As I am sure you can tell blogging a new house while renovating, working, being a mom/wife/friend is MUCH more challenging than I expected. Currently as I blog the Mr is teaching the kiddos how to play poker. We really should win some sort of parenting award. Ha. We had two weeks from closing to when we had to move out of the rental to do stage one of renovating. It really consisted of all things messy. We painted every square inch of this place, electrical, taking down some cabinets, and added drywall to the all the spaces that had glued down acoustic tiles. This was a last minute decision as we first thought we would try to live with them for awhile, but after painting the paneling white it made the industrial ceiling look even more dingy. In hind site I am so grateful we did it before moving in as it made the biggest panic inducing mess ever. Now for the tour as it stood when we moved in and after 8 hours of cleaning with my best-est friend...
Just about everything was painted Sherwin Williams Alabaster. After testing about 10 different whites this is the one white that neither turned blue or yellow in all the spaces. White can be a tricky one for sure so I recommend always doing test swatches. This is also true with gray. As you can see we pretty much moved everything in from our "formal living room". The Mr wants decorating input this time around so currently we are at a stand still. We do desire this space to become more modern but I still want it to stand the test of time. My first thought is to add two modern chairs in place of the not so comfortable wicker chairs and add a new rug. Now being the tv room I desire the pieces to be comfortable and this rug sheds like crazy so basically sitting on it isn't practical. We need practical. We had the TV mounted and since the picture was taken the cords were hidden. The cracks that were in the ceiling were repaired by the Mr and for the ones that deemed themselves more challenging we hired out for. The fiddle fig tree sustained some damage in the move, but seems to be wanting to pull through.
The dining room is pretty much the same pieces we had before, but we added the black chairs that once floated around as extra seating. We are changing the light with this one even though the current one is an all time fave. In the space it didn't hold enough weight and looking through the windows it doesn't do anything for me. This light will either move into our room or KJ's. My vote is ours and later this week you will see why but the Mr loves a good fan so we shall see. You can also see where the floors had faded around a rug that must have been down for decades, but I'm hoping the new shiny light will be a distraction until we can afford to refinish the floors.
This little nook is holding our long time reclaimed wood piece that we have had for years. It was one of the first "big" purchases we made as a couple. I am so happy it still works in the space. This is also the start of where we covered the acoustic tile. I'm still deciding on a light for this space, but am waiting on the dining room light to be installed before deciding. Needless to say the molding was still in process. The windows had some sort of paint treatment that continued to yellow the white even after multiple coats. Making lemonade out of lemons I used Sherwin Williams Iron Ore to cover all things ugly and I am so glad I did. One day they will be real steel windows but for now I am completely content with the quick fix.
The laundry room nook is not my favorite, but until we decide on the new kitchen layout it will remain as is. One idea is to just wall it off and add a fun door on a barn track. We shall see. The light the Mr choose and I adore it. Can't wait for the rest of the space to match. The baskets are an all time fave too and help contain the clutter. I also in need of a new plan for our recycling. My first thought is to make our current {old} west elm market can into recycling and find a new one for the trash. Although I love this can the way the lid swings it inevitably gets dirty constantly which can drive a woman mad. I kid, sort of.
The kitchen/laundry are still in progress, but have gone through some BIG changes thus far. All upper cabinets were removed making the space feel open and less cave like. We had the same problem with the yellowing windows in here so the whole den/kitchen area received black frames too. We actually were gifted new "old" cabinets out of a kitchen remodel. They currently reside in our basement till we are ready for phase two. They are stunning and more than we could have ever afforded. We won't start this step till we are ready to do new floors, new counters, tile, wood shelving and add new appliance which is all out of budget currently so we wait and save. The pendant we found locally at South Eastern Salvage, but is a pretty good match for this one. It is centered with the window, but at this angle it looks off. The antique rug was in the old office and was found here. I adore it.
We added drywall to to the acoustic tile that covered this space and in turn added new lighting. I was inspired with Lauren Liess new kitchen ceiling lighting grid as it reminded me of our own space so I stole the idea completely. Why mess with genius. She used three across and I used two as our space seemed a tad narrower. The one issue we had is that the Mr wanted the lights installed immediately so I had to find a quick fix faster than fast. Amazon Prime actually came to the rescue and I could not be any more thrilled with the results. We needed something somewhat flush due to the Mr being 6'6 and these achieved the look I was desiring. You can't tell here, but the future mud room that currently has a random bookcase shoved in it, has an additional light that lines up perfectly. It makes me giddy really. We had the drywall actually cover the tiles dropping the ceiling a 1/2". The beams were already present. The fireplace also received a coat of Alabaster which transformed this space completely. Now the ugliest room in the house is on it's way to being oh so pretty.
This is a look back from the fireplace. You can see how much the space opened up. Our RH sofa is looking quite tired and hasn't held up quite as much as I would hope for such an investment. I do still love the look though.
This is the hall that goes to the back of the house in which I will share this week. Promise. The powder bath off of this space has not been touched. I am still in between waiting till we can afford to do it right or do quick fixes and live with it for a few years even if it isn't quite my full vision for it. Currently I am leaning towards quick fix which in the end may just be perfect.
In the same hall is this closet that has quickly become my favorite spot. I have all my favorite cleaning and party supplies in one spot and it truly makes me giddy. Like so giddy it borders on ridiculous. If the kids ask where I am be sure never to give away my secret.
Of course their had to be a room that currently stands in disaster and this happens to be the guest/office. Currently it holds all our art and "decorating" stuff. This phase I am not ready for until I have a concrete design plan in place. Doing ALL the painting ourselves makes me shy away from putting any holes in the wall in the near future. Baby steps from here on out.
