Our homes…. Interior and Exterior Remodeling Or Decorating

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 11, 2021 7:16:19 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

We got the tree decorated last night. The cats were done with their cardboard castle so that got moved out finally and I'm loving the living room.

Handyman is coming to look at the bathroom floor that was damaged from the sink leak tomorrow so I'm going to work on painting the bathroom today. I need to put up wainscoting on half the wall too but haven't ever been able to decide what to do. The tub, toilet, and sink are gray. So should I paint the walls gray and do white wainscoting, or paint the walls white and do a distressed white washed wood, or paint white and use airstones for that section of walls. I've been putting this off for 6 years unable to make a decision and now I have the weekend to finalize.

Well, I love wainscoting, so that’s my vote.

[azucena]

Dec 12, 2021 13:29:27 GMT -5 CCL said:

I'm currently working on a mudroom project. If I like the way it turns out, I may post pics.

Please do because our mudroom/entryway is our next project.

[azucena]

I had to look up airstones - they seem to be the textured stones that stick out a bit off the wall in varying depths.  I have those in my bar area.  I like the way they look but notice that they collect dust which is difficult to clean as the stones are so rough.  I wonder how they'd clean up in a bathroom.

[Deleted]

Dec 12, 2021 22:53:13 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

We have a very old bungalow Victorian house. Today, we decided to remodel the back kitchen area into a complete kitchen and turn part of the kitchen into an eating area. I'll try the 'post pictures' and keep you updated. This should be fun........
DH says he should be able to use the existing cabinets. He's an excellent cabinet maker (who made our current ones) so I don't doubt it! We just have to go slow and careful as he was badly hurt 7 months ago and still isn't very well. 

Please do share pictures as you go along!

Going slow is good, especially when it’s due to being mindful of your DH’s injury and health.

[Deleted]

Dec 13, 2021 9:41:52 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Dec 11, 2021 7:16:19 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

We got the tree decorated last night. The cats were done with their cardboard castle so that got moved out finally and I'm loving the living room.

Handyman is coming to look at the bathroom floor that was damaged from the sink leak tomorrow so I'm going to work on painting the bathroom today. I need to put up wainscoting on half the wall too but haven't ever been able to decide what to do. The tub, toilet, and sink are gray. So should I paint the walls gray and do white wainscoting, or paint the walls white and do a distressed white washed wood, or paint white and use airstones for that section of walls. I've been putting this off for 6 years unable to make a decision and now I have the weekend to finalize.

Well, I love wainscoting, so that’s my vote.

This is the first house I’ve lived in with wainscoting, and I kind of like it too.

Out of the options raeoflyte mentioned, I’d probably go with the wainscoting too, or just paint the whole wall a color I like. The fixtures being gray is throwing me off a little though. I probably wouldn’t paint the walls gray, even if it’s just half the walls, if the fixtures are gray. I don’t think. Pictures would help.

[happyhoix]

Dec 13, 2021 11:01:33 GMT -5 azucena said:

Dec 12, 2021 13:29:27 GMT -5 CCL said:

I'm currently working on a mudroom project. If I like the way it turns out, I may post pics.

Please do because our mudroom/entryway is our next project.

DH and I cleaned up our laundry room about 18 months ago, adding shelves, painting, etc. DH had just retired and had brought home a Monet print that he had in his office, and it looked nice with the paint color in the laundry room, so we hung it in there - probably the only laundry room in our little town with a Monet in it. 

[azucena]

New contractor just left - he's the son of a coworker.  Here's the project list that he's quoting for me...

• Stair refinishing; removed carpet ourselves and have stalled; he suggested paint instead of stain as cheaper, less work with roughly same effect
  
• refinish my front door
• create closets in two downstairs bedrooms
  
• cat door cutout
  
• new bathrooms fan/heat lights x3
  
• new bathroom medicine cabinets x3
  
• barn door
  
• entryway cubbies
• upper and lower cabinets in bar area

[finnime]

That's a nice list to improve function and features in your home, azucena.

[jerseygirl]

Having sofa reupholstered, they can early Monday. Promised it would be done for Christmas. If not, some folks can sit either on floor or dining room chairs

[Deleted]

This is the room I am currently stuck on. It’s the dining room/my yoga room.



That chair is the only furniture in there besides a cabinet with glass front and has my yoga mat and supplies inside. The table in the picture does not belong. It was holding some plants. Now it’s holding paint samples lol.

I got stuck because I couldn’t figure out what color to paint the walls. Those aren’t the only paint splotches on the walls in there. It’s really a mess. [img class="smile" alt="" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png"]

The wall on the right is the one you can see from my entryway. I want it to be bold, or dramatic, or something, even if it’s just a darker color than the other 3 walls in the dining room. But I worry that even though the dark color will only be on the top part of the wall because of the wainscoting, it will still make the room even darker….. too dark. That is the only window in there.

