Editors note: This post will start with our 1st pictures of the living room and will then progress through our unpacking/remodeling pictures. Rather than wait until it's all done, I've decided to give periodic progress reports.
The downstairs living room has a fireplace, french doors to the back, and a pass-through bar to the kitchen. The French back door had 1/2 of the double window, on one side, missing. There was also a nice big hole at the bottom of the door. It was wonderful access for spiders, dirt dobbers, wasps, and grasshoppers. The ceiling fan didn't work but the light did. The fan blades were attached to the fan via antlers - not really my style. I wasn't too upset at the thought of having to replace it. The floors, as throughout the entire house, except the stairs, is vinyl made to look like wood. It's very rough looking.
The surprise in all this is the fireplace surround - it's slate! Very nice stuff, although Craig said it looks like it wasn't sealed properly. Doesn't look like a hard fix.
Our updates as of October 2013:
* Paint and lots of it!! We selected a brown tone for the living areas. The ceilings still need to be repairs so we've waiting to paint on all the ceilings. Once all the roof repairs are done, we'll paint them all at once.
* We replaced the ceiling fan and discovered that the old fan wasn't even hooked up - guess that's why it didn't work. We still replaced it with a pretty 3 light, 5 blade fan, rosewood colored, brushed nickle fan. The improvement in the light output was worth it!
* We also replaced the back, broken door with a white, 15 light, double french door. We are working on getting all the trim paint complete - going with white instead of the yellow. I did have to have Home Depot send us extra screw hole covers so we are still waiting to finish the trip in here.
* We have installed the instrument holders in the living room so now there's no more excuses for not practicing, right? We've also started hanging other things up as the mood or need strikes me (we needed a clock to help us get back into a routine for school). There's still lots of clutter and things that need to find homes or have homes built for them.
January 2014: Most of the improvements have been cosmetic and decorative in the living room. We finished painting the back doors and hung up some pictures. Craig has also pulled out his planes and has been working on getting them running again. There was already a hook up in the living and it's far enough away from the fan that we can keep the plane up and run the fan! The boys think it's so very cool to have a plane in their living room!
The one are in the living room that still needs to be fixed is the fireplace. We decided to play it safe and have the chimney inspected by a specialists. He cleaned it too. During the inspection, he discovered that there is a hole in the fire panels in the back of the fireplace insert. It was covered with a heavy piece of metal. He recommended that we not burn a fire until it's fixed. So, we found a place online that sells replacement panels and ordered one. It arrived broken in two, down the middle. To replace the panel, we need most of the panel intact. So, the company sent us another one, via a different freight carrier. They said the panels were too bulky to return. This one also arrived broken in half, down the middle. So, they graciously returned our money and left us two unusable replacement panels. Then the winter storm hit that knocked out our power for 2 days. We decided that we needed to keep warm and the best way - build a fire in the fireplace. So, we left the heavy piece of metal over the hole and took one of the largest broken pieces and placed in front of that. We had a nice warm fire to help keep us warm. We still need to replace the panel. The nearest fireplace store is at least 2 hours away. We are looking into getting an insert that includes a fan and is designed for heating, not just "pretty" fires. That'll probably be a summer project as it will involve not being able to use the fireplace while we install that feature. Right now, the weather gets chilly often enough that we'll make do for this winter.
The downstairs living room has a fireplace, french doors to the back, and a pass-through bar to the kitchen. The French back door had 1/2 of the double window, on one side, missing. There was also a nice big hole at the bottom of the door. It was wonderful access for spiders, dirt dobbers, wasps, and grasshoppers. The ceiling fan didn't work but the light did. The fan blades were attached to the fan via antlers - not really my style. I wasn't too upset at the thought of having to replace it. The floors, as throughout the entire house, except the stairs, is vinyl made to look like wood. It's very rough looking.
The surprise in all this is the fireplace surround - it's slate! Very nice stuff, although Craig said it looks like it wasn't sealed properly. Doesn't look like a hard fix.
Our updates as of October 2013:
* Paint and lots of it!! We selected a brown tone for the living areas. The ceilings still need to be repairs so we've waiting to paint on all the ceilings. Once all the roof repairs are done, we'll paint them all at once.
* We replaced the ceiling fan and discovered that the old fan wasn't even hooked up - guess that's why it didn't work. We still replaced it with a pretty 3 light, 5 blade fan, rosewood colored, brushed nickle fan. The improvement in the light output was worth it!
* We also replaced the back, broken door with a white, 15 light, double french door. We are working on getting all the trim paint complete - going with white instead of the yellow. I did have to have Home Depot send us extra screw hole covers so we are still waiting to finish the trip in here.
* We have installed the instrument holders in the living room so now there's no more excuses for not practicing, right? We've also started hanging other things up as the mood or need strikes me (we needed a clock to help us get back into a routine for school). There's still lots of clutter and things that need to find homes or have homes built for them.
January 2014: Most of the improvements have been cosmetic and decorative in the living room. We finished painting the back doors and hung up some pictures. Craig has also pulled out his planes and has been working on getting them running again. There was already a hook up in the living and it's far enough away from the fan that we can keep the plane up and run the fan! The boys think it's so very cool to have a plane in their living room!
The one are in the living room that still needs to be fixed is the fireplace. We decided to play it safe and have the chimney inspected by a specialists. He cleaned it too. During the inspection, he discovered that there is a hole in the fire panels in the back of the fireplace insert. It was covered with a heavy piece of metal. He recommended that we not burn a fire until it's fixed. So, we found a place online that sells replacement panels and ordered one. It arrived broken in two, down the middle. To replace the panel, we need most of the panel intact. So, the company sent us another one, via a different freight carrier. They said the panels were too bulky to return. This one also arrived broken in half, down the middle. So, they graciously returned our money and left us two unusable replacement panels. Then the winter storm hit that knocked out our power for 2 days. We decided that we needed to keep warm and the best way - build a fire in the fireplace. So, we left the heavy piece of metal over the hole and took one of the largest broken pieces and placed in front of that. We had a nice warm fire to help keep us warm. We still need to replace the panel. The nearest fireplace store is at least 2 hours away. We are looking into getting an insert that includes a fan and is designed for heating, not just "pretty" fires. That'll probably be a summer project as it will involve not being able to use the fireplace while we install that feature. Right now, the weather gets chilly often enough that we'll make do for this winter.
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