Before & After II

The dining room is Silhouette. We were disappointed not to be able to open the walls completely up, but it did mean we could be more dramatic with the paint.

Being able to see the big dining room windows from the living room is better than we even expected. With the white trim, I now am not even interested in putting drapery up there, the windows are so amazing.

Before & After

We used Benjamin Moore's Cosmopolitan on the living room walls. After living with that dark orange, I and tried a much lighter color, Abalone, first, but that went on very very lavender.

Cosmopolitan is from BM's relatively new Color Stories line, which doesn't use any black, in the same style as the fancier Farrow & Ball, etc. It also means the color varies a lot, with lighting, etc. When you read the design blogs and magazines this always represented as a plus - the color is "elusive". But, for another perspective, our painter says it just causes him problems because people think they like the color and call him a week later for a change. In this case, the color changes are great.

Construction Day 1

There are electric panels in the way, a header that no one knew about....I'm glad we didn't try to do it ourselves?

But we are not going to get the one big room. Taking the header out is apparently going to require a structural engineer, and that isn't in the plans for now.

So, not what we hoped for, but it is better....and, when we pulled the drywall back as far as we did from that archway, we found original hardwood underneath, meaning this is how the house was originally built. I didn't intend to restore it, but I'll take it. Also, that wood is significantly darker than the "restoration" of it. I was buying into keeping the lighter wood because I thought that was preserving one of the original aspects of the home. I'd certainly prefer dark.

Living/Dining Before

Our first major indoor renovation is beginning tomorrow. The old living/dining area is being opened into one great room, with much larger access to the kitchen. The "before":

Almost 3 Months In

The yard is a lot better. Not done, but it feels much bigger and is useable. Just in time for winter!

Adventures in Curb Appeal

Most of the change is due to the trees being green, but I still feel as though this is an accomplishment.

Yard Work II

After about 6 weeks, we've cleared out most the yard. If I was feeling kind I'd say there were a lot of native plants occupying the lot, but really, they were just weeds. There were actually roses up along the fence, which we couldn't see until we cut everything back. (Of course, I have no idea how to care for roses, so I'm not sure what this discovery will do...).