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August 10, 2016

Progress Report: Painting away the Tuscan



Hey y'all! First and foremost, thank you so much for being so kind about the new house tour in my last post. I know it's a total mess and really dated, but it was such a relief to know that you guys 'got it', (and if you didn't read the house tour, you're prob not going to understand why I love this house based off this new post, so just be kind and rewind.). So, anyway, these are trying times and you guys are the best.

And now it's time for a progress report!











In the past couple weeks since we've closed and moved in, we've been trying to interview and organize a bunch of different contractors, and then schedule everyone in the correct order. Essentially, the better we do this, the less time we have to live without a kitchen, and flooring, and just general inner peace, so you know...I've been making this step a priority.

We are kicking things off next week with the drywall work (like removing popcorn ceilings, removing beams, and building the two doors that this house is just randomly missing). And then at the end of the month the kitchen gets demoed, then flooring gets finished mid-september, then the kitchen gets rebuilt. It's oh so exciting, and I'm 100% sure that I'm going to lose my mind at least twice in the process. 
I'll update you throughout all of it, as it happens.

But, while we've essentially been organizing the renovation over the past two weeks, I've also been doing a lot of work on my own each night after Ava goes to bed. While we are hiring out a lot of the big projects on this house, there are still tons of things that Jesse and I are going to be tackling on our own, because it frees up money for other projects that I do not want to do (like pulling up dog pee carpet in the basement)...you understand.

So, anyway, let's get started. A before pic of the living room/dining room:



And after! 

First disclaimer: I have to move all this crap back out in a matter of weeks so that they can do the floors, so this is merely a temporary setup of the bare minimum of items, basically so I can comfortably chase my baby around and watch Stranger Things.

Second disclaimer: There's a basketball in my living room. I'm cool with it.

Anyway, I painted the walls Benjamin Moore Simply White and the ceiling crown molding Ultra White. The wainscotting and floor trim are being replaced, so I just left them alone. I have yet to paint the ceiling, so it looks a little darker, because it is. I will hopefully paint that this week...it's a real beast, so I've been procrastinating.


The walls all had that sweet Tuscan texture to them, which I'm pretty sure was just sponged on, so I just sanded one little area at a time, before I painted, and quietly cried to myself about how awful life was. Kidding, but like not in that moment.


I will eventually rework the furniture in here (not sure what, but let's worry about that later), and will wall mount the tv, add some art and some window coverings, and obviously paint the ceiling and redo the floors. So much orange. 



Here's another before shot. So, that weird coat closet by the front door? That's getting demoed in the next couple of weeks. It just drives me crazy and I want it gone. I don't care about storage, it just needs to get out of here.



I also painted the stair rails, more on that in a minute.


So, yeah, imagine the awkward coat closet gone and beefier wainscotting in the dining room (The current stuff is just painted on the wall and doesn't do it for me.).


I painted the front door Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze. I still have to switch out the hardware, but it's a start. The door color is a little bit softer in person...my crappy camera makes everything look harsher, except my face...that 2009 sony cybershot flash is where it's at.


The yellow walls and bronze chandelier in the dining room were driving me crazy.


So, I painted all of the walls white and Jesse took the chandelier down.


He hung the one we had in the old house. I don't think it works as well in this house though, so I'm on the hunt for something that I like better in there. But, for now, I'm leaving it hung because it's the only light we have in this entire area (fail), and it's better than the Tuscan candelabra.


So, these stair rails. Most tedious project. Remember how I tried to spray the ones in the last house and it was the project that nearly killed me? 


Well, round two. It took me 3 nights to finish this. Just so so tedious trying not to get any paint on the iron balusters. I think I stomped my foot at one point in frustration. Like by myself, having some wine, listening to a podcast, and stomping my foot. That should sum it up for you.


But, good news, it looks so much better now. Everything looks kinda off because there's orange floors, and an orange kitchen, and carpeted stairs, but if you squint really hard and imagine good things happening everywhere, you can kinda see what I'm going for.



And like maybe just pretend there aren't baby gates all over my house. You guys, it's a phase, and it must be embraced. 


