When we had moved in to this house, the living room had dark paneling.
We painted the paneling, as a temporary face lift, and planned to one day redo the room properly. Then last summer, when we replaced the siding on the outside of the house, we also decided to replace the large window in our living room to one half the size. I had plans of moving my piano to that wall and didn't want to block the window. So while the outside of the house looked nice and neat, the inside was less than appealing. We just weren't quite sure what to do with that wall with the paneling over plaster and a big void below the window.
I decided that I would remove the paneling from that wall and repair the plaster. I had repaired all of the plaster in the dining room, and surely I could get this one wall back in good shape in no time, right? Well, when I pulled off the paneling, the plaster was in worse condition than I had predicted. Actually, it was just crumbling off the wall.
Amidst this unfortunate find, there was a little sweet spot. On the back of one of the pieces of paneling I removed, was the name of one of the children who previously lived in this house. I always love finding treasures like this, and I often have my kids write their name and date in secret places during our renovations for future generations to find.
Once I decided that the plaster was not salvageable, I rallied the troops, armed them with protective glasses, hammers and pry bars, and we went to work.
As we were taking down the plaster (and making a gigantic mess) I ever-so-sweetly asked Jason if he could cut a hole for me in the adjoining wall. It was just a small wall, dividing the dining room from the living room, and I had envisioned some open shelving there ever since we moved in. He agreed, and we removed one more piece of paneling, where we found remnants of some old wallpaper, which I'm sure was quite lovely at some point in the past.
And then we went to work making sure the measurements were square and level and Jason cut me a big ol' hole in the wall. Perfect!
NOW what do I do? I had a completely blank slate and no plan.
We decided that drywall was our best option, so while Jason went to pick up a few pieces, I cleaned up the biggest mess in the WORLD. We finished the drywall by dinnertime and I planned to start taping and mudding the next day.
Except for one thing: I am a complete slacker. The taping and mudding didn't happen, so by Wednesday, Jason took it upon himself to do it. And he also started staining the trim and getting that installed! Once the drywall was finished, I mustered up some motivation to paint. I opted for a color a few shades darker than the rest of the room, and I love how it looks with the new wood trim.
After that, I started thinking that maybe I didn't want just open shelving in my new space. I threw a couple of ideas at Jason and he made them happen. And just like that, I had a wine rack, wine glass storage, AND some open shelves.
I absolutely love how it all turned out and mentioned to Jason that with just 10 or 12 more sheets of drywall we could finish the whole living room! He glared at me and said it wasn't happening. At least, not until it was warm enough to have proper ventilation to accommodate all of that dust! Ok, ok, I guess I can wait for awhile. He was a good sport throughout this little project, and I appreciate all of his hard work. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find some wine to fill that wine rack!
