Paneled! (foyer transformation, part 3)

Hi there! I'm so excited to share the finished product of the foyer transformation.

Click HERE to read part 1.
Click HERE to read part 2.

Remember our sad, plastered walls? 

 

 

Well now, they look like this!

 

 

Insert SQUEALS of delight.

The popcorn ceilings are NO MORE in this space. We also upgraded light fixtures. 

This Ballard fixture stole my heart from the moment we found it at the outlet for only $80!

Remember the little crystal lights we had in here before? MAJA difference.

You can see that we opted to add lattice trim along the corners. This gave us some grace with rough cuts in those harder areas. We decided to paint all of the trim and ceiling panels a crisp white to pop off against the wall panels. I think we made the right decision on that.

 
You will see some irregularity with a few of the boards. Even though we used a quarter as a spacer, some boards aren't perfectly spaced. We actually like that it isn't 100% uniform. It gives the space some character. 


We also replaced the light in the back part of the hallway with a more cohesive fixture. 
 

(Mirror from the clearance section of Hobby Lobby)

I am SO happy this project is done, but now I'm eying those stairs and the banister. I want to transform those too. I'm also ready to add new hardware and paint to the front door! 

For now, I will wait. This project took a bit longer than expected. Over 100 boards were nailed to the walls and ceilings. All had to be painted, and the trim had to be painted and caulked too. It was a big undertaking, but I'm so glad we did it. It makes a HUGE difference.

What projects are you taking on this summer? Talk soon, friends!

xoxo,

Plastered to Paneled (foyer transformation, part 2)

Hi friends! I previously showed you guys the foyer. Do you remember it in all of its plastered glory?

It wasn't our style, so we decided to change things up a bit for our entry way. Ever since we did our guest bath in the townhouse, I have been itching to do another paneled room. And it gave me an awesome way to cover up all of that plaster.


There were a few spots that had thicker plaster than others, so hubs had to remove it by using a scraping tool and some major elbow grease. Again, there weren't that many bad spots, so this only took about 20 minutes total to do.

After drooling over several tutorials found on pinterest, we were ready to start our project. 

First, hubs measured all of the walls and the ceilings to determine how much wood we would need. We then went to Home Depot and purchased large sheets of sanded plywood (4ft x 8ft). They ran about $22/sheet. We estimated we would need 12 sheets to complete our project.

We then had the nice guys at Home Depot take the 12 sheets and cut them into 6 inch strips. Did you guys know they will cut wood for FREE?! It's true. They cut each sheet 8 times, totaling 96 cuts. We were super thankful Hubs didn't have to cut all of that. 

Once we got home, Hubs got out his trusty nail gun, a level, some adhesive, and a quarter. 

He wanted to make sure the first row was perfect, so he got out his level to be certain. After that, it was pretty easy to keep things on track.  Each panel got a glob of glue. We then used a quarter to work as our spacer between the boards. Once it was in place, he secured the boards to the wall with his nail gun.

We really thought this process would fly by. We were so wrong. Measuring, cutting, sanding (only when the edges looked rough from the cuts), gluing, and nailing every square inch of wall AND ceiling, took so.much.time. It was a really slow process. And a messy one too.

Once all the boards were up (four days later), we added some trim. We opted to go with lattice. It's economical and it looks nice. WIN WIN.

The previous crown and base molding stayed. The lattice worked as a transition piece.

Once the paneling was all up, we decided it was time to paint. For one minute we thought about staining everything a light gray... but then I thought it might be too dark. 

We chose Martha Stewart's Glass of Milk for the walls, and a bright white for the ceiling and trim.

Parker was NOT impressed with the mess or the fact that he wasn't cuddling in a lap.

I wasn't excited about the mess either, but it was worth it. Can't wait to share the reveal tomorrow. Check back! Hope you guys had an awesome weekend. Talk soon, friends.

xoxo,

Plastered... (foyer transformation, part 1)

Hi friends! We have been busy bees over here the last few weeks. We hosted family, friends, a couple of dinners, and just yesterday - my best friend's baby shower. And yes, we only moved in a month ago! Between all the fun visitors, we still managed to take on a pretty large DIY project. 

Introducing our foyer. It was a pretty soft, gray color, but I wasn't digging the plastered walls.

This space gets lots of use because it's the main entry into our home. It also serves as the access to the den, living room, kitchen, half bath and the upstairs.

I liked the color, just not the textured walls... or the popcorn ceiling (which is actually all over the house). But I love the floors and the space. Hubs was NOT digging the crystal light fixtures.

 

 

We are pretty sure it was wallpapered and the previous owner just decided to plaster over it instead of ripping it down.

This is the first impression for our home. This wasn't the impression we wanted to make. HA! I can't wait to show you the transformation. Talk soon, friends.

xoxo,

Hello Stoneywood!

Hi friends!

Thank you for sharing in our joy for the new house! We've been here for three weeks and we are just loving it. We already feel like this is our home.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, this house is move in ready... but there are many, many projects we want to complete to make this home "ours."

I can't wait to show you around. I thought I would start off by showing you around the front and backyard. We are loving the green space especially since we had been living in the townhouse for the last five years. 

We were instantly drawn to the curb appeal of the home. I have a weakness for colonials.
 

This photo was taken on the day we bought the house. The yard is really shaded, so it's hard to get much to grow up front. You can see the grass is pretty much patchy and is being taken over by clover. We also weren't in love with the giant pine straw bed in front of the door. It didn't feel very welcoming.

The second weekend we were there, Hubs' parents (they are THE best) came over to help us with the yard.

Here's the yard at the beginning of the weekend. Notice that little tree that is covering up the house? Again, not very welcoming.

And here is an "in progress" photo. We had aerated the yard, planted grass seed, pulled weeds, cleaned up the pine beds, cut down that little tree, and pruned and pruned and pruned.

We pulled the pine straw away from the front door and reworked that bed. We planted grass there as well. We are hoping it will fill in pretty soon. For now, it looks pretty shabby. But it's a vast improvement from where we were.

 I'll keep you updated on the grass. In the meantime, imagine Hubs out watering and talking to the little blades shooting up every.single.night. It's cute, really.

The backyard is a completely different story. 

When we went to look at the house (prior to purchasing it) this is how the backyard looked.

 

Those were taken in early March. 

Now, fast forward to today.... 

  

Y'all, it's a jungle. I can't believe how quickly everything grew. 

We love the space (almost a 1/2 acre). We love that no one can ever build behind us (protected land). And we do love that little creek.  It is so beautiful back there and we have seen so much wildlife running around. It's like being in the country.

What we don't love is all of the poison ivy (and high probability of snakes). I can't even think about going down there because I am highly allergic. 

Hubs and I have big plans for our backyard (fireplace, seating area, future play area for our FUTURE children). This will all be done in phases of course. We just need to kill all of the poison ivy first. And unfortunately these phases will not be cheap, so this will have to wait for a bit. In the meantime, I'm enjoying watching the firefly show out there every night. It is so very peaceful.

I can't wait to show you the inside! I'll try and highlight a couple of rooms soon. Hope you guys are having a great week. Talk soon, friends.