I will be replacing that drum that’s the overhead lighting, so I can choose a light fixture that will help brighten the room. The picture is as bright as that room gets with the lighting. It’s also very yellow, which I know with some light fixtures and lamps, can be as simple as different bulbs.

If I was doing this properly (imo), I would get all the lighting I want for the room taken care of, and then choose paint for the walls. But I do so many other things ass backwards, why not this?

[Deleted]

Another random thought because I spoke of light fixtures.

For whatever reason, for some years now, I’ve wanted a chandelier somewhere in my house, even if it’s in an unusual spot. I got stuck on that idea before I moved, and it would’ve really looked crazy over the table in my eat in kitchen, so I figured a bedroom (mine), bathroom, or even a large walk in closet (that I didn’t have lol) could work better. I didn’t have a dining room to be an option. Plus, I liked some of the images my brain conjured up of delicate looking, size appropriate chandeliers in unexpected places.

The logical thing to do here would be to put one in the dining room/yoga room. I wouldn’t mind it in my yoga room, and if we chose wisely, it would still fit whenever we actually make that room a dining room. And I might do that. But I still want to put one somewhere unexpected. Like our bedroom or bathroom.

[stillmovingforward]

We have one in a walk in (barely) closet. So much fun!

[azucena]

We have a walk-in closet in the basement that dd9 claims as her secret hideout. She and 2 neighbor friends have set up barbieland in there. We are supposed to pretend that we don't know they are in there - secret! Lol. It needed a new light fixture, so my mom installed one of those chandeliers with dangling crystals. Dd9 is in heaven.

[finnime]

@pinkcshmere, have you considered painting just the one wall of your dining/yoga room a deep dramatic hue? That can be very effective, and not overwhelm or feel too dark.

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2021 5:28:54 GMT -5 finnime said:

@pinkcshmere , have you considered painting just the one wall of your dining/yoga room a deep dramatic hue? That can be very effective, and not overwhelm or feel too dark.

Yes, I’ve been considering that. One minute I think I’ve made up my mind, then I change it again.

[finnime]

One thing with paint is you can always repaint if it doesn't come out to your satisfaction. The real work is in prepping. Once prepped, you're good to go for quite a few coats/colors.

[Deleted]

Dec 21, 2021 22:54:26 GMT -5 finnime said:

One thing with paint is you can always repaint if it doesn't come out to your satisfaction. The real work is in prepping. Once prepped, you're good to go for quite a few coats/colors.

I know. When I decided to paint at my other house after a bad experience with a contractor, my thought was that I could fuck up my house for free! I didn’t have to pay somebody to do that.

I actually enjoyed all the painting I did, and I did a damn good job, even if I just say so myself.

[swasat]

Dec 20, 2021 21:06:58 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

This is the room I am currently stuck on. It’s the dining room/my yoga room.



That chair is the only furniture in there besides a cabinet with glass front and has my yoga mat and supplies inside. The table in the picture does not belong. It was holding some plants. Now it’s holding paint samples lol.

I got stuck because I couldn’t figure out what color to paint the walls. Those aren’t the only paint splotches on the walls in there. It’s really a mess. [img class="smile" alt="" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png"]

The wall on the right is the one you can see from my entryway. I want it to be bold, or dramatic, or something, even if it’s just a darker color than the other 3 walls in the dining room. But I worry that even though the dark color will only be on the top part of the wall because of the wainscoting, it will still make the room even darker….. too dark. That is the only window in there.

I will be replacing that drum that’s the overhead lighting, so I can choose a light fixture that will help brighten the room. The picture is as bright as that room gets with the lighting. It’s also very yellow, which I know with some light fixtures and lamps, can be as simple as different bulbs.

If I was doing this properly (imo), I would get all the lighting I want for the room taken care of, and then choose paint for the walls. But I do so many other things ass backwards, why not this?

You have one window in a narrow room, so I would definitely not go with a dark wall color. There won't be enough natural light to brighten it up even during the day. 

Have you considered a lighter, soothing shade. I have similar wainscoting in our dining room, also painted white. We painted the wall color a dull green color from Sherwin Williams. Its called "Rainwashed", code SW6211. Its a great contrast against white, not too stark and very fresh. Other SW color I really liked was "Sea Salt", but ultimately went with Rainwashed.

If you want drama on the wall visible from the entryway, you can dress up that wall with dark metal decor, flanked by large and towering plants, or large vases. Or have a gorgeous server cabinet there, dressed up with candles and such. 

