Gene and I both really enjoy watching the “Fixer-Upper” TV show featuring Chip and Joanna Gaines and their work remodeling older homes. We love their style, creativity and down-to-earth personality and lifestyle. I have gleamed some decorating ideas for my house which I recently used.
This summer we replaced sheet rock, insulated and repainted the master bedroom, living room and kitchen, put up new trim, exposed the hardwood floors, added some ship lap, a sliding barn door and opened a nine foot walkway in the wall between the kitchen and living room. New curtains, throw rugs and accessories have made me feel like I am now queen of a new house!
Pictures of the living room.
Medium tone green-gray paint, new painted trim and crown molding, exposed hardwood floors, new curtains, rug and rearranged furniture.
New view of the kitchen. Opening the wall makes it feel like we have a totally different and larger living area.
View from kitchen into the living room. I love my exposed hardwood floors. They were still in good shape and did not need to be redone.
Opening the wall between the living room and kitchen was not in our original plan. One weekend we started talking and Gene said if we were ever going to do it, now was the time. When the carpenter, Joe Hertzler (Gene’s first cousin), came back on Monday, we discovered it was an easy do as it was not a load-bearing wall and the heat vents could be worked around. We decided to have some fun and not tell the kids….let them have the “shock and awe” reveal! That did not work for our son and his family as their place joins the farm and they soon caught on. Our daughter and her family live several hours away and took a trip out west for 3 weeks this summer. We were able to pull off the surprise with them and it was such a fun, fun weekend when the “unsuspecting” family came for a visit to “celebrate Obe’s birthday”!
We put a sliding barn door to the office.
Featuring a quilt made by my niece Kendra Heatwole Landis. It is truly a masterpiece of art.
We used ship lap to cover the fireplace which we had closed in years ago. This wall is now the focal point of the living room.
The before pictures of the living room have somehow disappeared from my files.
New kitchen pictures. We did not redo the floor or cabinets.
It is so much more open and not near as cluttered.
We replaced the sliding glass door and put a shelf above the microwave for my cookbooks.
I had a new china cabinet being made by Roy Miller’s Cabinet Shop in Farmville (Joe’s son-in-law).
Before pictures of the kitchen…..
The next two picture are the wall that we opened.
This antique school desk from Denbigh had become a “catch all” in the kitchen. It now is a “centerpoint” of attraction in my living room.
The master bedroom….
We painted the walls a medium tone Colonial blue-gray paint, white trim and crown molding, new rugs, curtains and an updated picture above the bed and exposed hardwood floors.
Before master bedroom……
Tan paint , blue carpet, stained trim and popcorn ceiling.
Drainage….
We were having a water problem underneath the front portion of the house. We dug a 4′ deep ditch across the front and on down the side of the house, sealed the foundation and put in drain tile and filled with gravel. This also meant I got a much needed upgrade to the landscaping at the front of the house also.
Other posts of related interest:
Julia Witmer Said:
on September 15, 2017 at 8:28 pm
Very nice. Not fun living through the mess, but what a reward afterward.
Pat Said:
on September 16, 2017 at 7:35 am
No isn’t but it was manageable. Joe is a very clean and considerate carpenter and cleaned up each evening. Because we were living it in, I would also vacuum and do whatever I needed to do to help keep it clean.
Pat Said:
on September 16, 2017 at 7:36 am
Oops! That should have said…not it’s not!
Kendra L Said:
on September 15, 2017 at 9:30 pm
Wow!!! Its beautiful. I’m sure it does feel like a new house!
Samuel Wenger Said:
on September 15, 2017 at 10:12 pm
Great Job! It is fun to see what you can do after many years in the same home and giving it a whole new look and feel.