As for the flooring situation, I had a lot of comments on Instagram about this subject. We put a lot of thought into what we wanted to do. We considered just refinishing the original flooring, but it currently only goes through the living and dining room, so we would just be running these 2 inch planks throughout the rest of the house to match, and then getting everything finished on site. And frankly, I don't love the two inch planks, and also I've lived through an on-site hardwood finish and it was a real pain. But, we wanted to be thorough, and I figured if it was going to save us tons of money, perhaps I would consider it. So, we got a quote for refinishing the existing hardwoods plus running them throughout, and it was not really all that much cheaper than just gutting what was there and installing prefinished wide plank flooring throughout. I mean, budget-wise, it probably means I'm going to have to DIY one of our bathrooms at some point, but I'll probably end up DIYing all three if we're being honest, so I just figured, I should go with my gut and get what we want.

So, that being said, Ava has been helping me stare at floor samples all week.


My current fave is the one on the far right, but I honestly think any of them would be beautiful.


In other news, Ava went to her first thrift store this week. She found a hat. 


And I found rose gold spray paint at JoAnn's fabric store. Some of you asked me on IG where it was from, so now ya know. I have no idea what I'm going to use it on, but I couldn't pass it up, so I'll figure out the details later.




So, that's all for today, y'all. Thanks for being here and thanks for being excited about the crap I painted in my living room. 
I mean it.


P.S. You can check out my trim painting tutorial here and my wall painting tutorial here. They're easy and they help. Promise.









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44 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm so excited for a whole house full of new projects from you! The floors are going to be GORGEOUS 😊

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  2. I think the painted staircase made the biggest impact and shows all the GOOD that is to come. I also love those two floor to ceiling Windows and look forward to seeing what you will do with them.


    And good call on the flooring, you will be much happier in the end.

    Pat

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  3. I get so excited when you post updates! I truly love watching your creative process and the ups and downs that is home improvement. You gave me the courage to put down new floor in my living room! Keep the updates coming :)
    -Chrissy

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  4. I've got awesome (not so much) orange oak banisters too. Did you sand them? Ours have a shiny finish I don't think I can just paint over with primer... Thoughts?
    -Tora in Seattle, WA

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    1. Hi! Yes, I sanded them (just slightly until the shine was gone), then primed them with Kilz, then painted with ultra white semi gloss paint.

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  5. You are way too hard on yourself! You just bought a DIYer AND have a one year old. Cut yourself some slack girl. Anything you get done is a major accomplishment. Seriously, some days just keeping everyone alive is good enough!

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  6. Its lovely Virginia. So happy for you all. Its going to look amazing!!!!

    Tammy :)

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  7. Everything looks so much better when it's painted in a shade of WHITE!!! Isn't it amazing what a gallon of paint can do? I see the good coming from all of your hard work - your vision is all over those crisp white walls! What paint did you use for the stair railings? Did you sand and prime beforehand? I'm about to throw a coat on mine (it's my first time!), and I want to be prepared for this 3 day adventure!

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    1. I used Behr Premium in Ultra White in a semi gloss finish. I sanded and primed beforehand, too. Just a light sand though...that's all mine really needed. Hope that helps and good luck! xo

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    2. Wow. what an awesome project to work on! I loved your house tour you gave us. The new flooring you picked is spot on! And really, either of the 3 are nice. Great job on the staircase. May I offer one tad of advice??? The paint. I love Behr, but I love BM Advance sooooo much better. I use it on all my furniture re-dos. Advance and SW ProClassic are meant for wood trim (or cabinets or doors,,,wood). Behr has a tendency to stay tacky as it's a latex and not meant for wood trim. (Unless the Premium is specifically for wood trim???? if so, I just learned something!) If you plan on painting any wood doors or wood casing, try the Advance next time. And their glossy is the glossiest of any paint on the market,,,except Hollandlac. I've tried them all. trust me.
      I'm in the middle of a major bathroom renovation,,,,like, cutting a -25'- trench- in- a- concrete -slab-to- move-the -sewer-line renovation! ( i have a running post on my blog). I've been living behind the lovely plastic barrier walls for oh, like, 7 months now.
      Can't wait to see what you do with the kitchen! Is that next on the list?

