The DIY Home Renovations Update - Living Room

It's been a busy three weeks, and although we do still have a ways to go towards a completed 'full rehab' on this house, it's actually become, almost a livable 'home.'...

In this post, I'll show you what's been done, room by room, with a recap of the before pics and an up to date pic next to it... and then I'll show you what still needs to be done, and what we're planning to do in terms of getting it done.

First, the living room...

I'd like to be able to say that this is where I stored everything 'to be sorted through', but nope, actually, several rooms had this 'hurricane went through it' look to it when we came back here.






We started on this room a few weeks ago.... here's a picture of Sherry hanging the curtains

And now... I've got it down to this... 

The two nightstands in front of the entertainment center are just there temporarily until I get the boys bedrooms done, and then they may go in those rooms, or I may find something else to do with them. 

The milk crates under the windows will eventually go in their rooms too... for now, they're just a place to keep all their various toys stored in some kind of organized way.

You most likely can't see it in the picture, but right to the side of that chaise lounge are 4-5 boxes of 'papers' that need to be sorted and filed... a project that I am dreading.  I expect it to take a minimum of 2 full days and several contractor bags to do.  Other than that, the only thing that will be left to do in this room in terms of 'repairs' is that giant, gaping hole in the ceiling.

Originally, I thought of maybe just making a 'wood' panel for that.  For one thing, I like wood.  It's neutral.  And for another, it would save me the hassle of having to no only hang sheetrock (over my head no less, and high to boot- no I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of the sudden stop at the end of the fall)... it would also save me the hassle of having to tape and mud, and smooth and then retexture that and try to match it to the original popcorn)...

And so, of course, as I trawled Pinterest for 'wood ceiling' ideas, I did see some, but then an idea hit me.

I wondered about maybe making a 'box' that could 'pull down,' (the way attic stairs pull down) that I could use as 'storage.' 

See, here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, our water table is maybe 3 feet below the ground, so we don't have basements.  We also don't have attics either.  We have crawl spaces.  And we call them that because you have to 'crawl' around up there.  (If you ever wonder why A/C guys are short, now you know.) 

We end up using our garages for storage. 

So if I can do it, that's a thought.

Otherwise, it's just going to be a some wood covering up that spot... and since wood is neutral, it should work fine.  I could possibly even hang some plants from the wood to make it look like it's supposed to be that way.  I may have to add some wood trim in a couple of other places in the room to 'tie it all together,' so to speak, but that should be easy enough to do as well, between the large entryway and the big bay windows I have. 

Stay tuned for the next update post as we continue to work hard at making this house a 'home' with "Girl Fu."