I have been dreaming about remodeling the living room since I first bought the house two years ago. It wasn’t a priority because most of the problems are cosmetic and not structural. However, after securing a great deal with my contractors and selling a lot of my temporary furniture, I decided it was time to give the main space in my house a brand new makeover.
The first step was gutting the walls and floors. My roommate did almost all of the work. What a guy! These old wall panels were so ugly, and we really should’ve worn masks. There was so much dust stirred up from the demo job. Next I got rid of the floors. These were in relatively good shape, however, so I put a free ad on FB marketplace and wouldn’t you know it, they were all snatched up along with those ugly wall panels. No need to rent a dumpster. People love free stuff.
After that my contractor repaired some damage in the hallway where water had leaked through and rotted the floor. Much to my delight, that was the only place in the floor that needed repairs which means I didn’t have to buy a bunch of plywood. That saved me hundreds of dollars!
My contractor decided to repair the plaster and add a few more coats. This saved me a lot of money, too because I didn’t have to buy a bunch of drywall. It took several coats to get the walls smooth enough to paint.
My contractor also repaired and retextured the ceiling. It was cracked in more than one place, but it wasn’t too much work to get it looking brand new.
I had replaced the windows a long time ago as one of my first major projects so that was already done. I’m really delighted this remodel job didn’t cost me more than it did. I hired a good friend to do the painting, and she did an amazing job. I chose light colors because I’d like to put a ton of artwork on the walls.
After everything was painted, we were able to install the flooring. I’m using the same type of flooring throughout the entire house. I love these tongue and groove floor panels because they’re so easy to clean and install. I’m glad I was dissuaded from trying to sand and stain the original floors. This was a much better decision.
After the floors were installed, my contractor finished the trim and put in the new light fixture and ceiling fan. This project went so smoothly, and I’m very surprised. I’m used to finding issues lurking within the walls. Of course, the most fun thing to do was buying a bunch of new furniture and finally putting my grandmother’s piano which I’ve inherited in it’s final location. I can’t wait to get it tuned and start playing.
Just look at these before and after pictures! I’m so thrilled with my new living room, and now, its time to seriously take a break and pay off some of these debts! Looking forward to the next project.