[jerseygirl]

Had sofa reupholstered in beige. I hate it
Should have chosen navy suade or velvet

[chiver78]

Dec 11, 2021 10:36:25 GMT -5 empress of self-improvement said:

At some point I will be paying someone to take down the wall between my kitchen and living room. It's load-bearing so I need a beam put in. My question is, if I start chipping the plaster off but don't touch the studs, will that affect the structural integrity? I don't think so but interested in other opinions.

no, you're fine there. it will also give you time to see if you like the space being more open, even if the studs are still there. if you end up deciding you hate it, you can just put walls back up (I can do that, honestly. call me if that's the route you go.) 

[chiver78]

I can't remember, did I post office pics once it was done and painted? it's a sunny yellow room, if that helps jog anyone's memory. lol... I should also put up the Shutterfly link that's got the "after" pics of the kitchen/DR. 

the other two bedrooms are now done being painted. I'm going to spend the holiday shutdown working on setting them up the way I want, and I'll post pics when I'm done. there's still some decluttering to do, a huge chunk of which will be leaving my house tonight via a Buy Nothing group. woo hoo! 

[Deleted]

Dec 22, 2021 0:50:20 GMT -5 swasat said:

Dec 20, 2021 21:06:58 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

This is the room I am currently stuck on. It’s the dining room/my yoga room.



That chair is the only furniture in there besides a cabinet with glass front and has my yoga mat and supplies inside. The table in the picture does not belong. It was holding some plants. Now it’s holding paint samples lol.

I got stuck because I couldn’t figure out what color to paint the walls. Those aren’t the only paint splotches on the walls in there. It’s really a mess. [img src="https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/ymamsmiles/shucks2.png" class="smile" alt="" src="//storage2.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png"]

The wall on the right is the one you can see from my entryway. I want it to be bold, or dramatic, or something, even if it’s just a darker color than the other 3 walls in the dining room. But I worry that even though the dark color will only be on the top part of the wall because of the wainscoting, it will still make the room even darker….. too dark. That is the only window in there.

I will be replacing that drum that’s the overhead lighting, so I can choose a light fixture that will help brighten the room. The picture is as bright as that room gets with the lighting. It’s also very yellow, which I know with some light fixtures and lamps, can be as simple as different bulbs.

If I was doing this properly (imo), I would get all the lighting I want for the room taken care of, and then choose paint for the walls. But I do so many other things ass backwards, why not this?

You have one window in a narrow room, so I would definitely not go with a dark wall color. There won't be enough natural light to brighten it up even during the day. 

Have you considered a lighter, soothing shade. I have similar wainscoting in our dining room, also painted white. We painted the wall color a dull green color from Sherwin Williams. Its called "Rainwashed", code SW6211. Its a great contrast against white, not too stark and very fresh. Other SW color I really liked was "Sea Salt", but ultimately went with Rainwashed.

If you want drama on the wall visible from the entryway, you can dress up that wall with dark metal decor, flanked by large and towering plants, or large vases. Or have a gorgeous server cabinet there, dressed up with candles and such. 

Yeah, I know a dark wall won’t really work. That’s why I’m still in limbo.

I’ve always liked houses with a lot of natural light, idk why I wasn’t paying attention to that before we bought this house.

So, I tried to think saturated color over dark colors, but I haven’t gotten anywhere with that either.

I don’t see us making the dining room an actual dining room anytime soon. If we ever do, the drama will have to be on the wall, because the table will be in sight from the entryway.

I’d thought about painting a design of some sort on that wall. Mister wasn’t thrilled, but he said “ok baby” lol.

I’m just going to continue to leave it alone until I figure out something that “feels” right. Maybe I’ll paint the living room or our bedroom next instead. The walls in the living room are a dirty white. The bedroom is a bit more challenging because there is chair rail or whatever on all the walls, separating the top and bottom of the walls. The upper part is white now, and the lower part is a medium gray. Don’t know what I want to do with that yet. I want to paint the kitchen and breakfast nook, but I’m having trouble choosing colors for those too. They are both currently an ugly medium green. I found some old pictures online, and the kitchen and breakfast nook use to be beige. Even though I don’t like the green, it looks better than the beige did. Those areas need at least a little color.

Anyway, here, I’m standing in my living room, the opening to the living room from the entryway is behind me. From the entryway, this is what you would see if you turn your head in that direction, plus more of the living room. The opening to the dining room that you can see on this picture, I kind of want to “frame” what you can see in the dining room from the entryway, if that makes sense. And I want it to be a bit dramatic. Or something lol. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and maybe not even how to explain it well lol.



