Study Makeover

Hi Friends.  Last Spring I spent my days giving my Study a rehab.  It was quite the eyesore, located right off the main living space.  You have to walk into the study to get to the Master Bedroom.  It didn't help that during the construction of the Master a wall had to be pulled in about 3 feet.  Quite the sight to get to my room.

The room was covered wall to wall with homemade shelving/bookshelves.  They had to be removed to get to the sheetrock that I insisted disappear.  I saved every single piece of them and have already used them on numerous projects.  No waste here! There was also a lovely gray shag carpet that had to go.  For some reason I don't have any photos before the room renovation began.  I have these which were taken after the shelving and sheetrock were removed:




The ceiling sheetrock and that oh-so-glamorous ceiling fan came down next.  Before removing the carpet I finished off the walls, really I loved the suspense of not knowing what I would find under that carpet!  The walls were quite the task, I think it took about 3 weeks to remove all that wallpaper. Armed with a squirt bottle full of alcohol and a chisel, it didn't stand a chance.  It then got a fresh coat of white paint, as did the ceiling once the sheetrock came down, and some 1x4 crown molding, also painted white. Finally time to reveal what's under the carpet!




What a mess!!  I chiseled off the super vintage carpet pad only to find the entire perimeter of the room was painted a blech brown.  The rest was in remarkable shape!  That is 100 year old red oak floor boards y'all!





They span the entire length of the room so were installed at the time of construction, otherwise there would be no way to get them in.  So cool.  Now time to attack the muck paint.  Out comes the sander... nope.  Wouldn't even touch the stuff.  Well I'm no quitter so I grabbed my angle grinder and a metal cup brush and went to town.  Two weeks later I have a glorious original floor!  I couldn't stain as it is red oak and turns, well, red.  After much consideration, I pulled out my handy Minwax finishing paste and gave it a good coat (in sections) and bought a giant buffer pad for my angle grinder.  IT IS FABULOUS.  Worth all the super hard work.




Here is the room with construction done.



I refinished the furniture in the first pictures for my husband's desk, and a storage cabinet for me:





Oh, and I found this cool industrial light at Home Depot for $25!



We hung it from the original fixture "hole" and it was off center so I just swagged it!  Love.


I ended up building my own desk for two reasons:  I'm picky and cheap.  I used a few pieces of the shelving removed from the room for the top, and the two front legs are actually the staircase spindles from the staircase we had moved (more on that another time).  It is cute and mine.  This is about the third life for that chair.  Haha like I said, cheap.  The thing hanging over the desk is a frame from one of the original windows in the house.  I kept them ALL.  I added chicken wire and a cute grain sack fabric backing, which I also used on the chair cushion.










That's my cozy little work space.  I have a piece of trim yet to install under the window, someday.  I also want a cute overstuffed chair or daybed for the other side of the room.  And curtains, I need curtains. Can't make up my mind, imagine that.

Thanks for reading, I'll post about two other rooms I've conquered real soon!

Love,
Shanna

It's been a while...

Lots of changes have happened here on Legg Hollow Road over the last year!  Here is a photo my sister in law took of our home exterior over the holidays.  We have replaced all the windows, doors, roof, siding, deck railing, one of the stair cases, and all of the siding! I'm super excited with how it has turned out.  I love the clean, simple, farmhouse look!

We have made progress on the inside as well.  First up was the remodeling of the former dining room into a master bedroom and bathroom. This was a chore!  We converted a half bath, laundry room, and  the dining room into a master suite.  Here are some before pictures and during pictures...

This was after the half bath and laundry room were completely gutted (yes that's dirt) and the floor joists were rotten so had to be replaced which is the next photo.  There was a wall where the white plumbing pipe is. We took out a massive 230 water heater and replaced it with an efficient tankless one mounted on the exterior wall.  Best move ever!

 This is the former dining room before it was gutted. We had to call in help for this.

Ceiling that was under the popcorn sheetrock:

                                     The wall cabinets were removed to give us more space.

 A wall separating our study and the new bedroom had to be moved back about 6 feet to make room for the closet. We actually found a fireplace hidden in that wall.  That was a huge obstacle.  It had to be removed.

                                                       
                                                        New closet wall going up:

                                        The ceiling was removed and we chose to plank it:

                                                               Beadboard going up:

                                                        Flooring going down finally:

Here are some after pictures.  The room isn't "finished" in the sense I want it to be.  I have plans for a new reclaimed wood headboard and a few other projects to finish it up.

We had barn doors made but the only picture I have is before it was painted,  It has since been painted white and looks amazing!

I used an old window from the house for this cute cabinet:

I love this table I found at a local shop, it is the perfect folding table for the laundry!

 Vanity light fixtures from Lowes:

I made this shelf from a piece of the baseboard that was originally in the room:

 I found these cool nightstands at a consignment shop and painted them white to use for bathroom vanities:

The finished vanity area of our bathroom.  Cozy and adorable to me! 

I tried to use as many materials from the house in the renovation as possible.  One thing I did was take an original closet door from the wall we tore out in the kitchen last year and refinished it.  I love it.

I also saved a brass armed chandelier and transformed it with some white paint!

Well, that's enough for now.  I'll be back soon with stories of our adventures in gardening, pig raising, and chicken keeping!  It has been a blast and we are learning so very much every day.

Wishing you a Happy New Year, may it be filled with happiness and success!

Shanna