Diary of a Home Remodel #1: The Family Room

Since I bought my house with the intentions of remodeling it over time, I thought I'd share my experiences, both positive and negative of living through a remodel. Like many of you, expense is a big hindrance to home remodeling. We chose to do our family room, living room and dining room first because it was a less expensive start than to do the kitchen at the same time. In this post, I'll focus on the family room. In future posts, I'll document those projects I've finished and those I'm working on for the near future.

Family Room Before

Family Room After

The Problem: Our home was built in 1987, a typical stucco and stone structure, that had been finished in a contemporary style, with gray berber carpets and mauve and gray wallpaper, formica kitchen cabinets, and yellow oak flooring. A previous owner had tried to update with beige carpet and lemon yellow paint, on the walls and ceilings. I bought the house knowing I would remodel. I liked the floor plan and the kitchen had great space to work with for a future remodel, but I wanted to add more traditional country touches that I felt better accented the divided light windows, bay and dormer windows. The fireplace was a solid wall of rock, with no room for storage or for a home entertainment system. Plus, the look was dated.



My Wish List: I love the charm and homey feel of older homes. I wanted to give my family room the same cozy feeling by adding built-ins next to the fireplace and hardwood floors.



My Solutions: The first thing we did, before moving in was to paint. Paint makes a big difference in the look and feel of a room. I love color, so I knew I wanted to add color, but since I'd bought my house over the internet and only seen it twice (we were still living in Michigan), I wasn't even sure where walls stopped and started. Thankfully, I hired a good painter, who recommended painting all of my ceilings and trim pure white to accent the colors. For the family room, I chose Midas Gold by ACE Hardware paint, and Stone Hearth by Benjamin Moore.



I knew that I wanted walnut hardwood floors throughout the first floor of my home. We would have to rip the kitchen out to redo the yellow oak floors, which I could not afford when we started this project. Plus, I didn't want to do the floors, and then destroy them when we tore out the rock fireplace. That necessitated doing the fireplace project first, and then replacing the carpet with hardwood flooring. I chose knotty cherry with a natural finish and a black glaze for the cabinetry and mantel. My one mistake, since the cabinets where custom, was not accurately measuring my cable box. If I could do it again, I would make the bottom cabinets 3 or 4 inches deeper. I chose a faux stone for its price and ease of use. I had outlets put in both cabinets and on the mantel for home entertainment equipment and Christmas decorating. I also had the cabinet makers use a grooved back panel for the bookshelves to add texture and mimic the look of beadboard. I chose a firebox with a light switch, so that I could turn the fireplace on and off easily.

Yellow Oak Cabinetry Before

We removed a yellow oak wet bar and wine rack (I called it the water balloon sink) because we don't drink and it was never used. I figured it would be a great spot for a desk.

This picture looks to the kitchen from the fireplace. I made an office corner where the wet bar once stood. You can also see the division between the new walnut and old yellow oak flooring in the kitchen. It may have looked funny for awhile, but it made the most economic sense. Be sure to find contractors who will work with you and your budget constraints.



Since these photos, I have added other details in another remodeling project which I'll post at a later date. The total time for this project was about 3 weeks. The biggest hassle was moving all of our furniture to the garage and dealing with the dust from dry walling and sanding floors. My favorite things are the "flip of a switch" fire and all of the storage provided by the cabinets. Plus I have a mantel to hang my stockings by, that makes it all worth it!

Inexpensive Updates with Paint

Paint, whether latex or spray paint, is a great, inexpensive way to update your home. I have self-diagnosed myself with decorators ADHD, symptoms including the sporadic need to rearrange furniture and the uncontrollable desire to change pretty much anything I can physically move myself (or plot to change in the future with the help of professionals). That's why I've become a fan of "paint decorating." Paint projects are DIY and give the instant gratifications others like me crave. Here are a few examples of ways to update your home using paint.
Try painting your front door a fun color like red, blue or sage green. It will add lots of charm for very little expense. (I used left over paint from another project and would use gloss or semi-gloss in the future.)
Stripes, whether horizontal or vertical, can add style to a room lacking in architectural detail. *Helpful Hint: Use clear caulk after taping to prevent paint from running.
Try painting your walls a neutral color and adding a splash of color on the mantel. I chose this blue for a soothing effect, but I've also seen a rustic black finish that I loved! That may be my next project!
This chandelier was originally an 1980's brass that I spray painted antique white. *Helpful hint: Find somewhere to hang the chandelier, I slung mine over the garage door rail, to more easily paint the underside. Before painting, be sure to remove all light bulbs and place cottonballs in the openings to prevent paint from ruining the lighting.
This project was done by professionals, but was well worth the extra cost for the expertise. The original tile was in great condition, but an outdated brown. The tub, floor and wall tiles were all refinished in white. The finish can chip, so I wouldn't recommend doing the floors (I found out the hard way), but it was a less expensive fix than having the entire bathroom retiled.
Paint a focal wall a vibrant color. I also used a "fake" mantel to give this non-descript living room a focal point. *When using red paint, it may take more coats of paint to get the look you are after. I had one friend who painted 8 coats of red before she got the depth of color she had invisioned. This project has 2 coats, but after one coat, I had serious doubts. The second coat made a big difference.
I used acrylic craft paints and a stencil to create flowers over the corners of the doors (I wish I had a better picture, but you get the idea. Click on the photo to see larger image). This was a really simple project, aside from sore arms holding up the stencil, that added a fun touch to a plain, small girl's bedroom.

I have also painted furniture, such as outdated yellow pine barstools and a table and chairs, for a fun change. Be sure to prime before painting--the result is worth the extra time and expense. Happy Painting!