Living Room - Phase 5 - Refinishing the floors

After 8 wonderful days in Illinois and Wisconsin with family over the holidays, we came home to our biggest present of all - floors that are like BRAND NEW.  We had them sanded and refinished, and we also had molding put on to cover the gap that used to be there.  Kudos to Wildwood Floors (Jody) for some outstanding work!!!

Here is a reminder of what the floors looked like before:

Now here are a few after pics!

Drumroll for the completed built-ins please...  Here is the existing bookcase and new bench:

Here is the new bookcase and bench:

Living Room - Phase 4 - Built-ins!

Well, pulling in to the house tonight was like coming home after knowing Santa had made a visit to your house.  Except it was even better - Jack Olson had been over.  Jill's dad, our favorite contractor and handyman is doing some built-ins, and here is the first peek!

Here's what we have on the left of the fireplace:

Here's what he is building to match on the other side.  Gotta love symmetry!  Stay tuned... more coming soon after the staining and a few other fun touches are added!

Living Room - Phase 3 - Shopping!

After months of visiting many furniture stores, countless hours online, magazines, books and fabric sample rentals later, it was apparent we needed a professional.  The decision making and overall floorplan was just not something I was prepared for!  So we found Victoria, the owner of Wicker and the Works and Gallery V, a local store just two blocks away.  She's a really fun designer who came out to the house and measured, got our criteria for the room, and saw samples of "our style".  I really wanted to keep the room light, with yellows, blues, and greens.  Mission accomplished!  I won't spoil the surprise, but we are thrilled with our choices.  Here is a sampling of some of the fabrics and colors you will see in the room.  We expect delivery in January, after some built-ins and a floor refinishing are completed yet this month and after the holidays.

 

Living Room - Phase 2 - Paint!

After a trip to the local Sherwinn-Williams store, (Eric kept calling it Sherman Williams), we had our paint - "Breezy".  We both loved the idea of a grayish blue color, somewhat neutral but also something light and airy, that would really open up the space.  They mixed us a tinted primer, which believe it or not, only required ONE coat!  I was shocked because of how dark that red was!

First coat of "Breezy" on top of the primer.

 Eric, in action!

 It was like opening the windows for the first time to let the light in! 

Living Room - Phase 1 - Removing the Massive Mirror

Well, above our fireplace hung a gigantic mirror with sconces from maybe like the mid-80's.  Eric, the handyman-in-training, got right to it, turning off the electricity to that room, (which we discovered also shares the same breaker as the fridge!), removing the sconces, and putting caps on the wires while we painted.

 What do you know, under the mirror - more TAUPE!  I'm thinking there may be a creative mirror project in my future - we'll see!

Living Room Renovation - Before

Well, as you know, we've been renovating our living room!  I thought I'd update the blog to show you our progress!  Here was our living room before picture.  We had started moving things around and removing things from the walls, but this is pretty close to what it used to look like. 

Our First Blog

Well, it seems as though most days we come up with some funny stories, about dining experinces, home-ownership experiences and perhaps just life experiences.  Just thought we'd give this a whirl to see where it takes us!  Welcome!