Category Archives: wainscoting

Living Room Changes – Part 5

Well Macy’s, I’ll spare you online blaspheming until I send a written letter, and I say that only because the new furniture looks amazing.  They showed up around 8:45 AM on Saturday with our new couch and two chairs.  As I mentioned previously, they are from their “Morgan” collection.  I really like the semi-midcentury modern look.  That being said, here is how we started the day:

Wainscoting done, floor cleaned, everything cleared out.  It was a long week without furniture, but the wait was worth it.  It finally looks like a house and not a college apartment (nice work Beth).  We aren’t 100% done, we need some lamps, an end table, and eventually a more appropriately styled coffee table (that’ll def have to wait), but what a transformation.  When I post the final pics I’ll try and do the whole before during and after, but here’s what we got currently:

One of the best things?  Huey and his “belongings” are tucked away in the corner.  In fact, he’s sleeping there as we speak.   Maybe some day we will find a solution for the coats at the door, but this a rowhouse here.  I don’t exactly have alot of free space to stick a closet.   We’re on the verge of deciding on a dining room table set, so hopefully some shots of the entire first floor will follow this post.

Stay tuned, you know I can’t sit still and not make a mess somewhere here…

Living Room Changes – Part 4

Well another surprisingly productive weekend is in the books.   I installed my “custom” wainscoting on the couch wall Saturday and had three coats of paint on it by the end of Monday.  In between that was alot of filler, sanding, caulking, and taping.  I know everyone loves progress pictures so here we go.  Excuse the horrible camera angles, the massive couch and chair are now in the middle of the room as they have no where else to go until they are sold (on craigslist now!).

Hopefully a few final touch-ups tonight and we will be ready for the new furniture  to show up.  I’m thinking that the existing couches will be gone by Sunday and the new ones showing up the following week…so I may have nothing to sit on for a week.  Oh well.

Also accomplished was the start of the patio cleanup for this season.  I did some plumbing work Sunday to connect the hose bib on the patio and everything seems to work great.  I think we are going to coat the patio with something to make it look new.  I also want to get some commercial grade string lights to go over the patio (more on that to come).

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned.

Oh and PS…doesn’t the room look so much better without that tv cabinet up against the knee wall?

Living Room Changes / Built-in – Part 3

The living room wainscoting is really coming along.  The unfortunate thing is that now I think I need to continue it along the couch wall, stopping it at the HVAC chase.  This should delineate the living room nicely.  Amazingly, I was able to do the front wall and knee-wall paneling with just one (1) 2×4 sheet of wood.  I started the evening by patching the drywall hole left behind by the old AV wire box:

You may be asking yourself, “why did you replace so much for that small hole?”  Well, I HATE doing drywall work… especially spackling.  Its the worst.  And I’m horrible at making the finished product look right.  So what I did was cut out a piece that exactly fit underneath where the wainscoting pieces would fall so literally all I had to fill were a couple screw holes.  Good thing this isn’t my day job, but it worked out somehow.

Like I said, right now the plan is to continue the chair rail on behind the couch and mirror this same pattern of panels behind the sofa.

Yeah sorry I couldn’t the chair out of the way.  Huey was irritated enough that I moved it while he was slumbering away on it.  It was too much trouble to move the behemoth before dinner so these pics will have to suffice.  I can’t wait to get the new furniture, it will be so much more appropriately sized for a rowhouse.  The $300 craiglist leather couch and chair have been good soliders though.  Hopefully someone else from craigslist will want them too…after I get them through the front window…

I puttied up most of the joints and the holes.  Probably won’t paint anything until I do the other wall, which apparently is now happening this weekend.   Guess maybe I’ll slide everything out of the way for a few days to finish up the paneling.   I believe the new furniture is due in during the first week of May, so time is ticking!