makeover Archives - Pragmatic Compendium

the home project that never ends: the gameroom.

Posted on April 6, 2014April 7, 2014 by Julie Stiles Mills

If you missed the living room makeover, CLICK HERE to see part one photos and CLICK HERE to see part two photos.

After the living room floor was down, we continued through the opening into – what would be for normal people, the formal dining room – but for us is the game room, (or what the kids used to call the playroom when they were younger).

The game room got its own makeover back in September of 2009. You can CLICK HERE to see those before, during and after photos, but here’s one of the “after” photos that gives a frame of reference with regard to the opening connecting it to the living room.

And after the flooring in the living room was down, that opening looked like this:
(the navy blue curtains you see in the above photo are tied in a knot in the photos below)

Here’s a full shot of the opening from the game room side.

Ready? Here we go.

All the living room furniture that we had been storing in the family room while we were laying the living room flooring had to be moved OUT of the family room so we could store all the game room furniture in the family room while we laid the game room flooring.

Did you follow that?

Here’s what it looked like. Living room furniture in the in family room:

Game room furniture in the family room.

And a week later. Notice how much messier the family room looks after what at that point was over a month of continued home chaos. That’s paper shredder guts in the middle of the floor, but vacuuming just seemed so…pointless.

In the process, we had to unhook all the electronics and come face to face with the chord chaos we had been ignoring for…a long time.

What a mess.

Then I went to EPCOT.
Seriously.
I took PinkGirl to EPCOT and my FavoriteHusband and FavoriteSon tackled the game room floor prep while FavoriteHusband took breaks to hack my facebook and post photos of their progress.

Take note of that round appliance in the photo above.
It’s an air purifier.
We had three different ones running the entire time.

First the guys pulled up the old carpet and carpet pad. If you click to zoom and look closely, you’ll see some of the glued down carpet padding that FavoriteHusband and FavoriteSon meticulously scraped off the floor. By hand.

After the floor had been scraped, there was a fine layer of white powder EVERYwhere. On the walls, the curtains, the light bulbs…EVERYwhere. The air purifiers definitely helped. I took them apart to vacuum their filters. Here’s one mid-vacuum:

Then FavHubs ripped off all the old baseboards. They were those standard, boring baseboards and we had long since replaced them in the rest of the downstairs with 4.5 inch baseboards.

After scraping and vacuuming the floor, FavoriteHusband sealed it with Kilz.

Another reason I left the house that day. That stuff has a strong odor. Gives me a multi-hour headache.

After the sealer was dry, FavHubs cut and laid the plywood subfloor. (We had to lay a subfloor in the previously carpeted areas to raise the level up to meet the existing kitchen flooring – which we were not going to remove. The new flooring is a floating floor. We installed it right on top of the existing kitchen flooring. But that’s another post.)

Then I got back into the project. These planks have some STRONG adhesive on them, so we learned hard and fast that this job was going to go much more quickly and with less errors if we laid every single plank TOGETHER as a team.

I can’t believe, with as many photos as I took, I can’t find any of the flooring mid-install.
Here’s the end result:

Then came the new baseboards. You remember that shot above showing the old baseboards mid-rip out? Here’s that same corner.

FavoriteHusband borrowed a miter saw and a compressor from a friend, watched a few youtube videos to learn how to use a coping saw and look at these beautiful baseboards!

Then I needed to mop it.
Or let my irobot Scooba mop it for me.

Here’s the nearly-finished room. Still have to finish the dreaded decorating.

I’ll post the kitchen photos soon. I hope.

the living room makeover. the library.

Posted on February 22, 2014February 22, 2014 by Julie Stiles Mills

If you missed Part I and Part II of this living room makeover, CLICK HERE and HERE to see those photos.

This weekend, we’re installing baseboard in the game room, and hopefully we’ll reload all the furniture in that room and finish laying the new flooring in the kitchen. But this is what we did LAST night!

Check out my very own LIBRARY wall!

and yes, those shelves block off an opening between two rooms, but we LIKE it that way. The other side is what the floor plan called the formal dining room, but we’ve used it as a play room/game room for over 10 years. The books on these shelves will provide a sound barrier between the two rooms that I’ve wanted for a very long time!

There’s plenty of time to have a formal dining room. After my kids grow up. maybe. (more likely it will turn into a workout room.)

