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Decorating eye-candy from the in-laws

>> Friday, September 30, 2011

I knew you'd love the in-laws' basement family room remodel.  (And, no. None of you can have my in-law. I'm still working out a business plan for a rental system. I think Steve, Joyce and I - acting as manager - could make some big bucks.)

So, I also took some other photos of my in-laws' house for you. Decorating eye candy, so to speak. And I thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side comparison of the same rooms in the past.

This was the living room in 2009. (I shared these photos here.)


It's such a pretty room. But, because my mother-in-law changes rooms more frequently than you change your underwear, here it is today.

Or more honestly, last week. Heck. It could be completely different by now.

It's reading a little darker in here than in real life. I'm giving myself a pat-on-the-back, because my mother-in-law painted the room Seal by Martha Stewart after helping me paint our dining room in the same color. Usually I steal ideas from her, so this is a big deal.

I love the shelves.

And the plank wall.

It's an evolving space. And I love it every time.

And now let's compare the dining area. In 2009.

And last week.

And a few other areas I love in my in-laws' home. Like the half bath.

The hallway nook.

The garage doors.

They have such a lovely home, so I hope you enjoyed the little tour. And thanks to them for allowing me to  (or rather not prohibiting me from) taking these pictures to share.

What's your favorite part?

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The so-far house: Living room

>> Thursday, September 29, 2011

It's time for the next installment of the so-far house. This is where I show you how the house looks today. Certainly not close to being finished or settled, but as a place to begin. (Check out the master bedroom, exterior, bathroom and dining room, if you are interested.)

Now we are looking at the living room. This room is far from finished, but I love it. It's more than twice the size of our old living room, which means tons more space for us and for entertaining. I also adore the details. The crown moulding, the picture rail, the ceiling...

I've been playing around since the last time I showed this room, and I think this furniture arrangement opens up the room best and is most practical. We don't really watch tons of television, but for the football game or Sing Off, it's nice to sit straight across on the sofa.

And look - a sneak peak at another "room" I'm working on. The entry. Love that piece. More about that later.

Did I tell you I sold our Ektorp sofa? *Collective gasp.*

We did. On Craigslist to a very nice gal who was thrilled to get a year-old sofa for a steal. (We definitely didn't make money on that deal.) She picked it up the day we moved. 

The backstory: Ryan hated that sofa from the start. He said it was uncomfortable. And since that was where he normally sat at night, it wasn't fair that he had to be uncomfortable. I really liked the look of it, but I love this new red version, too. When my in-laws (bless them) gave us new furniture, it was the answer to Ryan's prayers. And Ryan approves of our new sofa and I do, too. (As an aside, I hate the green pillows, but they are staying until I find the right replacements.)

Here's a little reading nook, which happens to be Lola's favorite place to snuggle.

And the fireplace mantel is holding everything that doesn't fit elsewhere. But, I still like the look for now. Because I'm too lazy to change it. I really love the window there. As for the interior of the fireplace, that's holding the tile for around it. That will probably be finished this winter.

This is the top of the radio that Ryan's grandpa made. Ryan adores this piece of furniture. I brought the succulents inside for the season and they look rather sweet on top.

Some of them have gotten really big since their humble beginnings.

Here's the television cabinet - eventual bookshelves (sans-shelves) in all her glory. Since we don't have cable, we usually use rabbit ears (so hip) and they work TERRIBLY in this house. Ryan just ordered some fancier version that's flat. Then, we'll get shelves in the unit at some point.

And one of my favorite details - the board and batten ceiling. It's hard to capture in an image, but it's truly perfect. It looks like it could have been original.

And that's the living room - so far. Let's take a walk down memory lane.
August 2010
(August 2010)

This room's changes included: new lighting, new ceiling, new built-in shelves, smoothed walls with plaster (a horribly dirty job) and paint. And lots of cleaning.

(September 2011)
(August 2011)

It's feeling more and more like home.

What do you think?

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House-painting progress

>> Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Well, the house painting project went really well over the weekend, all things considered. On Saturday morning, we had the help of our friends Pam and Dave and a rented airless sprayer (from Home Depot).


There was a chance of rain, but luckily it held out on us. At least for Saturday. (Consider that foreshadowing.)

We used Sherwin Williams Superior exterior latex paint color-matched to the vinyl siding on the garage. We went with a flat sheen, after reading some suggestions online. When I went to buy it the week before, I found out it was going to be on sale the following weekend. So I waited to purchase and ended up saving nearly $300 in the process. (You can do the math.) The color match was perfect.

