Getting Creative

When we bought this house, the 1st floor layout was a little awkward. The 2nd floor layout is also awkward *there's a kitchen up there...) but that's a story for another day. The living room was essentially 2 separate rooms.

It's very narrow, and there was literally no wall for a tv. How did the people that lived here before watch tv?

We needed a solution. Luckily, Donny thinks much more creatively than I do. His suggestion was to make part of the living room and the dining room our new and improved living room.

Donny loves him some demolition work.

buh-bye wall.

 

So this is a cruddy "after" pic. I will need to take more!

Progress!

I haven't posted recently as things a the house had been progressing slowly.From obtaining permits, getting quotes from plumbers, and priming walls, it's all been pretty boring.

Don't get me wrong - we've gotten a lot done. But this week, we are so close to having a room be complete, and I think that made me realize that while things have been taking longer than expected, we've come a long way.

We painted the dining room this past weekend, and it's unbelievable what a difference a coat of paint can have.

Remember the beautiful wallpaper?

And the awful carpet?

Well, they're all gone now...

The color we chose was Bona Fide Beige by Sherwin Williams. Home Depot will create pretty much any color you would like, they're good quality and also cheaper than Sherwin Williams, so we went that route. 

My boyfriend, Donny, also textured the ceiling. Doing so covers up any imperfections (cracks, stains, etc.). It's not my favorite look, but is much cheaper/easier than repairing them.

Ceilings don't photograph well.

We have just a few more steps (2nd coat of paint, some work on the floors, etc.) and then the first room in the house will be complete. It will be nice to have a "command center," a place where we can sit & eat that isn't covered in dust from all the work going on. 

Bathroom Ideas

Once the plumber has finished working on our bathroom, I''m going to have to make some quick decisions on how I'd like it to look. Here are some ideas I've considered so far.

I love the giant framed mirror, and the recessed lighting. I have yet to come across any bathroom lights I like, so this is the approach we'll be taking.

How cool is this? I would probably consider using larger tiles and a different back splash strip.

Marble = $$$

Super cute - probably a pain to clean!

I've been begging my mother to make me a chevron shower curtain. The ones I've seen on Etsy are ridiculously expensive, but I really like this look.

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Wallpaper Woes

If I never see wallpaper again it'll be too soon.

This house has wallpaper in every single room. Every. Single. Room.

I think you get the picture.

Wallpaper removal has been tricky and time-consuming thus far. We've used a variety of different tools, and are finally starting to make some headway.

Removing the actual wallpaper on the first floor went relatively well. I was able to find the seams and remove the wallpaper in large chunks. The backing paper was another story. We purchased wallpaper stripper, which we then rolled onto the backing paper and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

This stuff worked pretty well, but it's time-consuming. It took two of us about four hours to get through part of the dining room. Someone then recommended we try out Gardz, a surface sealer that rolls on like paint right over the remaining adhesive.

We ran sandpaper over the walls first before applying to remove loose pieces. This process is working well so far, however, I have no idea how we're going to tackle to 2nd floor, as the wallpaper up there is older and much more stubborn. Now accepting suggestions on what to do! =)

Paint Inspiration

We are almost ready to start painting a few walls in the house, and attempting to pick out paint colors has taught me something: I am a plain Jane. I have spent hours on Pinterest searching for ideas, and I keep coming back to the same few hues.

Considering we have no real furniture, I'm thinking these "safe" colors are our best bet, and will allow for more creativity when decorating!

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The First Few Days

We closed on the house back in February, and spent the first weekend working on miscellaneous tasks/planning. This is my first house, and I am faaaar from handy. Luckily, my boyfriend, Donny, knows what he's doing. One of the first things I knew had to go (and felt remotely capable of completing) were the carpets in the front 2 rooms of the house, which are now going to be the dining room / part of the living room.

The wallpaper is just lovely, isn't it? ;)

I ripped the carpets up in sections, and then moved on to the padding underneath. The padding was nailed down (excessively, might I add), so we spent a few hours ripping them out using pliers.

The floors were in surprisingly good shape, and I think it made a huge difference! We plan to refinish the floors in the next few weeks.

Back, For Real!

Long time, no post!

It's been quite some time since I've posted, but recently a friend suggested blogging to document the most recent change in my life, a house! I am a first time proud owner of a fixer-upper. And I mean fixer-upper. Luckily, my boyfriend is quite capable, and my lack of knowledge/experience with this stuff will simply make this process more enjoyable for you =) 

My plan is to document our progress, put out ideas for what we're working on, and maybe even share a few "how-to's" if I actually learn how to do anything =) I hope you'll find the renewed focus of this blog interesting/entertaining!

Check out my very romantic Valentine's gift and the wood floors!