Remodel Continued.... Almost There!

Earlier this week my grandpa posted a picture of me on Facebook with the following caption, "Learned at a young age!"

I must say, the timing could not have been more perfect as that's how I've looked all week (except with a paint brush and paint can in hand).

When we were planning for this living area remodel, I had numerous people ask me what exactly we'd be doing. I'm sure most expected me to say something like just painting or installing floors, but after I began rambling off our list of to-do's, the "you're crazy" look became very common. While the remodel has actually been more of a heavy cosmetic makeover rather than a structural undertaking, the work has seemed just as exhaustive. In order to ease the curiosity of what exactly has been happening in the Germenis household over the past week, I thought sharing a detailed overview of the project might be extremely helpful for any curious minds. So here's exactly what we've done...

- Ripped out the carpet from the living room and tile from the hall, main bathroom and dining area

- Proceeded to remove the tile thin set first by the most tedious, exhaustive way ever, and then by using and electric scraper (still tedious nonetheless)  

- Unhinged the doors in our bathroom area




- Removed the mirror that was so awesomely glued to our kitchen wall

- Ripped out baseboards and carefully removed crown molding that was in the way of construction

- Painted new baseboards and the salvaged crown molding

- Cut out the partition walls in our dining area and lifted the overhead beam into the ceiling

- Extended wood paneling into the dining area to create a cohesive look

- Removed wallpaper from the entryway and main bathroom




- Temporarily took down the mirror in the bathroom and discovered even older wallpaper beneath it (I actually liked it more than the newer wallpaper)

- Prepped (sanded, scrubbed and vacuumed) the fireplace for painting

- Primed the fireplace brick

- Painted the fireplace brick with a paint spray gun

- Disconnected and removed the ceramic logs from inside the fireplace to convert it to wood-burning fireplace with a t-bar gas starter

- Sanded, primed and painted all of our brown built-ins

    

- Sanded, primed and painted ALL things brown in the house (trim, doors, bathroom cabinets, etc.)

- Painted our hearts out in general - the bathroom, the closets, the entry, the hall, the trim, the living area, everywhere (and still so much more to go!)

- Detached the existing doorbell and bought a new one to replace it




- Hired a contractor to texture our ceiling area where we lifted the beam, the main bathroom, the entryway and one wall in our bedroom (small cringe that we actually paid someone to do something)


- Made the vanity light disappear (via the texture guy)




- Installed laminate wood floors




And we're not even done! We have the bathroom cabinets to paint, the bathroom lighting to update, electrical plates to install, living room lighting to install, new doors to install, a bazillion touch-ups to paint and SO much more. We'll get to it... eventually.

My family accused me of watching too much HGTV... but that's Jeff's fault... but really, I have felt like I've been on HGTV all week...




Phew, we've done so much this week, and I am exhausted. Would I mind doing something like this for a living though and not have to sit in a cubicle everyday? Absolutely. I LOVE the makeover concept and process and physical activity... just not sure I could paint all day, everyday, as I've done this week (even though the contractor complimented me on my trim skills). My hand is cramping... literally.

Before and after pictures coming soon! If you missed our weekend work with the family, check it out here.