The Living Room Redo……

 

   Well I thought my busy days were behind me but alas I seem to be just as busy as when we were under construction! I actually have a couple of hours this afternoon before I have to head out somewhere so I thought I would begin to show you the before pictures of our old 1983 built living room we renovated. It had an old couch, chair, and hassock that was falling apart. The original 1983 rust colored carpet was still there and we had the oddest looking tv stand with a tv on top of it because it would not fit inside of it! Well….just take a gander….

   In this photo you can see all the furniture and the rug and our old computer desk. We had already taken out a table that was in that empty corner and the overhead wobbly fan. This next photo is our ugly and odd tv stand. That’s it! This was our high tech entertainment center! It all seems pretty strange now but it seemed to work for us at the time! This room was once a bedroom made into a tiny living room. We live in a small Cape Cod home and we are revamping the house room by room as we can afford it. This was the closet in the room that we made into a media cove. We had already taken off the door…..but see that lush rust colored carpet! Oh my freaking God…why did it take us so long!! There was a square of sheetrock on the ceiling that was fixed years ago….well partially fixed! Here’s the story… My husband was working on one of the bedrooms upstairs that had no floor. He stepped through the insulation and his foot came right through the living room ceiling! This is how it looked for the last few years, once it was partially fixed! No mud and no taping….just like this and I guess we ignored it? Can you imagine?

   Here are more photos of the ugliness….

     We were discussing getting a new lamp because our old brass one had just died and this little green one was a spare. The table between the ugly chair and ugly couch, was made by my husband I think when he was a teenager! Notice the ugly pillows too that went to the dump with the furniture!

   The carpet had to come out and the padding, which is what you see here. Once the padding came up, we discovered that the underlayment was particle board and it was falling apart. That had to go.

   The closet had to be cut wider and taller with a special saw. The shelf and the hardware came out.

   Inside the closet on the left hand side is a metal box. A few years ago, my husband had this idea. He wanted the entire house wired for cable, internet and phones. This is the brains of it all. Every room in my house including the basement, has one or more outlets to include all three of the above mentioned. This box was the source of much conversation. Do we leave it the way it is and just hide the wires? Do we build a sheetrock frame around it with a small shelf on top to hold the router that was in that closet on the above shelf? If we do that, do we need to build another shelf opposite that on the other wall to match it? On and on we went with ideas until my husband decided it was a better idea to sink it into the wall and feed the wires down through the wall to an outlet that he and the builder had to create. See that outlet to the right with wires hanging out? That came out right along with that wall. That was our closet light switch. The closet was a big project in itself. Here it is with the walls cut out on the sides and before the carpet came out. You can see where the walls were by the cutouts on the floor. This is a photo of the top after being cut out and before sheetrock. This is the beginning of sheetrock and before priming the walls. New outlet to the left for a dimmer switch which will go to a set of rail lights above. An outlet in the bottom back for the entertainment center. Bottom left inside the closet is an outlet opening with a string. Above is the tech box recessed into the wall….easier said than done! The string is attached to all the wires that need to be fished down to that outlet….that took some doing….and as you can probably see….new plywood flooring. Here’s a look inside the brain box. Pretty techie looking isn’t it? I will tell you later what our plans are for dressing that up. The priming begins…..

 Choosing a color was one of the absolute hardest decisions to make for us. I looked at more paint chips than I care to mention and magazines and watched those home makeover shows!! Then, one day, I was at a friends house. They had hired a decorator for 400.00 to come in to their home and make decisions for them. This was the color she chose and I loved it. It’s called Harbour Town by Sherwin Williams. It’s a light sage and it looks totally different during the day than it does at night, but that’s ok….it’s done, and it didn’t cost me 400.00 to find it. I thanked my friend for paying for it and giving me the name of it!! The trim on the windows was called icicle and we did that in a semi-gloss. The walls we did in an eggshell. The wood around the inside of the windows had to stay and I was not thrilled about that because it makes it look country. My whole house is country. I am sick of it and am trying to go more traditional. That’s ok because my curtains cover that up.

   That’s a sneak peak and I will add more tomorrow. I have many more things to share with you that are happening right now but not enough time!! Arggggg See you tomorrow………