I finally got tired of having a torn-apart living room and decided to go ahead and change a few plans. Everything has been revolving around the fact that my front door (which I don’t use except to lean out and grab the mail) opens smack into my living room as seen in this post. I scrapped the loveseat-in-front-of-the-door idea though partly because I didn’t like the curtains I’d put up to disguise the door (it didn’t look like what I’d imagined) and partly because it dawned on me that the dining table didn’t have to go against the half wall, that I could put it further into the living room if I wanted to. And so I did.

It’s parked smack against the bathroom wall; there is room to pull it out to add two more chairs to the other long side or just to spread the existing four chairs evenly around it. Then the question was: if I’m not covering the front door over and therefore don’t have that for wall space, where do I put the seating? I didn’t want it all along the wall opposite the table because I didn’t want the table to be the focal point and I wanted a cozier atmosphere than that, so I’ve taken my two of my three seating options and placed them in a cozy, chatty arrangement seen above. I have a few things to add to that space but nothing big.

That cozy, chatty arrangement then created a space at the front of the room like so:

So what to do with this space? The curtains from the door will be coming back off. I’ll use the rod in my bedroom makeover instead and either return the two panels (I’ll only get store credit though) or use them to upholster that little swivel rocker in the photo above. I’m thinking a papasan-type chair (I’m talking with someone on kijiji about one) where the clock and painting are leaning and a tall bookcase to the right of that. I have a cheap 6-foot tall one at my mom’s that I could pretty up. A little paint, a plywood back instead of the carboard one, fill in holes that I won’t be needing for the adjustable shelving, and there’ll be room on the bottom for B’s books and room on the top for mine with a bit of room interspersed throughout for a few large knick-knacks (I’m not a knick knack girl). The little chair above will get a new dress and probably be slid down to the other end of the loveseat, still on the back side of it though. Maybe a cozy little rug tossed down on the floor, a small end table (or something posing as one) for the little chair and we’ll be good to go.

So that’s the what things are right now. The living room still needs a couple coats of paint in a nice neutral slightly-browner-than beige colour, pictures and other wall accents need to be hung, a few accessories need to be picked up, and projects need to be started and completed. I’ll update when it’s done! There are still a few small things to be done in the kitchen as well and the closet in the back entrance and then it’ll be an almost-completely done (damn that bathroom!) upper floor. Full before and after photos will be posted at that time. Exciting!

The new school year has arrived here and B is currently on his third straight full day of school. As it happens, I am on the second of three days off and will be starting six days off next Wednesday. I’m enjoying the days to myself but only time will tell how my schedule will affect B now that he’s in school five days a week. I worked nights on Tuesday and Wednesday and ended up getting up at 7:30 in the morning to take B to school from my mom’s because otherwise we would have gone two days without seeing each other. He did say to me yesterday when I was dropping him off that he wished that day was the last day; I think he’s already feeling the change of having school every day. After a summer off and a school year last year of going Monday, Wednesday and alternate Fridays, this is a change. And he’s still four so he’s still pretty young.

Days to myself give me the opportunity to do things that would otherwise be a little more difficult and I have a laundry list of things to do on these two remaining days and my days off next week. The closet in the back entrance is coming along nicely and I’ll soon be able to start painting, which I’m very much looking forward to. I can’t wait to see my walls with the new colours. I’m also thinking of painting my front door. My boyfriend painted his steel door (or whatever they’re made of) last year and it looks great. Such a simple change makes such a big impact on the look of the house. If I did that, I think I’d remove the screen door. Even if I don’t leave the loveseat in front of the door (and disguise the door from the inside), we never use the front door except to reach out and get the mail from the mail box. The front of the house is unbearably hot beginning about an hour past noon and the door swings open directly into the living room. It’s also an old and beat up screen door and the bottom rubber needs replacing as it’s about half the depth it used to be and leaves a gap above the door step.

The laundry list reads like this:

• tomato soup - B requested this for supper so I need to pull out my puréed tomatoes to thaw
• meatballs - I have three pounds of ground turkey in the fridge
• peaches - I chopped and froze some peaches last night and now I need to bag them
• lawyer - general questions regarding adoption given the fact that B’s father has zero interest or involvement with him
• One Kids Place - I need to get B in to see someone regarding his inability to process (or maybe just express) his emotions other than in the form of hitting and tantrums
• laundry - move it from the washer to the clothes line
• wash kitchen window
• rhubarb - chop and freeze what’s in the fridge
• cauliflower - steam, purée, and freeze or make soup to freeze
• bathroom - quick clean
• GPS - I am on my third Tom Tom since October 2008 and I am getting incredibly frustrated!
• gift for E - my boyfriend’s daughter has a birthday
• door pulls - for the kitchen cabinets
• baggies - for the rhubarb, peaches, and cauliflower purée

Tuesday morning I picked up a few things to go with the living room remodel and will give you a sneak peek.

