a really pretty grayish brown color that looks expensive. All of the trim was Dover White and Gary put in new baseboards and crown molding. Everything is prettier with crown molding. It’s like makeup for ugly rooms. And, of course, the chandeliers! Pottery Barn clearance specials but they completely transformed the space.

This was the old master bedroom. They were nice enough to leave them glamorous drapes.

The drapes that were made out of plastic. So that you could kill people and then rinse them. They were also coated in animal hair. I thought about melting them down into a broach (souvenirs!) but I figured it was smarter just to throw them in the tr… — The drapes that were made out of plastic. So that you could kill people and then rinse them. They were also coated in animal hair. I thought about melting them down into a broach (souvenirs!) but I figured it was smarter just to throw them in the trash.

We painted the bedroom Intellectual Gray and put up some seriously thick 5-inch crown molding. Okay, Gary put it up while I laid on the bed and looked at the chandelier. We bought the velvet drapes at Ikea. Which sounds quite tragic but Ikea has the… — We painted the bedroom Intellectual Gray and put up some seriously thick 5-inch crown molding. Okay, Gary put it up while I laid on the bed and looked at the chandelier. We bought the velvet drapes at Ikea. Which sounds quite tragic but Ikea has *the most fabulous* velvet drapes! They are thick and they block out all of the sun. I’m obsessed with them! The chandelier is swizzles and Swarovski and I found it on Overstock.com. They have really good coupons!

This is our old bathroom before the renovation.

I don’t know what is going on with those bloody curtains. The bathroom looked like something out of a 1950’s mental asylum. And not in a good way.

So we gave the bathroom a blinged out makeover. New subway tile, glass surround, marble floors, marble paneling for the tub, and new sparkly quartz countertops.

Gary painted the oak cabinets with black lacquer. I realize that the brothel look isn’t for everyone, but I don’t think you can argue how fabulous these crystal light fixtures look! They were a bitch to clean but I’d put them in every bathroom if it were an option.

Yes, that is another chandelier in the toilet room.

I miss that bathroom!

Even the countertops had glitter in them!

This was our sad little light fixture in the foyer.

Why would anyone hang this in a 20 foot foyer?

We promptly replaced it with the Swarovski chandelier.

The chandelier is what I miss most from that house. My sister bought me that chandelier in 2004 and I carted it around for nine years before we finally installed it. It doesn’t look very big here but it had over 1,200 individual crystals and it was pretty magical when the sun hit it.

Our old house sold in five hours. For almost twice what we paid for it (and a new record for the neighborhood.)

It was clearly because of the chandeliers...

Our Last House

Gaye Gardens