Month: November 2017

It’s hard to fathom that a month & a day ago we bought a new home and moved.  The month has been the longest, yet shortest ever.  It’s been filled with joy, excitement, and moments of sheer nervousness.  I’ve never slept so little or asked myself so many times, ‘did we make the right decision’?!?  In the next beat, I just carry forward because there’s no looking back now… Right???

As I mentioned in the last posts when I shared the background story of the house + before pictures, extensive renovation was needed before we officially moved in.  There was no major demo planned, but almost every room in the house needed something, and I don’t mean just spackling walls and paint.  Most of the rooms needed sheetrock and wall repair, some more than others.

The room that needed the most attention was the living room.  It wasn’t original to the house as we were told it was once an outdoor patio.  At some point, the 20′ x 25′ space was enclosed, but whether it was an inexperienced contractor or to save money, the construction of it was poor.  When we first saw the house, we knew this room was going to need the most attention and the most love, and we wanted to do it once AND right!

Let’s dive in to the transformation process…

THE BEFORE.

THE PLAN.

THE TRANSFORMATION.

Through pictures, this is how the room has evolved in 4 weeks. Later in the post, I’ll share more details on the process…

So there it is… The transformation in one month from dark + drear to light + bright.

THE DETAILS.

The first days of construction started with removing the paneling.  The thin vertical paneling was adhered only with glue to the existing brick facade (remember this space was originally a patio, so the exterior walls were brick with windows that were closed in).

The yellow in the picture below is painted brick, the square holes were original windows, and the random black markings was the glue.

Along with the vertical paneling, the acoustic ceiling tiles and the track were also removed.

Once the demo was complete, the space was ready to be created into a room.  We didn’t know the paneling was directly adhered to the brick.  We assumed there was a stud wall, which the new sheetrock could then be attached to.  Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, so walls had to be constructed around the room, along with new ceiling rafters.

Once the framing was complete on the walls and the ceiling, it was time to enclose the space with sheetrock.

Because of the new wall build out, the windows and exterior door now have deeper jambs, which is quite nice and unexpected.  I like that the window sills are so deep!

Between week 2-3 of construction, the sheetrock + taping + sanding was complete, and the wood floor could be installed.  When the carpet was removed, we found the floor was a laminate material, which was left in place.  A plywood backer was first installed on the floor, then the prefinished hardwood (which is a clear pine) was installed.

There were multiple floor materials throughout the original home, which we wanted to eliminate so it feels more cohesive.  We chose to run the new hardwood into the small hallway which leads to a bedroom, bathroom, and the kitchen (which is tiled).

The hardwoods cast an orange hue in the pictures above because the artificial lights are typically on for the workers.  But the floors actually aren’t as orange.  This picture is truer to their actual coloring and depth.  Aren’t they pretty? I adore the wood grain and multi-colors of lights and darks.

WHY WE CHOSE HARDWOOD.

Many hours of thinking + analyzation went in to the flooring choice.  From carpet to tile to white washed floors, we considered many different materials.  We first negated carpet because this will be a high traffic area that leads to the back yard, which is the pathway from the kitchen.  Carpet would get damaged.  We knew it had to be a hard material that can easily be cleaned.  We considered tile and different toned hardwoods, but with the kitchen being tiled, there would then be three flooring materials throughout.  In the end to make the new space feel cohesive with the rest of the house, we chose a clear pine hardwood. It was a good decision!

The space now is ready for paint + the finishing touches.  And check out one of two light fixtures that will be beautifully hanging from the ceiling…

EEK, I’m getting excited!

I can not wait to add the finishing layers to this room.

The space will be getting most of the furniture from our previous living room.

One room almost complete!

From this…

To this…

More room updates on our brick ranch fixer upper coming soon.