This post is long overdue. I was going to wait until everything was 100% buttoned up, but, since our electrician hasn't made time to come back up to wrap (and it's 99% done), I'm posting now!
Back in January, I found a leak in the basement's family room. Ugh. This is what I saw first that seemed "odd".
By the next day, it was like the pic below (ceiling was bowed). I had called the insurance adjuster. When I was on the phone with him, I used one of Ramsey's light sabers to poke the ceiling. It made a hole and water started seeping out!
The corner showed signs of mold. With Connor in college, we rarely used this room. It had primarily been a catch-all for toys and the boys' X-Box/gaming room.
The room looked like this (no judging - we know it's ugly!):
After having a plumber out to find and STOP the leak, he concluded the culprit was the kitchen sink (a valve had leaked). Gross!
After he replaced the leaky valve, it was time for DEMO. I took the crowbar, a hammer, and a wedge and I started demoing all of the base boards and door trims. Whoever installed those damn baseboards back in the 70s or whatever must have thought they were going to blow away; there were 2" nails every 6 inches. It took FOREVER. And, I could be accused of imitating Monica Seles, as much as I was grunting to get the nails out! It was awful!
Thereafter, the popcorn ceiling in the hallways had to go. So... out came the scraper! That was nearly as awful. It gave me scraped knuckles... and I cussed a lot.
I also demo'ed out the built-in shelving at the end of the North hallway. There were ledge boards for six shelves - so ugly and dated. I was going to leave them, but why? We're going this far...
Regarding the ceiling and the carpeting, we hired a local crew who specializes in mold remediation and general demo work for floods and other "messes".
Bye bye ugly popcorn ceiling! Bye bye ugly brown 1980s carpet!
When the crew pulled up the brown carpet, they found a super whacky blue and green carpet/pad combo. I actually got a kick out of it and thought it was fun! It'd be a nice pattern for an area rug, but not for an entire downstairs! Yikes!
The unfortunate part is that the pad was rubber-backed and glued down. The demo crew worked so hard scraping all of it up.
Then...time to start putting things back together. The guys insulated the ceiling so upstairs footsteps weren't apparent. The ceiling was drywalled.
The two old ugly light fixtures were removed and four new recessed can lights were installed.
More can lights were installed in the hallway.
The bathroom needed a bit of ceiling and wall repair as well (after we'd previously installed a new fan/light combo and relocated an electrical outlet), so that room was on the list too.
When the drywall taper was on site, he added a crow's foot texture to the ceiling in the family room and hallway. And, I had him put a skim coat on the bumpy/heavily-textured South wall so I could add wallpaper.
The ball was back in my court then to paint everything out. I had chosen Sherwin Williams "Extra White" for the ceiling and trim/base boards and "Ice Cube" for the walls. Light colors were chosen to brighten things up. Painting took a while, as everything needed two coats.
The wallpaper I chose has owls and woodpeckers on birch branches. I am seriously in love with this peel & stick wallpaper!! It only took me about two hours to install! And, when I had a few too many bubbles or was misaligned, it came right off and stuck back on with no issues. Amazing stuff!
Ramsey loves it too. After I finished installing it, Eric said "it's not as bad as I thought it'd be." I'll take that as a compliment!
Ramsey also loved playing on the step stool, though he got "safety warnings" from Momma. Throughout this project, he would spend hours with me, playing his Kindle, while I painted or worked.
After the wallpaper was finished, I called a contractor to see if they would install the crown molding, base boards, and new door mouldings for me. We thought we might do it... but Eric and I both decided we would rather NOT and just have a pro do it.
Luckily, the referred contractor could do it that week, as they had mostly outside work scheduled and the temps (at the time) were SO HORRIDLY COLD, they needed to fill time with indoor projects.
One tradesman came out and wrapped everything up in under two days. Eric and I would have been at it for at least a week. And, we would have put too many dollars in a swear jar, wasting trim boards and crown moulding with inaccurate cuts!
During this process, we figured that since we had a mess downstairs, why not redo my office as well? It had newer carpet, but it was still yucky. And, I needed a change! Here's a few pics of how it looked beforehand.
My office got fresh paint (ceiling and three walls painted white and one dark navy blue wall). It's also the recipient of new carpet, drapes, a faux paint treatment on the focal (south) wall, plus new and repurposed wall decor. Geez, my shoulders and neck hurt even remembering this process! Here's some step-by-steps of the absolute MESS that was my office:
Sidenote: Working in a disaster zone is stressful; my OCD was at peak! ;-)
For the faux-painting, I just used white and gold Sharpie paint markers, a yard stick, and a tringle/wedge that I had fashioned out of cardboard. This wall was a fun Pinterest find and an easy project! And, it saved money by not having to skim coat the wall and add wallpaper.
After all the painting, papering, trimming, etc, it was time for carpet. Unfortunately, due to COVID (that's a repetitive theme this entire YEAR+), the carpet layers couldn't get to us for another month (after already waiting over 40 days for the carpet to arrive). So... we had a mess for longer. Finally, when it was in.... we were able to push forward again!
Carpet Mfr: Dreamweaver/DW Select. Style: Baja. Color: Cabo. (For my own "reminder" in case we need to ever get more!)
"After" photos:
New South set of shelving with games, exercise equipment... and apparently a stuffed Mallard duck (I just don't know where to put him!!!).
Hallway and new North set of shelving with mementos, spare towels (in case of new flooding!), toys, books, etc.
Wide hallway at the end of the stairs:
Family Room.... North, East, and South walls.
...still needs some tweaking, decor-wise (and furniture-wise!), but it's a nice functional space. I finally had a place to put the gorgeous oversized mirror that Shana gave me!
And, Ramsey has his own new "Lego table" for his building projects.
One of my two trophy boxes that I won at the state fair (cattle show) is a useful (albeit quirky) toy box that adds a pop of color.
And the grey TV credenza finally "makes sense".
And yes, there is a silver mini fridge next to the credenza.
A few tweaks in the bathroom (nothing much... bathroom was upgraded last year). But, the ceiling and wall patching are now complete and the base trim is 100% redone and caulked.
And.... my office:
On Etsy, I found inspiration for these humorous pictures, so I made them on my computer. I found the frames super cheap on Hobby Lobby's website. These are funny to me because they're TRUE!!
I dig my crazy moden light with Edison bulbs. This room was so dim before... now it's blazingly bright (with a dimmer switch in case it's too blinding).
I have a sit/stand desk too when I need to be more upright and stretch!
And... here's the daybed... completely messed up by our big old spoiled puppy. :-)
If we can get our electrician friend back out here, we have a few switches and outlets to replace (with ones that have USB ports for easy device-charging). He also needs to install new outdoor light fixtures on the garage and lower level walk-out door. If they were existing, Eric and I'd replace them. But, they're new, so.... we keep waiting.
Next project: Ramsey's new Star Wars bedroom!
