My Extreme Home Makeover Update

It's been a while since I've updated about our home makeover. With the holidays and Biggest Brother returning home from college for three weeks, there just hasn't been much time to get things done.

One thing we did (or I guess I should say, Brian did) was to some pretty wicked running of our HDMI cable for our television and Blu-Ray player plus our cables for VGA on other equipment.

Knowing that he was going to be building the wall, Brian run the cables inside of it then up to the ceiling, over and down through an existing wall that hosted the telephone line. Once he gets the crown molding up, you'll see no wiring at all.

The only problem I've run into is finding the right size table to put the HDTV cable box, a Sony Electronics Blu-Ray player, and cable router on. I need an exact size of 36 L x 12 W x 36 H. With those specifications, I'm betting that I'll have to go custom made. Unless one of you can give me a better idea. :)

Well, that's all we've got for now. Since we're planning to fire things up again starting this week, hopefully I'll have some awesome updates soon.

Wish us luck!

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Our Extreme Home Makeover: Week 5

Things are moving at a slower pace now as we work on doors and trim.

We did finish with the hall closet door.  Thank goodness!  Having all my "junk" out there for the world (okay, so it was just anyone who visited - but still...) to see was driving me insane.

Do you remember that episode of Friends where Chandler discovers the locked door in his and Monica's apartment?  Monica, of course, refuses to let him see inside.  Once he finally does get into it, he finds that Monica - normally so very neat and orderly - has a secret messy stash.

Well, if you've seen that episode then you've seen what my hall closet looks like.

Wouldn't you be anxious to get the door back up too? :)

While Brian does the physical labor, I spend a lot of my term browsing for the furniture, television, and all that good stuff that we're going to be putting into the living room.  (Hey, I'm not lazy.  He's a perfectionist and won't let me do any painting! And cutting?  Accident prone people like are NEVER allowed to that kind of stuff! lol)

The downside to browsing for living room furniture is that I find myself suddenly wanting to redo other rooms too.    


For example, we have small bedrooms so I'm always looking to space save.  And even though the kids all have nice bedroom furniture, I come across some trundle bunk beds. Those would be great for when they have friends spend the night. And I'm definitely considering twin bunk beds with stairs for Princess A's room - if we ever get there!

And then while I'm browsing, Big Brother spots a pirate ship bed and insists that he wants a themed room to go with it.

Oh boy, this project of ours could turn into more than makeover than we'd planned.

Oh well, it gives me something to blog about and we're having fun. So why am I complaining, right? :)

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Our Extreme Home Makeover: Week 4

This week wasn't nearly as productive as previous weeks.  We're getting into a lot of the "slow" work which involves the "creating" of door frames, measuring and cutting trim, etc.  A lot of things that are more behind-the-scenes.

Brian did get the utility closet door back in place.  Yay!  My sweetie knew it was driving batty, so made sure to get it done.  Unfortunately, my photo doesn't show the pristine white - nor did I remember to take a photo of the before with the antique white door and trim.  So you'll just have to believe me when I say it looks AWESOME!

Now - if I had taken a picture at everything I've been up to, we'd look a lot more productive.   For example, I've been researching window companies for replacement windows and browsing shutters. (Uh oh, I gotta be careful - I'm getting a little off course with exterior items. Ack, who cares. Shutters go with windows, so it's all good.)

Also, my next door neighbor convinced me that I had to at consider microfiber sofas (for years, I've been anit-microfiber).  After she was discussing the wonderful feature of beading-and-wiping (no staining) to this mother of four, I was ready to give it some consideration.

So back to the furniture store I went.

Sorry to say, I came out of there still being anti-microfiber.  Maybe if I hadn't landed on that one God send of an Ashley formfitting, dual recliner sofa, I would have had more of an open mind.

Maybe.  I don't know, though, I still don't like being able to tell when you've just sat on a couch.  (Crazy, huh? I mean, what else are they for?)

Hopefully I'll have more to show you next week especially since Brian did quite a bit of cutting this last weekend.

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Our Extreme Home Makeover: Week 3

It's been another busy week with our version of Extreme Home Makeover.

This is where the work starts to slow down - more than I'd like, anyway.

The Summer Breeze paint I picked it is one I'm really happy with, so we moved along this past week to changing light fixtures.

Not that we didn't really know it already, but removing the old fixtures was definite confirmation that we needed to put a fresh coat of paint on the ceiling.

Which is exactly what we did.

It's amazing how a fresh coat of ceiling paint can really freshen up a room (or hallway, in this case).

Add new, contemporary light fixtures and it's like "Wow!"

So then it was on to doors which, in my opinion, is the most tedious part of renovations.

To save money, we've opted to forego the door "kits" and just construct our own.  (Okay, my own little Bob the Builder, a.k.a. Brian, will actually do the constructing but, hey, I can take some credit too, right?)    

We've started with the utility closet doors.

Unfortunately.

Between a birthday celebration this week, football practice, and a full time job, Brian is just now getting started on building and paint the frame door.