I already told y’all I’ve made a mess of the walls in there trying to choose a color. Don’t judge me.

[finnime]

@pinkcshmere, you mentioned you want to "frame" what you see. Why not do that? Paint the trim around the doorway a more dramatic hue, either contrasting or complementing the walls. It would add a visual point of interest.

[TheOtherMe]

I called yesterday and scheduled an appointment to start the process for taking out my fiberglass tub and replacing it with a tile shower with grab bars and a seat to help me be able to age in place.

[raeoflyte]

Dec 11, 2021 7:16:19 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

We got the tree decorated last night. The cats were done with their cardboard castle so that got moved out finally and I'm loving the living room.

Handyman is coming to look at the bathroom floor that was damaged from the sink leak tomorrow so I'm going to work on painting the bathroom today. I need to put up wainscoting on half the wall too but haven't ever been able to decide what to do. The tub, toilet, and sink are gray. So should I paint the walls gray and do white wainscoting, or paint the walls white and do a distressed white washed wood, or paint white and use airstones for that section of walls. I've been putting this off for 6 years unable to make a decision and now I have the weekend to finalize.

Dh and the kids voted for airstones and since I haven't given them a vote for any other rooms, airstones it is. I'm going to have a semi castle looking bathroom, but hopefully I can pull it together into more zen and less castle. I told dh to order the worm from the beginning of Labyrinth to strategically place. Might as well own it.

It's taken almost 2 days, but I have the hardest wall done. I'm really tempted to just do the other corner and short wall in the stone. But I'll have to use joint compound to smooth out the rest of the main wall which could be a pain.

[azucena]

Rae - my dds and DH would love a castle bathroom, and I'd "allow" it just because they would love it so much. Can't wait to see pics.

Has anyone converted an underdeck area into a 3 seasons room?  The concrete patio is already there, and I'd have the expense of screening it in. Biggest expense/trouble is putting the right kind of roof under the decking.  Any help with that piece? 

This idea has been in my head for a while, but all that talk about hot tubs in the other thread got me thinking about it again.  I love hot tubs but kind of view it as a lot of expense and upkeep so might be better off with the latest/greatest jacuzzi bathtub.

Contractor is scheduling for March 28.  In the meantime, I need to find the following and am open to help:

- paint for the stairs; he suggested Sherwin Williams stair paint.  I'm thinking darkish horizontal treads and white vertical backing.  Our basement floors are luxury vinyl wood planks with hints of blue.  I wouldn't mind the stairs being a 'statement' piece in terms of paint color but I'm so not good at seeing the vision LOL.

- white contemporary barn door ideally with silver hardware; trying to stay modern so it's not outdated in a few years.  I love a chevron pattern but google is failing me with this combo.

- closed mudroom locker type floor to ceiling storage - something like this but with doors ikeahackers.net/2016/06/besta-hack-large-mudroom-lockers-bench.html

   - I worry that Besta isn't deep enough.  I see several using Pax but am not thrilled with the interior options.

   - I want hanging space, backpacks in the bottom, shoes in the very bottom, and space at the top for off season.

[buystoys]

We splurged on Monday and bought all new furniture for the living room.  Two couches, two chairs, three end tables, one chair table, a coffee table and a 91" console table.  Plus a new rug.  Whew!  We finally decided on leather.  Neither of us has ever had it, so we're a little anxious about how it will wear.  It's supposed to be a good quality, though.  It should be for what we paid!

Anyway, it all gets delivered on Tuesday.  We need to start working on clearing things out of there.

ETA:  The room is fairly dark, so we haven't selected lighting yet.  I've seen what I want for table lamps, but DH wants to hold off a few more days.

[CCL]

My leather couch and love seat have held up too well. I've had them 15+ years and they still look fine. They don't take much maintenance or cleanup at all. When I bought them I figured they would only last few years. I think I paid $800 for both. I kinda wish they'd wear out so I could go buy something new.

[alabamagal]

I bought nice leather sofa and loveseat for our family room when I had young kids. It was dark dark green (almost black). They lasted 30 years and really were not in bad shape. We had a few places where the leather was pulling away from the frame. When we moved out of AL, we traded the sofas with cleaning the host pre listing.

Funny story was that I once lost my keys where they fell between the cushion and down in a crack. We had to turn sofa over and pull off the bottom fabric to get my keys. We found 30 years worth of kids pencils, crayons, scissors, socks and a lost wallet from when DS was 12, with $20. The sofa had been moved twice with all that stuff in it!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 22, 2021 11:02:07 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Had sofa reupholstered in beige. I hate it
Should have chosen navy suade or velvet

Can you get fun throw pillows?