More on what Dan did this summer

Happy Hump Day!

I'm so pleased you all were impressed with the Mr's stitching.  I've chosen a wonderful frame for it and am just trying to decide on whether to mat it or not.  I'll share when it's finished.

Some of you might remember a few years back when I had my Achilles Tendon surgery.  To keep me entertained Dan remodeled the kitchen while I was convalesing.  Every day I would make my way downstairs and find that he had worked on one thing or another.  It was almost like Christmas!

Dan did not disappoint this time either!  It all started with the fireplace.  We had a lovely orangey oak surround that neither of us liked and since I had nothing but time to think about things, and the sofa faces the fireplace, it became the pea underneath my mattress until finally I couldn't take it and I begged him to do something.  We put our heads together and decided to paint it the same color as the kitchen cabinets but keep the mantle itself stained, just darker. It took him the entire 3 day 4th of July weekend but he got it finished and we both were thrilled with how it turned out.

Fireplace before

fireplace after

Meanwhile, the upstairs toilet leaked leaving stains on the kitchen ceiling, we got the toilet fixed but the stains remained and they bothered me every time I saw them.  So...he painted the ceiling and since the kitchen ceiling is open to the family room ceiling he had to paint the whole thing.  Dan watches HGTV  and he sees how they always empty out the room completely when they paint and remodel.  However, as much as he will moan and groan about having to work around the furniture the man will not empty the room.  Nope, he'd rather complain the entire time and this time he had to work around me since I was flat out on the sofa 99% of the time.  But in spite of the cursing and stumbling over things he got the ceiling finished and it looks quite spiffy.  But he didn't stop there.  We had been talking about how badly the walls needed painting for at least a year.  It's been over a decade since the last paint job and since it was suede paint we hadn't been able to touch it up because you can't touch up suede paint, it looks worse than the holes and black marks if you do.  But I loved my suede paint and didn't want to paint over it  with regular paint and Ralph Lauren,  the suede paint we liked, had been discontinued many years ago. However, as it so happens, with some research I discovered that Home Depot had just re-introduced Ralph Lauren's suede paint this past June!!! So Dan trotted his happy self to the store and brought home every last paint chip color in the line for me to look at.  And ponder.  And then ponder some more.  And then choose one color only to change my mind the next morning.  And then I would ponder some more.   I finally had it narrowed down to 2 colors, a brown, similar to what is in the kitchen or a sage green.  I went back and forth and back and forth between them so much that time passed.  Lots of time passed.  I had my surgery and still hadn't decided.  In fact it wasn't until I was somewhat mobile after my surgery that I finally chose and then it was at the store when we were getting the paint!  I intended to get the brown paint but at the last second I went with the green and I am so happy I did!!  It looks fantastic!  It looks so fantastic that Dan couldn't stand to keep the carpet in there.  He said he didn't spend all that time painting the suede paint (not the easiest technique) just to keep the ugly carpet when we both really wanted something else.  I wanted a medium colored hardwood and he was leaning more towards a dark laminate wood and in the end I let him have his way and we went with the laminate.  Again it was an interesting process since the man wouldn't completely empty the room.  He emptied the smaller pieces into the kitchen but left the entertainment center, sofa, recliner and the love seat.  He did half the room and then had to shift everything over to do the other half.  It took him over a week to finish and almost as soon as he did he said it was a mistake,  3 dogs, dark floor...lots of upkeep and I can't do any of it yet.  But it does look really nice.   We found an area rug at Lowe's and a clearance ceiling fan at Menards and with the exception of needing new furniture at some point (it's also a decade old and my lounging on it for the last 4 months didn't help it out any) the room is finished and we are both thrilled with it!

Family room before

all the many holes that needed to be filled.

north wall looking towards the kitchen

 .

nw wall

west wall/sw corner

sw wall again

 

sw corner

se corner.  we removed the top of the entertainment center

south wall

new rug

new laminate floor

I think  we're done doing any further remodeling since it seems like the only time we do it is when I have surgery and quite frankly I don't want to have any more!  I'm sure you can understand that!

Dan has started a new small project that he intends as a gift for Christmas so I will share that with you next time and  will also share some pin pillows I had stitched before things with my neck happened.  

Hope you enjoyed seeing the remodel!  

Take care till next time!

Julie