In the meantime, the washer and dryer drown out the living room television.  Not to mention that my dirty-little-secrets-closet is not so good at keeping mute these days.

To keep on the positive side, though, I'm sure that by next week I'll be able to show our new, bright white doors and hopefully even a few more as we venture into this hallway renovation.

In the meantime, I'm the hunt for a charcoal grey recliner sofa and love seat.  It's a bigger task to find one than I thought.  Apparently this color of grey isn't very popular.

But - to give a shout out and kudos:

Our friends and neighbors, Steve and Patty Ray, owners of Sofa Center in McMinnville, Tennessee (931.474.7632), told us Ashley Furniture is coming out with a new bluish-grey color in about three months.  They are going to put one on reserve and when it arrives, I get to come check it out.  No strings attached! 

I'd like to think we're special, but the truth is they do things like that for everyone.  Gotta love those guys!

Be sure to join me next week for more updates, hopefully! :)

This post was submitted to 5 Minutes for Mom's Tackle It Tuesday meme.

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My Extreme Home Makeover: Week 2

What a time we've had with Week 2 of My Extreme Home Makeover! To sum it up, all I can say is that I have the world's most wonderful, most patient husband in the WORLD!

If you'll recall, I raved about the Encounter blue from Valspar Paint that I had decided on. Such a pretty blue!

On the paint chip!!

Actually, it is a beautiful blue but just a bit too baby-boy-nursery for me tastes. So I had to tell Brian that I didn't like it and it was time to look again.

After a little back and forth - and giving it A LOT of extra thought this time - I decided on a much lighter shade of blue:  Summer Breeze, also from Valspar.

Speaking of Valspar paint,  can I mention again how awesome this paint is? Can you imagine if we had to primer these walls every time I changed my mind? (I don't think Brian would have had the patience he's had in that case)    

Change your mind, no problems.  One coat will do the trick.  (I'm sure, as with every rule, there is some exceptions but not for us - thank goodness!)

And the people at Lowe's, where Valspar paint is sold, are wonderful!  Very helpful.  Also patient.  Wow, just great folks!

Ok, anyway, back to my project....so Brian gets the Summer Breeze mixed up and spends the weekend working out a few more "spots" that he hadn't noticed before in the drywall; finally painting on Saturday night. 

Two days later, I can say THIS IS IT!!  I finally found the blue I'm happy with.  (I pretty sure I heard Brian breath a HUGE sigh of relief...lol)

With the walls painted a color I like, Brian decided he could move on.

We changed out our prehistoric light "switches" to the more modern "rockers." Amazing how such a simple change - ha!  there's another story - can make such a HUGE difference.

Now about that other story....my man knows his stuff when it comes to making over a home, but not when idiots have come before him and screwed things up.  Those "simple" light switch changes turned into hours of work!  I could go into a long explanation, but let's just say I'm a little nervous about the rest of the wiring in this house! 

But my perfectionist husband worked at it until it was done right! (Gotta love 'em!)

Oh yeah, we even replaced the central heat and air return grate!  After years of being banged by roughhousing boys, hit by moving furniture, etc., it was time for a new one!

So now we'll be moving on to doors, frames, baseboards, crown molding, and painting the ceiling.  Not necessarily in that order.

Be sure to follow along each week for our out with the old, in with the new.....or to see how many times I can change my mind? :)

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Follow Along With My Extreme Home Makeover

For years, I've been an earth tone kinda gal. Never straying for your basic browns, greens, blacks.  Simple, square rooms that show very little imagination....or personality.

I've decided to shake things up a little. And by shaking it up a "little," I mean I'm doing a complete home renovation.

Okay, not me, I'm just the planner. My wonderfully handy, always-ready-for-a-project hubby, Brian, is the sweat behind my little renovation.

We're starting with the hallway. We've stripped wallpaper, took down the crown molding, the chair rail, and door frames.

To make sure this renovation lasts us a while, Brian is making sure everything is perfect. He's remudding the walls, sanding it down, and double checking to make sure there are no holes, scrapes, bumps, etc.

As you can see we've got to have a lot of patience because it's not a fast paced project.

But this week, Brian did paint the right side of the hallway. Of course, not without a hassle from me. I first picked one color of blue that I thought I loved. After it was up, not so much. So off to Lowe's to get my the blue I really wanted: Encounter by Valspar.    

By the way, if you haven't tried Valspar paint, consider it next time you have a project. Like their advertisements say, it is truly ONE coat paint. It's a little pricier than other brands, but WELL worth. (And keep in mind, I'm the cheap queen!)

Anyway, here is what we've managed to get done so far:

This is just the first step in My Extreme Home Makeover.  We're going to be adding walls, moving light fixtures, installing a flat panel television, painting and replacing crown molding, baseboards, and doors; plus replacing furniture, and so much more.  So be sure to follow along with each week (or maybe month - depending on how fast we move...lol) for updates.

And you want to know the very best part?  We'll be doing it all with CASH!  No home improvement or personal loans.  Nope, we're doing it Dave Ramsey style!  YIPPEE!!!

For more Tackle It Tuesday Projects visit www.5minutesformom.com

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