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  8. We painted our living room BM simply white too! It's such a great color and I'm shocked at how much it changes (for the better) the look of your living room/dining room etc. Wow! Who knew that white paint would be an even better neutral than the existing neutral paint? (You did, that's who!) I'm also super excited about your flooring choices. As I was reading, I was thinking, "I wonder what kind of flooring she's going to use..." and bam, you answered it. I love the options. Can't wait to watch along on your journey, because we're updating a house (two houses) too right now, so thanks for the inspiration!

    I'm so excited that rose gold spray paint exists, because I'm ALL ABOUT rose gold rings etc. (amount of rose gold I own: 0. Amount of rose gold I covet: 1,348). The idea that I could just spray paint some stuff with rose gold is kind of blowing my mind right now.

    You are an amazingly productive inspiration, mama! You do more in a few weeks than most people do in a few months! Way to go!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! And good luck on your TWO renos!!! xo

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    2. Thanks! And the two houses are our future house, and the house we're selling. So much work! You give me ENERGY, girl!

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  9. I love what you've done so far! If you don't mind me asking... Where did you get the sofa set and ottoman? And are they comfortable? They look fantastic with what you've done!

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    1. Hi Eve! The sofas were from Rooms To Go and the ottoman was from Bliss Home here in Knoxville. They are super comfy and we love that the ottoman rolls around. Ava enjoys it, too. :)

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  10. We also lived with narrow orange pine planks on the floor of our living room for a while (13 years) -but now we have wide pale planks similar to your choice and oh! we love them. Great choice and you will be so happy. I can't wait to follow all the projects up as you go. Good luck always!

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    1. Thank you, Susan! You make me feel really good about my choices! :)

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  11. I would opt for black floor. I love it, that's what I have in my house.

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  12. Girl, I'm so jealous that you get to update this house. We live in Northern Virginia and it's just too expensive to buy at this point especially with a baby on the way. Lovin' everything. All the things. Especially those floors. Random Q: How do you feel about having two matching couches? I can't decide on whether to get two matching couches (for lots of comfy seating) or one couch and some fun chairs (to keep costs down and to break things up a bit).

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    1. Well, I have two sets of matching couches (one in the living room, one in the basement) and for us, it's truly just for comfort. Jesse and I both like to lie down on them at night. And we each want our own! haha!

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  13. Everything looks so fresh and clean. I'm so impressed that you have the energy to paint after putting A down for the night..you go, girl!

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  14. Looks great so far! What did you do differently for the staircase this time? Did you just prime and paint over the wood or strip the shine off first?

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    1. I just sanded and primed and then painted with semi gloss paint. I just did it all by hand this time rather than tape it off and attempt to spray it with a paint sprayer like last time (never again).

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  15. What a difference paint makes! Such an improvement already. It's going to be transformed once that gorgeous wide plank goes in. So fun to watch it all come together :)

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  16. Step by step gets it done. Virginia, I've been working for nearly three years on a master closet transformation, learning to build cabinets with drawers and doors. With an uninsulated garage in Knoxville as a workshop, it's too hot in the summer and too cold in winter so this isn't an everyday project. But now I'm weeks away from being done! You can do this. An hour here, a day there, it gets done. Keep going.

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  17. Okay, during the first house tour post of this new place, I was like "Those floors aren't too bad..."

    But now I definitely hate the orange. Wow, that orange really screams with the white. Good choice on that sample to the right! My fave out of those 3.

    PS. Ava is a freaking sweetie pie ♥

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  18. You are amazing! A baby and a house to redo! I can't wait to see the beautiful after pictures!

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  19. Like the front door color! You are brave with all the white! But then again, I have sled dogs so white walls terrify me. :)

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  20. Love how much just the white walls brightens up and modernizes the space! So excited to follow along :)

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  21. Embrace the baby gates! One day they and all the 'baby stuff' will be completely gone. Which is as sad as it is good! X

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  22. You are just amazing! Everything you touch turns into something beautiful and you are so inspiring, not just in DIYing but in life in general! Reading your blog gives me so much encouragement!!!
    Much Love!
    Camille

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    1. Aw, thank you, Camille. You are sweet to tell me that. xo

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  23. I am getting so excited for all that you will do with this house! I like the flooring sample Ava likes in the photo.

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  24. Well it's definitely going to be gorgeous when it's all done! And the 'in progress' is pretty swell too :-) But honestly though the house does have its quirks and oh-so-much orangey-yellowy goodness in the wood, it's far and above many places I see! It's not all that bad really...really! It comes down to personal preference and just for the record, my likes are very inline with yours too :-) But to call this great house 'awful'...welllllll.... I think you and your readers might positively die on the spot if you'd seen the house we started out in. Not only did it have a lot of orangey-yellowy goodness in the wood, but it was fully decked out in 1970's harvest gold & olive green in several wallpaper prints upstairs with the full contingency of truly awful red and black patterned carpet and yup...a padded built in bar in the 'rec' room. We lived with all that for years till we could afford to make changes. Life always seems to get better as does our decorating eye, as we go from house to house. In the meantime, be thankful you have the necessary funds to make the house your home :-) And by the way... that little Ava is one sweetie, cutie patootie :-)

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    1. Oh, I SO know what you mean! Our first apartment had one room and stained carpet and our condo after that basically looked like this house (orange oak everywhere, but paired with linoleum and laminate) and at the time, it just felt like a dream come true to have a space of my own. I pretty much feel that way in every house we've lived in, including this one. But, that doesn't mean I don't want to paint everything in sight. Also, totally jealous about that padded built in bar you got to live with. :)

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  25. Hi Virginia. You've done an amazing job so far with the paintwork - not sure how you juggle toddler plus DIY! ;-) Do you have any tips on painting glass-paned French (or other) doors - including front doors and windows? I'm interested to hear how you tackle the prep before you paint. I'm still trying to steel myself to tackle all ours, and we've been in this house for two years!!! Thanks heaps. heather AU :)

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  26. It is looking so much better with white walls! I love your sofas too - they are gorgeous! Looking forward to reading all the other updates

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  27. Love it!! Painting the walls white made so much of a difference already! And I love the front door color. You're so good at picking colors - I never would've thought to paint it a dark color but it looks awesome. I especially loved the pic of Jesse taking down the chandelier - in the bottom right of the pic there's all his tools and Ava's rotary phone toy right next to them. So cute!!

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  28. I love what you have done with the house. Its looking great. I have to ask , where did you get your living room rug. I love it. I have been looking for one like that for a while but have not found it.

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  29. Love what you have already done and can't wait to see your vision for the kitchen and I agree eliminating the front closet is a must. It will open up the entrance so much. I like your choice for the flooring. Wide plank for sure. Can I ask if it is full hardwood and what kind and colour. We are looking at doing a complete reno in our new home but swapping out the kitchen dining room for the bedroom and moving the bedroom to the kitchen dining area. Looking at a beachy design seeing as we are on water. Can't wait for your next post.

    Can I also say that Ava is a sweetheart. I'm sure she will enjoy many more Thrift Store adventures.

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  30. Virginia, sometimes I feel like we are living the same life! I starting reading your blog when I bought my first house. You inspired me in so many ways and I took on a lot of DIY projects that I wouldn't have otherwise known how to do! Then you had a baby, then I had a baby, then I moved into a new house with a weird layout, then you moved into a house with a weird layout. Haha. We've been here a year now and I haven't done very much besides paint a couple of rooms. Now that you're starting over, it's inspiring me again to get off my butt and get moving! Thanks for always keeping me entertained and inspired.

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  31. Always look forward to your posts and save them to read if I'm super taxed with other stuff. I'm utterly amazed at how much you've gotten done!! Way to go

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Thanks so much for leaving a comment!! I do the hammer dance every time I read one.

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