Her Home: Living Room Remodel

This is taking me much longer than I thought so for the next 2 months, I will be writing a series on how my Sister, Heather and I managed to turn an abandoned 1910 Victorian into the beautiful home of her dreams. See how we created a designer home on a single Mom budget with items purchased from big box hardware stores, antique shops and flea market finds.

Her Home: Living Room Remodel

The fireplace is usually a selling point in a home, right? This one? Not so much, with it's huge cast iron fireplace insert, complete with bright orange tile inserts on the sides. It stuck out so far that the previous owner had to add that second layer of brick to the hearth, making it stick out into the room about 3 feet. The mustard yellow bricks are the same color as the dining room trim.

This wall was painted mint green to go with the indoor/outdoor carpet... we assume.

First night, no heat, no overhead lighting, middle of February with 3 feet of snow on the ground, Heather, Reece and I decided to tear out the carpet. We were hoping for a paint-able or refinish-able hardwood but found that the entire first floor of the house consisted of this MDF sub-floor.

No problem! The new blackened maple flooring is making such a huge impact. The living room was painted the same "Grey Beard" as the dining room, with the exception of the fireplace wall which was painted a darker silver called "High Oh Silver".

Soph brought a ton of cars with her to try out on the floor. She says it's pretty awesome. We think it looks pretty awesome too.

Heather purchased this lamp from Pier One Imports and had the electricians direct wire it. It's huge drum shade works perfectly with the 12 foot ceiling height. Notice the reflection of that mustard yellow brick fireplace in the light fixture's diffuser? Yeah, that had to go...

Heather painted it the same color as all of the wood trim, "Snowy White".  It really is starting to look like a brand new home. Notice the kids took out that extra foot of brick on the hearth? And the Heating and Cooling guy took the insert out and hauled it away, no charge. Now to finish painting and then load in furniture.

We are so excited about how it's taking shape.