The TV Room Plan

So the other space I'll be spending a lot of time is a TV room/family room addition in the back of the house. This was originally a patio, but has been finished to be a cozy {but not cozy-small... more cozy-warm} space to relax.

Here's what we were dealing with before:

So many things that I like and dislike in one room!

First up, I'm the granddaughter of a bricklayer. Painted brick is not ok with me. I know it's a huge trend right now to paint brick, but I think many, many people will be sad that their brick won't ever be natural again. That's just my two cents. Plus, the color that this fireplace was painted did not look very good in person. It looked dirty... like smokey. And on top of that, if I were to paint brick, I really only like white... BUT with the paneling {which I did not love, but could stand until a future phase} being white, it would have been white over-kill.

With that being said, here was the original plan for the space:

• Strip the brick fireplace and get it as close back to natural brick as possible
• Remove stinky carpet and lay hardwood floors
• Work with the white woodword
• Add crown molding and chunky baseboards
• "Beef-up" {a very technical term} the built-ins and paint them a bright color like you see below... possibly build out cabinets on the bottom section of either side of the built-ins for more hidden storage {DVD's, extra pillows and blankets, etc.}, also below.

 

lifeingraceblog.com

• "Beef-up"/add a reclaimed wood mantle or concrete mantle {I'll share inspiration pics later}
• Purchase a kilim rug full of color to bring life to the white room
• Mount a TV over the mantle
• Add comfy furniture for lots of lounging 
• Add bamboo blinds and colorful curtains
• Paint the back door a fun color {yellow, maybe?}

So there you have it. That was the original plan... but if I've already learned something from this process {besides that everything is more expensive than what you have budgeted for}, I've learned that plans change quickly. Here's the scoop... my contractor came to me and said there were repairs that needed to be done to the paneling that were going to become somewhat expensive. With that in mind, I asked him to give me a quote for removing the paneling and hanging drywall. Long story short, although I was planning to do that in a future phase, I went ahead and had it done already. Don't get me wrong, I'm super pleased not to have paneling {goodbye 1970's!}, but part of me was kind of excited about working around that design challenge and having some colorful built-ins {my built-ins in the front living room are also white, so I was thinking something different back here}. Here's what the room currently looks like pre-floors... yes, there was linoleum under the carpet! {Sidenote: holy moley looking at pictures like this of the in-between phase gets me a little overwhelmed!}

I chose a avocado-ish color for the walls. It's called Hearts of Palm by Sherwin Williams. I really like the color... it's a great yellowy-green, but as I'm reflecting on my original plans, I'm still sad that I won't have my bright built-ins. So this room will definitely be a work in progress... who knows, maybe I'll change the walls to a more neutral color to accommodate bright built-ins. We'll see. I do know though that there is still much more to do, but I'm excited to cuddle up in this room and relax! I did already purchase that kilim rug I mentioned earlier, but now I'm trying to decide if I want it in this room or in the dining room. So many decisions! Only time will tell!

Off to Canada tomorrow, so I'll probably be away from the blog for a bit! But next week is a BIG week! Cleaning, painting {more} and moving! You'll be sick of my updates once it's all over... just hold tight!

The Master Bedroom Plan

So I'm going to go through each space of my house and share my initial plan... and what better place to start but the very place I will lay my head down every night... well, every night that I'm not traveling at least!

You're aware of the before:

 

As you can see, there is no door. Interesting, huh? Well, the master is the only thing on the top floor, so a wall is not necessarily necessary for privacy, however, it feels a little odd not being able to close the door to my room. I contemplated a few options here. I knew I had to get rid of the current wrought iron railing, but I initially thought I'd replace with a more traditional wood railing and just leave the space open as-is, but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized I'd really like to be able to retreat to my room and close of the rest of the world house if I felt like it... so I added a wall to my to-do list. 

And I already have a great furniture set for my bedroom, so that helps the budget, as well as some of my bedding! I'm a sucker for a simple white bed with pops of color, texture and pattern. Here's a little idea of what I started with:

Still love the pillow combo on my bed, but I'm ready for something different and I have plans to use these pillows in a different room {stay tuned on that!}.

After living in a rental house for the past three years, I came to a couple of conclusions:

1. I am ready for a little more than a neutral color on my walls.
2. I love hardwood floors in my bedroom.

So with those two items at the top of my list, here's where my mood board started out:

wall color image: Country Home Magazine - chair: world market - bedding sources {clockwise from top}: the hunted interior /apartment therapy / unknown / style me pretty

And here's a breakdown of my to-do list:

• Paint the walls a great bluish/green color
• Remove icky carpet and install rich hardwoods
• Build a wall to close off space from stairway and add a door
• Replace ceiling fan {I have a serious fear of a ceiling fan falling on me while I sleep... so scary!, but this is a phase 2 project when I replace the lighting throughout the house}
• Paint doors black for a glamorous look
• Add trim to doors
• Add crown molding
• Re-purpose some of my existing bedding
• Add new pops of color and monogram pieces
• Create a cozy reading and/or TV watching area
• Add a rug, drapes, new wood blinds and accessories
• Add storage unit for hidden shoe storage {yes, I have a shoe storage problem} and accessories

I'm happy to report that the first few bullets have been knocked out! Floors are in and being stained right NOW! So the bones of this room are coming together, just need to get my stuff moved in so I can see what I still need to fill in the gaps!

Here's a sneak peak:

Wondering why there is an outlet smack dab in the middle of the new wall? Planning on mounting my TV!

Don't mind that weird built-in cabinet thing in the corner... I'll figure something out to do with it! I was thinking of taking the doors off and just making it an open shelving area {maybe painted a cool color or striped or lined with a pattern}, but the shelves are crooked and I think it might be more of an eye-sore. We shall see what I come up with here!!! Oh the "charm" of old houses!
 
Well, there it is! Hope you liked my first house update. There's lots more where that came from... just bear with me!

The Before {Inside}

I mentioned I bought a house and we are mid-reno, but what reveal would be complete without a good look at the before? {And by the way... I finally upgraded to a legit camera, unfortunately, these before pics were my first try using the gadget and I was painfully unaware of how to zoom out. Oops! Oh well, the 'afters' will be better!}

Here we go...

Living Room:

Coming in and looking immediately to the left you see these built-ins.

Dining Room: 

Kitchen:

TV Room:

Downstairs Bedrooms:

Front Bedroom

Back Bedroom

Downstairs Bathroom:

Master:

Clearly my Dad was excited to take the stinky carpet up!

Master Bath:

I'm sure you're all just dying to know what I have planned, but let's let the beauty of the wallpaper, blue contertops and stinky carpet all sink in, shall we? As you can probably gather, each of those items are on the chopping block. Stay tuned for details on what I have planned for each of these spaces! And I owe you pictures of the outside spaces... the patio is going to be wonderful!

Have a great weekend! And a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my MOM!