Big Visual Changes

Every week of this renovation has been interesting. Some better than others. This week has been particularly gratifying because our efforts have brought about more physical change to the house than compared with earlier weeks. It's fun to see the house take on a new look!

The things we have been working on have all been important steps in getting the house back into shape, but really, is there anything exciting and fun about electrical and dry wall repair? I think not. In fact, doing dry wall has convinced me that not only is that line of work not in my future, but those who are in that line of work deserve massive props. It's an ugly, messy dirty, painful job....and to make it even more challenging.....it takes the hands of an artist to make it look good.

We started out the week trying to be artists. We attempted the second and third layers of mudding and sanding. I sort of got the hang of it, but I'm afraid I need a lot more practice before anyone would hire me. :). We went home Monday and Tuesday looking like ghosts and having dry wall sand up our noses.

The other thing we worked on early in the week was finishing up the tongue in groove "shiplap" on the family room walls. One of the fun design concepts I have chosen to go with in the family room is the new "shiplap" look that is all the rage right now. What I like about it is the clean look the horizontal lines bring, making the room seem bigger and longer. I also love the bright white paint. It makes a room feel fresh and updated. I certainly didn't want to do the entire room, or entire house with shiplap, so I chose to do one feature wall in the family room and tie it in with doing the upper part of the fireplace. I realize that what I'm putting up isn't real shiplap, in fact, most of what Joanna Gains calls "Shiplap" isn't real shiplap. But, the tongue in groove gives the same effect and is more cost efficient than real shiplap.

We also got a good start on the master ceiling. I decided to use the tongue in groove on the master ceiling as well. This will look a little different than the downstairs once we add beams on top of the tongue in groove. That room has that beautiful vaulted ceiling and I wanted to make sure that was a feature of this room. Here is an inspiration photo I used for this design:

This was a particularly fun project! I say that half in jest and half truthfully. It was really fun work. I personally like doing the more "finish" work using the miter saw. It's kind of fun to see the product being fit on the wall and taking on a new look. The part that made the master a little challenging was the huge ladders and the reaching at odd angles and the arms in the air again. But.....with that said....I'll take putting up a tongue in groove ceiling over a drywall ceiling any day of the week!!

The next project to tackle was the fireplace. I wanted the fireplace to have the "shiplap" look on the top, with the bottom being a combination of tile and board and batten with a rustic wood mantle like piece inspiration piece from Holly Mathis Interiors:

So, while we were doing all the tongue in groove, we decided to do the top of the fireplace as well. Actually, Bill had to run a few errands on Thursday morning, so I did most of the fireplace myself and got to learn how to do those 45 degree cuts on the corners. Not to brag, but I got pretty good at making a really tight corner. Only small amounts of wood filler will be needed needed. That was fun. 😀

Friday we spent working on our old house. The time has come for to put our current house up for sale! Sue Linnerooth set up an appointment with a photographer for Friday, so I spent the morning sprucing up my house and getting it photo ready. Things like lawn mowing, raking, planting a few flowers. Inside the house I put away nick knacks, simplified the decor and generally did a good cleaning. Sue had come earlier in the week to give me instructions on how to get the house photo ready. I hope it came together ok. It's a lovely house and I will miss it. I will especially miss my beautiful back yard.

Speaking of yards....I spent Friday afternoon with Ethan doing yard work at the project house. It was such a lovely, sunny day that I just couldn't let the opportunity pass by without spending it outdoors. Also, the lawn at the project house was getting out of control. And...speaking of yard...the back yard at the project house is an abomination. Especially after just spending the day in my own yard oasis. I will have to come up with a good landscape plan for that house. It might have to include a large backhoe. Seriously...that yard....yikes!!

But....for the grand finale we waited until Saturday.....the day that Bill has been waiting for with great anticipation for weeks. Paint! We got to put the first coat of primer on the entire main floor of the house. This is a big deal! We had to move through many, many steps, and lots of processes before we could get to this point. Demo, electrical, plumbing, dry wall, doors put in, etc etc. He's been on pins and needles about it all week. Do you know how long we have been looking at those hideous green, yellow, orange and brown walls? Way too long. We are thrilled to have them disappear, even if they are replaced with a shockingly white coat of primer. It's still an improvement.

Here are some before/after shots of the living room: