Home decor and renovation craftalong

@AIMR what a change to your yard. I hate taking down trees too, and I live in New England where trees take over as soon as you turn your back.
@tendstowardschaos, living in chaos with kids takes fortitude and lots of wine. They love the adventure of it all and will also love their new ‘caves’. I send a bit of strength your way.

The dining room closet has now exploded all over the dining room and I am peeling off the wonderful badly installed old fake cedar closet contact paper. As with all peeling old wallpaper or such, some comes off easy, and some must be spoken to severely. A heat gun helps, but it is quite old stuff.
In the process I removed the internet line that is no longer needed, pulled it down to the basement, followed it to the other end of the house (not far really, it’s a small house), then had to go up and remove it from the router under the TV. It wasn’t even hooked up. I also discovered cat toys and dust and more old cable bits that were not in use.
One task always leads to another.
Back to peeling. Then sanding and painting. I’m using left over paint from the first color we tried in the bedroom. Maybe it won’t look so pink in the closet.

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You spoke a universal truth about home renovation projects…one leads to another!

Hardly anything is straight forward…always some weird thing that often makes you wonder what people were thinking when they did them! I often shake my head at what I find and ask rhetorically, “why?”

Your closet will be much neater and modern without the contact paper for sure!

They are leveling and filling in my yard today to prep for building the patio and retaining wall…the final measurement was 69 feet of wall! I picked out most of the materials today…it makes a difference seeing it all in person than from a presentation catalog!

I am very fortunate to be working with a female project manager–who crochets (bonus!)…she is great at describing and informing and not overly explaining simple concepts (like grade, etc.)…also, the owner of the company is very sensitive to staying on budget. We still are expected to go about 15% over budget due to final details like railings, lights, etc. So excited!

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I would definitely need a glass or two of red to tackle that contact paper, @marionberries. Your perseverance is impressive. :clinking_glasses:

Your yard is going to be lovely, @AIMR.

The boys’ rooms are just about done. The built-in cabinet drawers are getting painted, and so is the shelf for DS2’s closet. The closet organizers are arriving this week, along with the curtains, curtain hardware, and one of the rugs. The rug DS1 wants is backordered for three months. So, we just have to assemble and install all of that and they can get back to their spaces. But, now I have to go furniture shopping…with kids. Your sympathy is very appreciated. :wink:

DS1 update:




DS2 update:




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I do sympathize with you! But, what a great experience for you and your boys to select furniture they will grow up with. I have fond memories of my parents letting us pick out our bedroom furniture and sort of wish I still had my bookcase headboard!

What is the grey-blue color in the bedroom? It looks like it could work for the color I want the exterior of our house painted! The interior of our is Repose Grey by Sherwin Williams. It is lighter than what we want the darker part of the house to be. It will be a while until it warms up enough for the outside, but I am already collecting samples!

BTW–both bedrooms look so crisp and clean! Ready to personalize!

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The color is Software, by Sherwin Williams. It’s a deep, cool gray.

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The rooms look amazing with those shiny floors and the nice colour on the wall.

I thought I had put hardwood floors in the bedrooms out of my head, but now I’m having second thoughts.

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Thanks! If we don’t too bad of an ice storm, I will venture out this weekend to look at samples!

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Thank you! The floors are red oak, stained in a color called Jacobean. I can’t get over those floors. It’s almost criminal to have covered them up.

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Update regarding my “sitting room”: I got battery operated sconces for Christmas and we just installed them last night. No cords! No electrical! They look so nice!!


The “lightbulbs” are LED pucks. They have a magnet on the bottom to hold them in place. So you just have to remove the “pucks” so you can charge them.

And since they’re LED with a remote, you can change them different colors, brightness, and even “party mode” where they flash between all the colors. :rofl:

I’ve slowly been working on this room. It’s awkward and has doors to the garage, the basement, and stairs to the back door. That being said, it is a transitional mess but I’m trying to make it purposeful. It has my part of my husband’s board game collection. It’s also JUST SO DARK, even with a window! Over the last couple months I have added an overhead light, two lamps, “candles,” and now the sconces.

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It looks like a lovely place to relax and read or craft!

I have been looking at how to add some lighting to a few places in our home as well. Do you keep the sconces on all the time? How long is each charge supposed to last? I do like that they are rechargeable, and not like the candles that need battery changes (and lithium batteries at that!)…

Lighting really does make a difference and you do need a lot from task to ambiance. You have done a nice job of getting all the lighting needs covered!

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The space looks great! Those lights look great there!

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That remains to be seen since we just put them up last night. We shall see!

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