Hopefully things will move along relatively quickly and the big reveal won’t be too far down the road. Considering I haven’t started yet (painting will come first) and I need to find some more furniture pieces, I may be being overly optimistic. And my dad comes home this weekend so the bathroom reno will be happening before he leaves to go back overseas. I’m not sure how long he’s home for but it’ll at least be a few weeks. He’s my electrician, tub surround installer, and countertop guy. I’m going to try being my own toilet guy (if I go with a new toilet in white) and I’m looking forward to being the wall tile remover as well. Smash!! Stay tuned!

I have a black metal word that I found in Sudbury last week to hang on my wall. It says "simplify". Today, as I was scrambling around, being the procrastinator that I am, in an effort to make the living room and kitchen more usable before B comes home tomorrow, I thought of that word. I have no idea where I’m going to hang it, whether it’ll be in the back entrance, kitchen, or living room, but it made me take a look at the living room in particular.

As I’ve previously mentioned, I am planning to put a dining table (once I find a suitable one) on the new framed half-wall once it’s done and painted.

The plan was also for that couch in the left corner of the above picture to be sold as the living room is a decent size but the wall space is broken up by windows and doors and a very short hallway to the bathroom and space is at a premium.

The love seat was pushed in front of the door to make room during my cleaning frenzy.

While struggling to visualize just how to arrange the room in the near future, "simplify" crossed my mind and I had the sudden thought to purge the TV from upstairs, thereby eliminating the need for the cabinet. I like the cabinet even though it’s just a cheap one from Sears. I like the shape and height and without it, the room is all the same height - the height of the furniture. I took the TV, VCR (yes, we still have one and use it), and DVD player downstairs and set it up in the rec room, swapping places with the flatscreen one from down there. The flatscreen TV has a built-in DVD player so, while I plan to make a cover for it and store it under the cutting table in my sewing room, if the need for it upstairs ever arises I’ll be able to just pull it out and plug it in.

Once the TV cabinet is gone (I’ve listed it), the arrangement doesn’t get any easier. I’m still not sure what to do. I know the paint colour is going to change but that doesn’t help the layout. There needs to be enough space around the dining table to not look cramped. yet still give me a living room that looks complete. It needs to be a dining area, not just a dining room table plunked down in one end of the living room.

The second picture shows the armchair in the corner, which had previously been beside the entertainment unit. I absolutely love the placement of the chair by the window. It hasn’t seen much use but I know I would sit in it all the time if it were to stay where it is. It would be the perfect curl-up-and-read spot. I like the love seat in front of the door too, although I would hide the door if I left it there by blacking out the window (black construction paper?), putting  another curtain rod centered between the windows, and hanging first a solid white curtain to cover the door and frame and then hanging another set of panels to match the ones on the windows. I’d then push the love seat back into place. I think. I think it would look okay. I’m not sure whether I’d use curtains to match the existing ones or contrasting ones. It all sounds like something they might do over at Young House Love, a completely awesome design blog by a couple so young, cute, and talented that they’ll make you very envious.

If the love seat stays where it is and the couch goes, I can almost visualize a papasan chair with a nice red cushion in the new reading corner, the armchair pushed down a bit, and a small end table set between the two or possibly a bookshelf to add a bit of height to the room and to house the requisite books. Another armchair could go on the wall where the TV had been, angled a bit into the corner where the end table is in the picture above. Another bookshelf could go next to that or a table of sorts (a low sofa table?) as long as it doesn’t hinder access to the bathroom hall. I’ll need a few surfaces to put the plants on and wouldn’t mind a large potted plant or tree on the floor somewhere in the room.

Decisions, decisions. And oh, the hair pulling! Such a stressful thing, this room rearranging. I welcome any tips or ideas.

The renovations are on hold on Tuesday but here’s what the current project, the half-wall, looks like at the moment.

See the slope in the floor under the new wall? Baseboard will hide that.
There’s also one at the window wall and the ceiling. Nothing in this house is square.

