iseecerulean

An overdue update of my life-sized home renovation.  The living room and hallway are done, and the dining room almost. 

I don't have much in the way of 'before pictures'....

The kitchen, dining, and living rooms all had different wall and floor coverings.  They aren't one large open space, but all three rooms are visible at the same time no matter where you're standing, so I wanted to make them consistent, to flow together.

After the dining room wallpaper was stripped and the walls painted, we built a shelving unit for my husband's beer mug/glasses collection, to match the shelving units we built in the kitchen and living rooms.  The new shelves replace two small secondhand shelving units I used elsewhere.  His collection fits nicely and leaves room for growth.  I would rather have art hung on the dining room walls, but I don't live alone.

The dining room table is one that Matt's Grandfather made his Grandmother for their kitchen, which Matt's brother inherited and used until his death.  The top used to be painted, but the finish is mostly worn away now.  We contemplated sanding down the top and resealing, as it's fairly rough, but Matt wanted to preserve the little bit of remaining paint.  There is only one chair left of the original four, we put it in the corner of the room.

The only new purchase for this room, other than shelving unit materials, was the area rug.  Oh!  That's not true.  I replaced the window air conditioning unit with a floor standing model.

I'm not quite done here yet.  I painted two chairs burgundy, but need to paint the other pair to match.  I also bought fabric to reupholster the cushions.   I need to wait for warm weather.

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There was no wallpaper in the living room, thank goodness.  There was a wood paneled featured wall which we previously painted light yellow, when we painted the kitchen cabinets years ago, to lighten the room.  I wanted to remove the paneling and replace it with drywall, but that effort and expense was the one thing Matt protested vehemently during the entire remodel, so I painted it the same color as the rest of the walls.  It doesn't stand out as a feature wall anymore and isn't noticeable as dissimilar unless one is attentive.  I can live with it.

The biggest challenge in this room was finding a lamp for the end table next to the sofa.  The end table is, really, rather short, but it was made by Matt's father from a piece of black walnut milled by his grandfather, so is irreplaceable.  The short, narrow table means I need a tall, narrow, lamp.  I looked, and looked, and looked, then one day Matt text me a picture from a resale shop.  Perfect (except for the 70s shade).

My big splurge in the living room was on lampshades.  I custom ordered, to my specific measurements, new, white, lampshades for both lamps.  It was worth every penny.

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The hallway is, well, a hallway, and not at all glamorous.  I painted the walls the same color as the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.  I ripped out the old baseboard and installed new because the previous painter didn't prep properly and I couldn't stand the thought of stripping and sanding.

The only room left to remodel is the bathroom.  I'm still thinking about what to do there.