Light at the End of the Drywall

Tree at Grandma and Grandpa’s House

It’s hard to overstate the “strike while the iron’s hot” feeling that comes out in a person when their living room is down to the studs. Suffice it to say that things have spiraled a *bit* out of control as we’ve added to the scope of our home renovation.

Here’s a breakdown of the evolution of our project:

We started with:

• remove wall between living and dining room
• add gas fireplace

And ended with:

• remove wall between living and dining room
• add gas fireplace
• remove crappy closet
• add small pantry
• re-construct side entrance
• totally re-do first floor bathroom
• refinish floors
• add 2 new windows
• install new front and side doors
• replace and expand crown molding

As you can see, these lists are different. It’s kind of like going to the hospital to have a mole removed and then spontaneously asking them to tack on a hysterectomy while you’re there “since you’ll be under anesthesia anyway!” It just seems like the thing to do.

It always happens this way. Everyone says so. And yet it still somehow surprises you, finding yourself remodeling an entire first floor when you only meant to replace a light switch.

And the dust. Oh, the dust.

None of this matters though. What matters is that I got to go to both IKEA and Jordan’s Furniture this weekend! It was a full 9 hours of home-related shopping. I know, try to contain your envy.

I’ve been telling Brian for weeks that going to IKEA with him would be my dream day, and for some strange reason he didn’t seem to feel that it would be his dream day. But when the big outing finally came both Brian and Nolan kept up great spirits the whole time. It’s like my exuberance created a force field so powerful that it just overtook them.

Traveling in style at Jordan’s Furniture.

The main purpose of our shopping trip was to find a new couch and to become Swedish by proxy. Success on both fronts.

IKEA: Making dreams come true one meatball at a time.

We ended up with a charcoal gray sectional that is a step up in elegance from a dorm room couch, yet it maintains the dorm room sofa’s ability to withstand spillage of vomit and other fluids. It’s perfect! We have a toddler, remember. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it’s getting delivered on Saturday, so you will soon see it in all its glory. I’m already chomping at the bit just thinking of what kind of punchy throw pillows I can pair with charcoal. Answer: ALL THE THROW PILLOWS AT HOMEGOODS.

Before the couch gets delivered there are a few loose ends to finish up. Because, well, this is how things look right now:

This giant gaping hole in our wall is our take on indoor-outdoor living. We’re cutting edge that way.

This is our new *tiny* first floor bathroom. It is so small that our heartier visitors may not fit inside. But for our standard size guests it should do the trick. By making it this small we were able to add a little closet/pantry (which you can see on the left). It’s conveniently located off of the eating area, which people love. It keeps you “part of the action” at all times.

We’ve been told that we can move back in by the weekend, which seems nuts given the current state of affairs. There’s still finish work to be done, windows to be installed, plumbers to plumb and painters to paint. And our general contractor just left for a vacation in Puerto Rico. And yet I have faith, because I’m stupid like that.

As an aside, this is the first time we’ve ever used a painter. It’s just not done in my family. It’s against our code. However, we’re hosting Christmas Eve, which you may have noticed from the national months’ long pre-Chrismas pep rally is right around the corner. And we not only need to finish the renovation, we need to clean the entire house, move back in, buy a Christmas tree, put up our lights, open our fridge after 5 weeks away and sift through whatever is rotting, and just generally Martha Stewart things up. Hence, the painters. I think the expression is “In for a penny in for ten thousand dollars.”

In my experience picking out paint is the hardest aspect of decorating. We finally decided on Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore for the dining room, which opens up into the new family room.

To be clear, this is not our house.

This is our house. And I think all this room needs is a little Revere Pewter to spruce it up.

Revere Pewter is a super popular color but also a little tricky. It has a greenish tone to it in some light, and in other light it looks totally gray. You get the gist in the photo below – looks kind of greenish, right?

Why you gotta be so tricky, paint?

I’m hoping it will read more gray than green in the room. From there, I thought it might be nice to step down to Light Pewter in the family room, so that there will be a subtle difference between the spaces even though it’s now “open concept.” I could be wrong about this, I’m wrong about colors all the time. Case in point: I found myself re-painting my bedroom (which we had painted only a few months earlier) the week I was due with Nolan because I thought the walls looked too “muddy.” And clearly when you are hours away from delivering your first child,  eliminating muddy walls is your main priority.

Anyway. For the small bathroom we’re going with Jamestown Blue, also by Benjamin Moore.

I’m wondering if we’re making the right choice by going with such a neutral palate in the main living spaces, since I generally like to use bolder colors. I figure if the colors seem too toned down I’ll just go crazy in the TJ Maxx discount bins until it’s a color explosion of textiles.

TIP: If you love a color in your house but can’t figure out what the name of it is, you can get it matched by cutting a tiny piece of your wall out (which you can later patch over) and bringing it to your local paint supplier/Home Depot/hardware store for a match to be mixed. You can also bring a small paint chip if you have it. Works like a charm!

Despite the mess, after 5 weeks of being displaced to my parents’ house there’s a light at the end of the construction tunnel. (Then the real fun begins with decorating mania, although I don’t want to play that point up to Brian because it will give him a nervous breakdown).

So that’s where things are at with us. The big question is this: will we make it in time for Christmas Eve?