Me: "Wanna help me make this room pretty?"
Friend Jena: *squeal of delight* YES!
She started the pinterest board and the journey began. I had already found a fabric that I really loved for new chairs. Once I forwarded a picture to her, she had all the inspiration she needed. Erik and I decided it was about time to spend some money on living room furniture for the first time in our married lives. For real, people. Sixteen and a half years with hand-me-downs, for which we have been SUPER grateful. But buying furniture isn't a sin. Coveting furniture - yes. Overspending on furniture - yes. Finding an amazing President's Day Sale and getting two chairs for what you thought you would have to spend for one - not. a. sin. And that's exactly what happened. The new chairs don't arrive for another month or so, but here is the fabric in front of the test paint section of the fake wood paneling.
The chairs will be the "pop" in the new room. Most other elements will be in tones of white and grey. This will be the accent wall. The other walls will be a light grey. Here are some other "in process" pictures.
I used a LOT of primer to cover that paneling...and I might have taken a few days off school to paint. Teacher work days. Those are a thing still? Right?
Wanna see the entire wall finished?
There is too much stuff on that mantel, but we haven't worked on accessories yet. The color of the wall helps so much. The side tables will be painted white and have new lamps. We also plan to paint the brick and the tile around the fireplace, as well as the insert. I haven't decided yet about the mantel. A lot will depend on what it looks like against the hardwoods...insert Amy's girlish squeal of delight here.
We have always known that there were hardwoods under the carpet. It's in the closets. Getting them refinished has just never been at the top of our list. That all changed when our good friend Michael came over to take a look at the possibility of removing the shelving that enclosed our entryway. Take a look:
It's not terrible, but it always made our entryway feel cramped. Dinner parties were always filled with people squishing between these shelves and the backs of chairs. So, Michael tore it out for us. The same day he came to check it out. And we all discovered the absolutely pristine hardwoods underneath it. While he was at it, he mentioned being worried about damaging the terrible, poop-brown tile in the entryway. I informed him that it would eventually go, too. No time like the present! So, he tore that out, too. And found PRISTINE hardwoods underneath. Are you catching a theme here? Wanna see a picture?
Michael and Jan are part of our Roots family. That's our church. But it's really more like family than church. (Friend Jena is part of Roots, too.) These folks came over spur the moment and did all this work. Michael even left to go grab his belt sander so we could see what the floors would look like without the gross glue. Beautiful. That's how they look.
We are going to hire professionals to do the actual refinishing of the floors. Our buddy, Kale, runs his own business and they do this type of stuff. They'll be coming in April to rip out the carpet and do the refinishing at a very reasonable price. Blessedly, Erik will be out of town at a business meeting and I will be in Sunriver with the boys during the work. We will, however, have the joy of removing all the furniture from our front room during the two weeks previous to the work and painting all the walls. Pretty sure we are going to beg our friends for help with all this, too. ;-)
So, it's going to take a few more months, maybe four to six. I still need to pick the grey color that I want to paint the other walls. There are LOTS of little DIY projects that Jena and I need to attack, but finding time is a challenge. And we might not be able to afford a new couch for awhile. I tried a slipcover - too slippy and messy-looking when people sat on it. Honestly, who doesn't sit on their couch? So, we will save our pennies and shop around and wait for the right sale. And when this room is finally done, I am so confident that it will be stunning.
I can't tell you how excited I am about this, folks. This is the room where I drink my first cup of coffee and have my first conversation with Jesus each morning. It's always been a functional room, but never a beautiful one. Sometimes beauty matters. Especially when the ugly can be remedied fairly inexpensively and with the help of good friends.