There used to be a half-wall in that same spot but it was just a piece of wood stained to match the cupboards. I wanted it made of drywall and the thickness of an interior wall so it would separate the two spaces better visually. I also wanted that extra piece extending up to the ceiling on the window wall so I can paint the kitchen and living room different colours. I’m still trying to decide what to do for the shelves that will go between the last cabinet and the new wall though. Initially I thought of making it like a cabinet but without the doors so the top could match the existing cabinets and be framed to the ceiling. Then I thought of floating shelves so the wall colour would show through on the back and left side; I have the piece of wood that sat on top of the cabinet at the end so I could close off that hole that way. Then I thought it might look more like the shelves belong there if the trim above the cabinets extends all the way to the new wall. So now I’m considering extending the trim and putting a "ceiling" at the bottom of it so the blown ceiling doesn’t show through and then doing the open shelves; I’m just not sure yet how to fully do that. Shelves can be decided once everything is done and painted though so there’s no pressure for that yet.

It’s looking good and I can’t wait until we start on the closet in the back entrance!

Not quite before and after as far as the whole kitchen goes but pretty darn close as far as the cabinets go. Here’s the kitchen it all it’s orange glory.

And here it is 95% of the way done cabinet-wise.

I still have to pull out the fridge and stove and paint beside them. I’m dreading the thought of two coats of primer and three coats of paint all over again but at least the surfaces are flat. I’ll be able to do the edges with the brush (or tape the crap out of the adjoining surfaces) and then go to town with the roller. I’m still on the hunt for cabinet hardware in my price range (cheap) that I like. I’m thinking of using only pulls and no knobs and am debating between a brushed nickel look to match the tap (the previous hardware was shiny gold solid brass) or black (which may have too much contrast with the rest of the room). Why does hardware have to be so expensive? I need 19 pieces.

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, that half wall behind the stove is going to be replaced with a framed and drywalled one and at the far right, on that window wall, the new wall will extend up to the ceiling, creating a bit more of a distinction between the kitchen and living room and allowing me to 1) paint the two spaces separate colours and 2) enable me to put a few shelves between the last cabinet and the new wall to put my cookbooks and knick knacks on. I’ve taken off the corner shelf that you can see in the first photo and will paint that and relocate it to the back entrance. Maybe it will hold a plant and a few other things since the dresser that’s currently back there will be removed to make room for the closet opening.

I’m rather excited! Not at the thought of spending more money but at seeing it all completed. Once the half wall is done, painting will begin on the cabinets, the kitchen walls (Behr’s Applesauce), the hall wall just visible to the left of the picture (Behr’s Apple Crisp), and the living room (possible Behr’s Gobi Desert or something similar). Construction of the half wall should begin tomorrow evening!

Poor B. He’s been home for one full day and we’ve already had one horrible night and one difficult day. I’m frustrated because there was no conflict while he was gone (hard to fight with myself) and he’s probably feeling a mix of things as well, having left the cottage where he spent nine days and counting down the days (three more sleeps) until he heads east to my brother’s. We’ve had more issues since he came home yesterday evening than we did in the entire week preceding him going to the cottage. I know that my reaction doesn’t help things most of the time and B has difficulties in expressing what he is feeling. It’s not just a matter of him not saying, I believe he truly doesn’t know or doesn’t know how to articulate those feelings. Instead he lashes out: name-calling, hitting, rudeness, and open defiance. I can read all the books I want but what I need to do is sit down with someone, a professional, and talk with them, where I can get verbal feedback.

Tonight I left B in bed with a small drink of juice and came upstairs, grabbing a bench I picked up at a thrift store. I picked up the little tin of stain, a brush, and some newspaper and plunked myself on the front porch with it, partly out of frustration and partly so I wouldn’t hear him incessantly calling if he started up. 

I’m not a fan of the country-ish hearts on this bench but it’s solid and sturdy and cost me $15. I’m not sure why it was priced like that since I also picked up a small table that I’ll use beside my bed for $5, both in excellent condition. The bench was in great shape but I thought it could use a fresh coat of stain. It looks reddish in the photo but the stain is Minwax’s Special Walnut. Once I get the closet built in my back entrance, I’m going to move the boot rack into it and this bench will occupy its spot just to the left of the back door.

