To begin:
Welcome to the standard color choices for the house: pink & blue. I love pink & I love blue (remember the blue dresser?) but not here people. If you look close enough you can tell exactly where the wall decorations hung since the war of 1812. Ok that was a joke, the house was built in the 40's but still....
Welcome to my worst enemy thus far: THE BOOKSHELVES. Those bookshelves nearly took all of me but I do love them now (months & months later and they still aren't done but close)...
The first thing we did was tear up the carpet & carpet pad. I can assure you that masks, goggles & hazmat suits were worn. I would guess that it had been there since the 70's & you could tell. There was at least an inch of dirt & grime under the carpet pad. You can also tell that there was a rug at some point prior to the carpet.
I really wish I had known I was going to blog about all of this and taken more pictures because the process was intense. I know I have more pictures somewhere so I will have to post once they are found.
I still want to go ahead with Where We Are Today though...
Welcome to our TV room.
The walls are Martha Stewart Bedford Gray. The floors have been refinished to a color called American and finished with a satin sheen. I was told this would hide dog hair and scratches. If they only knew how much our dog sheds...
Here is what I call our sitting room. Our TV room is on the other side of the front door on the left of the picture. It really is just one large room and you can still see the TV but we decided to break it into two separate areas.
Notice something missing behind the TV? The window is gone! Removing the window took a lot of effort on my part for Geoff to be ok with it. Well really, I just said "The view is the garage & where can you put your over sized TV?" Sold. The view really is the garage and there wasn't a single spot for the TV. Oh and notice that there isn't a wall on the left anymore? Minor details :) The kitchen is over there and is open to the TV room now but I will get to that when we do our kitchen update.
See that cute little creature below? That is our housewarming gift from Momma Pink String. It was actually the first thing bought for our house almost a year before we moved in. Its from Anthropology and I am completely obsessed with it. I must find a way to keep the dog off of it.
Ah the bookshelves. Way to many hours by Geoff (demo), my dad (trim & bead board) and myself stripping, sanding & painting. We have ordered cabinet fronts for the bottom and they should arrive in the next few weeks. I originally was going to DIY a few faces but after the hours put in I was ready to hand it over to a pro. I will admit that all of the books on this shelf are cookbooks. I may have an obsession :)
We still can't part with our books from college. At least we got rid of most of the duplicates.
The lighting fixtures we bought for this house were a huge stress factor/I was not going to compromise on what I wanted. The fixtures we had before were brass and glass and had a brass chain that plugged them into the wall. Real classy. I found fans that looked just like this at Ballard Design and they would have cost in the 4 figures for two of them. Not happening... well they almost did happen. It was Christmas and I got the go ahead from Geoff (possibly after a few coctails) and then he saw how much they would be to ship. A lot. This is when he stepped in and found the same exact fans made by Hunter for 1/2 the price. Score. I believe the shipping was free as well. Score again.
The couch was my couch from my last year of college. It is from rooms to go and serves its purpose. I don't love it but it is comfortable to relax on. The pillows on the couch I got from Anthropology a few weeks ago for about 70% off. They are brighter than most of our colors but they make me like the couch more. The two chairs are from Bungalow in Atlanta's West Provisions District. If I could furnish my house from any store this would be it. I lucked out because they originally resided in the model unit that the developer I worked for built and when the model unit was downsized there was no longer room for them. None of the guys wanted these petite chairs and I had always loved them. Needless to say I got them for a VERY discounted, couldn't have bought them cheaper at Ikea price. Oh and the pillows are from there too. The little green basket is Argos's basket and I bought that at Home Goods a few years ago in college. It stores all of his toys. It is the perfect hight for him to retrieve his toys and I can wash the liner.
One thing that did stay, besides the walls (well most of them) was the blinds. Totally random but they work for now. We plan on replacing these windows within a year and I figured at that point I could find window treatments. The window casings are also temporary. Geoff just threw them up there so that it would at least look finished but up close you can see that it isn't good wood and we didn't putty the holes.
The couch was passed down to Geoff & I from Momma Pink String when they bought a new furniture set. Its only a love seat but it works for now. Somehow, Geoff, Argos & I can all sit on it and watch TV. I would really like some sort of clean, lined sectional but that is down the road. The pillows are the pillows that came with the other couch. I bought fabric to make new cases for them but I need to learn how.
Big change right? There is still a lot to do but for now we can live comfortably.
What we have done:
- Tore up carpet
- Filled in the window
- Partially demoed the bookshelves, stripped them, added trim, & painted
- Painted walls & ceiling
- Stripped and painted the front door
- Knocked down a few walls
- Started the baseboards
- New fans
- Rewired
- Tore off the old window casing and added new temporary
- Refinished the floors
- Added furniture
Now for the check list of what needs to get done:
- Finish the bookshelves with doors and hardware
- Finish the baseboards
- Touch up paint
- A stand for the TV
- An ottoman for the TV room
- A rug for the TV room
- Artwork on the walls
- Window treatments
- Shave dog. I kid.
I hope you enjoy it & I will be back in the next day or two with a quinoa recipe!
.live creatively well.
-nicole.
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