The guys sprayed most of the day. Pam and I oversaw, prepped and re-painted the white trim and foundation that was affected by overspray.


At the end of the day, we had two sides completely done with two coats of paint. It went so well that Ryan and I worked all evening (and into the dark) to finish cleaning and taping off the other two sides. We thought we'd finish the rest of the house on Sunday.

You may remember that the original plan was to do the other half of the house the next weekend. There is a reason you should stick to a plan. But, we didn't.

Two bad things happened in this process:
1. I fell off a ladder. Onto a fence. Then onto the sidewalk. Ouch. Luckily, I didn't break anything. Just a sore body, twisted ankle and a bruised ego. We were just trying to rush to get done and I got careless on the ladder. Safety first, friends. Don't be like me.
2. Then, we woke up early on Sunday morning to a gloomy day and rain in the forecast. It was only 30 percent chance on Saturday, but Sunday morning looked ominous.

So, we finished taping off most of the house before it started raining. So we cut our luck and took the sprayer back. Then we finished some other projects indoors. And watched the Bears horrific showing.

While it's disappointing that we weren't able to wrap up the project, it ended up being for the best. We were both pooped. Now, we can finish the other two sides of the house next week like our original plan.

Once the entire house is finished, I'm going to try to remember to come back and give some tips and suggestions for painting aluminum siding. So far, we are really glad we went this route. The finish is really nice and the change is amazing.


And here's one of the sides that's left. Unfortunately, the rain knocked some of the plastic sheeting off the windows so we'll have to re-do that.

Taping off the windows was such a pain, but it was necessary.

And let's compare, more for my own benefit than yours.

 
(August 2010)
(September 2011)

What do you think?

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A basement remodel by the in-laws

>> Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Friends, I think you are going to love this one. Because I love this one.

My in-laws recently completed their basement remodel and the result is nothing less than fabulous. The room was lovely before, but the new family room is something that could and should be in a magazine. In my very humble opinion. The look is very casual, but put-together. A bit country, but also industrial and modern.

You saw a sneak-peak of the fireplace and homemade barn doors in July. And now it's time to see the finished product.


(Would you believe that this is exactly as it looked when I showed up unexpectedly? Yeah. It looks like a showroom without any clue I was going to be taking photos. Amazing.)

This gives you an idea of the fell of the room. The ginormous sofa is new from JCPenney. It easily fits 5 people on it. This photo also shows you the barn doors, the narrow shelves and the industrial steel piece on the wall.

Oh yeah, and here's the other side.


If you aren't dying over that fireplace and mantle, you need to check your pulse. Because you may be dead.


Here are a few of my favorite details. This will be a picture overload.

My father-in-law installed beadboard panels on all the walls. He also installed tons of can lighting that can all be turned on in sections. I think all this work makes it feel like a room and not like a basement. I also love the cozy little seating area.

The steel plate was mounted on the wall. They did something to "tarnish" it a bit. I think it's so cool and unique. The piece on the top was something from the barn (they really do live in the country and have a barn and miniature horses). Mother-in-law isn't sure, but father-in-law and I vote it should stay.



My mother-in-law has a gift of putting stuff together and making it look good. I need her to come to my house and help me make my stuff look good, too. Don't you adore the piano?

The drapes are from JCPenney, and they are mounted with silver piping from the plumbing department, to add to the industrial feel.

Here's a close-up of the mantle. It was a barn beam that they actually spotted in a barn. Love that. And don't get me started on that typesetter's case. I've tried to swipe it several times. My mother-in-law always catches me and checks my pockets before I leave the house. ;)

When you come down the stairs, you are greeted by this light fixture. My father-in-law converted it to a wall-mounted fixture. It was originally a pendant light from IKEA.

These narrow shelves along the wall are perfect for frames and other pretties. They are simple brick moulding that my father-in-law turned into shelves. (Don't tell Ryan, but I want some in our house. Shhh...)

Why, hello, barn door. I love you.

In case you are curious like I was, here's what the door slides on. I think they picked up the hardware at Farm and Fleet.

The doors were created by my in-laws to mimic the look of the media center, which they got from American.

That is a solid piece and is really pretty in person. It ties well with the blue painted behind it. The blue also pulls out the blue in the stone on the fireplace.

Father-in-law Steve and Bella like it.


And as you already know, I clearly scored in the in-law department. Not only are their remodeling skills impeccable, they are also pretty swell in general.




Do you love it as much as I do? 

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