Demolition & Decorative Details

Ahhh…it is the weekend… time for relaxing. I have been busy all week and thought I would get you caught up on what I have been doing.

In terms of reveals…I don’t have any of those, only one big messy project and a few smaller projects that build up to a completed room makeover.

The big project we (Ed) has been undertaking is demolishing this wall to open the space between the kitchen and living room.

When Ed removed the pocket door we knew we would like how the view of the water would be from the kitchen looking into the living room, but were pleasantly surprised at how wonderful the view from the living room looking into the kitchen became.

Now we need to decide if we want to add a counter between the rooms and a column or a ceiling beam and leave it open. I would like to leave it open. It is not a total DIY; our Realtor’s husband is a builder. He is helping us figure out what needs to be done.

The TV stand will turn into a wall mounted TV with turquoise sideboard underneath. The sideboard in the kitchen will go against the wall between the sliding doors.

Here is how the living room looks right now. I need to paint the walls, but for the room to function for us, I really want a new sofa or small sectional and two smaller chairs. I want to make sure the chairs have swivels so that whoever is sitting in them has the option to face the fireplace, TV, or water. I have been searching for just the right ones.

The hardwood floor will have to be patched and then we will stain it a darker color or we may get a whole new floor. The view into the kitchen will be greatly improved with new white cabinets.

This is the view looking into the foyer. As you can see I am still playing around with where furnishings I want to keep will go. I have been moving items room to room until I find the perfect spot. We plan on hiring someone to remove the brick hearth on either side of the fireplace. That will give us more room for extra seating.

Aside from the wall project we have been tackling little improvements a.k.a….the details this week that make the overall decor look better…

…like replacing rusted heating vents in every room and …

…old brass and antique white electrical outlets and switches with white ones.

We even added a few very cool outlet covers from SnapPower. The outlet cover above looks like a normal cover, but it does double duty. At night it automatically becomes a sleek night light. It installs in seconds and requires no wires or batteries. No plug-in night light needed which leaves both sockets available for other stuff. You can find out more about them, here.

The second floor hallway has recessed lights that work just fine, but needed cleaning, I am not even going to tell you the nasties we found in one of them. After cleaning the glass, I took the rims outside to give them a new glossy white finish. I wrote a post on how I painted the recessed lights in our previous house. It made a huge difference and was easy to do.

The last little detail I have been adding is removing the old pull chains from the many ceiling fans in the house with fresh new white pulls. This simple update makes a big difference.

Seeing no more rusty and crusty pulls, outlets, and ventilation covers in the house is making me smile.

Now that it is the weekend, I plan to relax a little and finish a book I started, although it is a bit hard since everywhere I look I see a project that needs doing.