We have SO much to do this weekend. But FirstHusband is using power tools and doing math with a protractor to calculate baseboard angles, so I’m rearranging books in my new library! Here’s a WIP shot:

Check back. More photos to come.

the living room makeover. during and after

Posted on February 15, 2014February 16, 2014 by Julie Stiles Mills

If you missed Part I of this living room makeover, CLICK HERE to see those photos.

Here’s the last photo from the first post:

(the grey is the moisture barrier)
the living room makeover - moisture barrier2

While I waited for the flooring to ship (delayed due to the snow and ice), I did some painting and we made few small changes:

Before:

After:

We’re changing ALL of the beige toggles to white rockers. ALL of them. (and of course, the beige outlets to white)

Painting most of the downstairs Behr “Pecan Sandie” in Satin.
We painted the original boring beige back in 1996.
and (to the left of the window) the “big red wall” is GONE.

In my defense, I am short and this valance was WAY over my head. Taking it down to paint put it in vacuum reach.

And FINALLY, the flooring was delivered!

And the fun began…

Four hours later… (it was a hard learning curve)

The next day went MUCH faster.

When we got to the last row, we said a little prayer:
Lord, we are so tired. please. please let it be a perfect fit.

God is merciful. And we are so. grateful.

We only had to fill in a graduated triangular section in the very. last. corner.
Can you see it? Go ahead. Click the photo to zoom in. My husband is SO good.

and the FLOOR is finished. In this room.
The green towels are covering the transition into the NEXT room.
yay.
And we have yet to get the rest of the furniture into place.

Bob the Cat approves. #lazycat #sunbeam

Next up? Finish painting and put some furniture in here. And of course, the adjoining rooms.

Check back. More photos to come.

the living room makeover. before and during.

Posted on January 12, 2014April 6, 2014 by Julie Stiles Mills

[First things first. FirstHusband’s name has been officially changed to “FAVORITEHusband” for the next few weeks. probably longer. This post would not exist if it weren’t for his tireless and good natured hard work. and his math skills and his freakishly (and sometimes frustrating) attention to detail.]

I forgot to take a picture of the before, so this mid deconstruct will have to do. I’ll look for an old shot to compare with the “after” when we’re finished.

living room makeover before

living room makeover before2

If you know me, you know there were full bookcases in this room.
Below are mid-relocation stacks for one of them.
(alphabetized by author’s last name of course)
mid bookcase relocation

This antique armoire already weighs a ton when it’s empty.
So.
It had to be emptied.
the giant armoire that has to be moved

I ran out of flat surfaces. And some of it went into a charity box instead of back in the armoire.
I do not need a giant platter with a turkey on it when I have two plain giant platters.
and I do not need four glass beer steins with my graduate school logo on them.
and I do not need…so much STUFF.

armoire contents mid relocation

This picture doesn’t show the family room furniture,
but we don’t normally have a love seat in front of the fireplace.
or a piano in front of the sliding doors.
There’ll be plenty of seating in the family room for the next few weeks.
Although, no room to walk. (notice the glass wear lining the piano).
temporary familyroom living room combo

Of course, what is a home renovation without a time-sucking distraction?
We took the sliding doors off the track so the dining table could fit through to live on the porch for a few weeks.
ewwwww.
and this picture was mid-scrub. It was BLACK before. guuh. ross.
(why and how did I never notice this before?)
the distraction - sliding door rails before

After some steel brush, Mr. Clean grease cutting, shop vacuuming, this door opens and closes like buttah.
the distraction -sliding door rails after

And back to the real job.
Scraping and sanding and sealing, oh my.
the living room makeover - carpet is up.2

the living room makeover - floor sanded and sealed

We needed a subfloor to raise the floor level to the same height as the current flooring.
the living room makeover - subfloor in progress

the living room makeover - subfloor complete

And a moisture barrier.
Finally found a use for all that roofing material left over from Hurricane Charley.
the living room makeover - moisture barrier2

And then, FINALLY, we put together a sample of the flooring we picked to see if we really like it.

we do.

new flooring sample

So now, we order the rest of it.
and wait for it to ship.
and then finish laying it in the living room.
and then we get to empty the game room.
and do this all over again. yay.

game room charging station

game room seating