The kitchen cabinets and their doors are all painted - double-primed except for the backs of the doors (because I was lazy) and with three coats of a semi-gloss creamy white paint (Behr’s Creamy White). No photos yet as the doors are not hung. I’m waiting for a few more days until they no longer feel tacky, even the slightest bit, to the touch.

My week is slipping by. Working two days and two nights hasn’t helped. I’m trying to get my cabinets painted and hung before B comes back from the cottage on Monday. I’m not sure if I’m going to meet that self-imposed deadline or not. Ideally, although the paint should be dry very quickly, I’d like everything to sit for a day before I re-hang the doors and manhandle everything. Which means that I have to have everything completed today. Ack!!

Here’s where things stand as of this minute:

The doors are actually double primed because I, for some reason unknown to me, used a brush for half of them before I realized that a roller made so much more sense. So I finished them all with the brush to keep them the same and then added a second coat with a roller because I was afraid I’d ruined them. Yesterday, between waking up around 9:30, running to Home Depot for paint, and going back down for a nap around 1 p.m. before my second night shift, I sanded the doors. It took a lot of time but I’m so glad I did. Now I’m looking at the cabinets themselves with their sad and patchy-looking single coat of primer and wondering if I should do the same thing. Regardless, today’s schedule holds door-painting, possibly priming and sanding, cabinet-painting, a workout (Day Four of the 30 Day Shred, baby!) and then a shower, and hopefully a meal or two in there as well. I’m stressed just thinking about it all.

I’m also missing this guy:

Someone got a little too close to the camera.

Happy Saturday! And for the fellow Canadians, happy long weekend!

I guess I have too much time on my hands because I’ve hatched a plan. See these?

I mean the cabinets, not the messy counters.

They’re orange. Actually cherry but they are incredibly orange-esque. It seems I have a money tree in my backyard because I am going to paint them. <Insert a gasp of horror from my mother (when I tell her): "You don’t paint cherry/oak/maple/walnut/etc!!!"> Even the guy at Home Depot said, "Well, you don’t [paint them]," when I told him why I was looking for a certain type of primer. Then he added, "But if you want to do that…" Yes, yes, I want.

I wish I had better lighting in here and today’s weather isn’t helping. I wish I could take a full picture of the entire kitchen/living room area. As I’ve said and shown before (I think), the kitchen and living room are essentially open to each other, separated only by that half-wall you see in the left foreground of the photo above. The living room side of that wall is going to be painted to match the walls. I was not liking the fact that the top piece of trim on it was probably going to have to stay cherry (because how could I paint only part of it white to match the baseboards and other trim?). Dilemma solved: paint the cabinets too.

Here are a couple more shots of the space as it is right now. Please pardon the horrible lighting and colouring.

The trim 10 inches up from the floor will be coming off.

I’ve spent the last two days at Young House Love and I am so envious of their house, their furniture, and their design savvy minds. They make it look effortless. I do think I’ve finally decided on colours though.

Ooh!! I just took a short break from this blog post to answer an email and during that time I had the idea to make the kitchen and living room more distinct as separate rooms by turning the wood half-wall into an actual drywall half-wall and extending a 16-inch (or so) piece all the way up to the ceiling at the window wall. Since the cabinets are being painted, I’ll take out the small open shelf on the upper cabinets and put in simple open shelving, painted the same colour as the cabinets, that extends to the new wall piece. I’ll then be able to paint the kitchen a different colour that the living room since the walls will now be broken up by the new wall piece and I’ll have someplace to put all the cookbooks that currently reside on that corner of the counter, which will in turn hopefully end the catch-all that corner.

The floor is all done and the baseboards have been put back up. Now begins the task of priming them (most are unpainted pine) and painting them white. I wanted the fresh, airy look of white to go with my light dusty green walls and the new floor.

Nothing has really been put back in its place yet. The entertainment centre and other furniture are still out from the walls and not in the arrangement that they will be in. It’s easier to leave them out while the trim is being painted instead of pulling them out and pushing them back in all the time since the painting is happening in short random bursts of time.

The next project is to paint that left-hand wall the flows into the kitchen as well as the wooden half wall seen in the very left of the photo. The half wall is to be painted the same green as the rest of the walls and the counter is to be removed from the back of it. The hall wall is to be painted an as-yet-undetermined colour just to break up all the green. I’m not sure what colour I’m going to go with. I don’t really want a darker one but I don’t want a beige/cream/white shade either. A yellow? I’ll take the paint can to the store to find out the colour name and then, after finding that paint chip, see if I can find coordinating colours.