I’ve mentioned that we’ve been living in a veritable construction zone around here over the past month. It’s funny because the more we get done, the more we need to do still. Isn’t it funny how life works like that?
I’m a big fan of true Before and After photos, so I’ve been hesitating on sharing any of our progress. However, I feel like we’ve reached a good enough halfway point to show some major change, so, here it goes!
This is our living room Before and Halfway. ;) We didn’t upgrade much in this room with the builder, knowing that we wanted to do some after-market things to our own particular tastes. The original plan was to shiplap the fireplace wall, paint the built-ins gray and paint the fireplace brick white. As we got into the project, we decided to adjust our vision a bit and instead:
- Wrapped the shiplap around to the playroom entrance (for a natural stopping point)
- Redid the bookcase trim (removing the traditional corbels and grooved sides and opting for plain boards) and made new doors that were more farmhouse-y (x-front) and left the paint white
- Postponed painting the fireplace brick. I LOVE painted brick, and making our fireplace white was one of the first things Ryan and I intended to do — until we decided that we might like the brick as-is. It’s just so permanent of a change, and so we’re going to live with it plain for a while before tackling that decision. Plus it’s an easy update, so we figure that once we get the “we need to change something for the sake of change” itch later on, it’s a safe project.
Okaaaay, drumroll please! (Or at least half a drumroll?) Here are some Before/Halfway pictures of our new living room:
Okay, since I mentioned that these are Halfway photos, here’s what’s left to do:
- Decide whether or not to paint that fireplace!
- Coffered ceiling
- Buy a chandelier of some sort
- Get a rug and coffee table
- Replace a couple of just-out-of-college pieces (i.e. those decade-old Target side chairs, haha!)
Ryan and I had pondered doing the shiplap ourselves, but ended up hiring a friend’s “guy” to handle the project. Talk about a right decision! This dude is a professional, and it took two full days with an assistant for him to get the shiplap up and painted. Apparently there were tiny variations (visibly undetectable) in the measurements of the drywall that made the woodworking super tedious. Yeesh. Overall, as he sweated and ran back and forth making cuts, I was happy not to be in his position. Plus, he did an amazing job, and although I believe in Ryan’s handyman skills, you just can’t beat that professional touch. ;)
