Renovation Sensation

We've lived in our 1973 house now for five years and didn't start renovating until 2013.  This has been a busy year for removing textured popcorn ceilings, installing crown molding, and replacing dated carpet with hardwoods.  It's starting to come together!  Here's a shot of the family room.  I caulked dozens of cracks in the seams of this tongue in groove paneling and painted it Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore.

This is the living room.  The ceiling texture is gone and the crown molding is in.

Living room shot into the dining room.  I removed the texture myself in the dining room and skim coated a nasty texture off the walls.  It was more work than I could handle again, so my contractor handled the living and family rooms.

Back into the family room.  More pics of the after later when all furniture is moved in, but the white around the cutout is new and I ended up painting the doorway into the kitchen white, too.  This is not gorgeous 1921 wood I'm painting over, this is dated 1970's that needed some freshening up.

Here's the hickory wood waiting to be installed.

And some afters!  We need some furniture in here, but here's a shot of the living and dining rooms post hardwoods.  What a difference.  We didn't do this ourselves and I was amazed at the work that went into them.  I just had no idea.  Hickory wood with Minwax Jacobean stain cut by 25%.  The smell was horrible and it was a huge pain to work around, but it was worth it.

Family room shot post hardwood.

Another family room shot.  I have a lot of experience painting, but these walls were very time consuming.  It took me about 20 hours to complete.  I had never had baseboards in this room, and I love them.

Family room.

I love black and white with antique gold finishings.  I traded out a brushed nickel type finish for this pretty crystal door knob.

This door was stained dark and really beat up.  I painted it black.  The trim was also dark stained and that got fresh white.

Traded out the pulls on a built in cabinet for these pretties.

Dining room shot.  Edgecomb Gray by Benjamin Moore on the top and Revere Pewter on the bottom.

This antique oil is from a shop in Kansas City that closed.  The soft colors really work in the dining room.  I'd love new dining room chairs - I need to move the old ones in from the garage.  We need a new couch and chairs, also, and I think I've finally decided on those after months of sourcing.  Next up, we are building out the attic space in this one and a half story home into a large home office for my husband, comic book writer, Jason Aaron.  This is the first time we've worked with an architect and the plans are fabulous.  I'm also dreaming of moving my dungeon studio out of the basement and over the unfinished space in the garage.  Sunlight??  In my workspace??  I can always dream.