The Living Room

We are so excited about our new house and the potential is has to be a fun and hospitable home. It needed a lot of work (and cleaning!)…so we jumped right in!
Closed on November 3, 2009 and had 2 1/2 weeks to work on it before the big move. With much help from family and friends, we got a lot done!
First of all, we wanted to open up the living room to the rest of the house. Our plan was to:

• Punch a hole in the wall that is covered in wood paneling and create a large opening to a bedroom. (Turning the bedroom into an office.) We eventually hope to build a large sliding barn door for the opening.
• Put in a small closet near the front door to make somewhat of an entrance. This will be an open closet with a high shelf, a coat rack with hooks, and a bench.
• Remove an awkward closet over the stairwell separating the kitchen from the living room and create a peninsula counter. Move a structural wall and replace a header.
• Build a bump out (for a closet in the kitchen) and carry the lines across the living room as a soffit.
• Install recessed and dimmable ceiling lights.
• Refinish the hardwood floors.

Here are a few pics of the process:
1. Before. The white box/fake wood paneling living room.

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2. The demo and framing begins…

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3.  Done! (Well almost…) Painted and floors refinished!

    



























I have to laugh as I look back at when we were deciding to buy this house. Nick kept saying, “Just trust me…we can change it.” He was right! It is amazing how cleaning, painting, and opening up space can change the feel of the whole house. I am blessed to have married an architect who knows how to make it happen! I learned so much during this whole process.
More to come later on the rest of the house!