Making A Rental Feel Like Home: Living Room

As you all know, we moved to Denver in June of 2017 and started renting our 1,000 sq ft 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home just 15 minutes from downtown Denver. You can check out more of our entire process here from when we first moved to the area and picked a home.

Now, since then, we've been fortunate enough to be able to work on different elements of the home to make it more "homey" and somewhere we feel like we could be awhile. We already talked about the kitchen and dining area, the master bedroom and lone bathroom, and if you've been following along with the blog we are currently working on converting the second bedroom that was once the guest room and office to the nursery (with tiny corner office area!) through the One Room Challenge. So far it's going well! Check out the week one progress , week two, and week three!

The only place we haven't talked about much is the living room space. Here is a reminder of what it looked like when we walked through it the first time last May:

A pretty great space with room for larger sized furniture and to have a bunch of people over. Something that we definitely enjoy being able to do!

Let's talk about what we did to take this peanut butter living room and transform it into something more cozy and that reflected our style. Thank goodness for our amazing landlord who has a lot of faith and trust in us!

Nursery & One Room Challenge Week 2 Progress

As you saw last week, we have joined in on the One Room Challenge Spring 2018! Ready for week 2?

It was in pretty rough shape last week when we got started. Here's a reminder: 

Very embarrassing. Very bad. Terrible awful.

Living Room: To Sectionals and Beyond

It has been a whirl wind in my life since May, which is why I haven't posted. I guess you just find that life takes over. We spent a great deal of the summer in South Dakota with family after two huge losses in our family. My Speech & Debate Team also competed for a week in Dallas, Texas winning third in the WORLD for our debate skills. I was so proud of them! I can't take any credit for their success, they were great all without me!

Now we are also focusing on redoing our family home about a mile from where I live, we are going to be selling it. We purchased the house in 1998 and it was where my siblings and I all grew up. It will be hard to let it go.

However, it has gotten me inspired to redo my own house a bit! I want to sell but I also want to be debt free, so I am going to stick it out a bit longer so that I can be prepared for a new project. I feel like I am almost there!

So the revamping is going to start in the living room, remember what it looked like the first time we went to the place?

After the first remodel it looked a lot better! A little bit collegey for my liking. Notice the couches? That was back when I first bought the slipcovers and they looked great! I was so excited about them! That was in 2009. It also looks pretty empty to me...

Here is what it looks like nowadays! I think it's a little cluttery and I am working on cutting down on some of my knick knacks and the like. It is so easy to accumulate stuff!

I want to stream line some of the colors and add a sectional for more efficient space usage. Check out my inspiration board:

Living Room Re-Do by megmcd featuring a fabric loveseat

I have managed to find substitutions that are less expensive. I can't wait to  buy some new pillows! I am also going to try a flat weave indoor/outdoor rug for the pets to see if that helps with the animals. I have so many of them creatures.

I did find a version of the couch that is pretty close to perfect at American Furniture Warehouse (you can buy an add on to make one side longer):

Source List and Budget:

{Sectional} $700.00 (American Furniture)

{rocking chair} $50.00 (WalMart)

{Flat Weave Rug} $100 (5'7' Target)

{Accent Table} $80.00 (Target)

I also want to pick up some new baskets for the extra blankets and such. I have plenty of knick knacks, wall decor, and stuff like that so I won't need much. I'm just coming to that stage where all the expensive furniture needs to be replaced. 

Now that I have eliminated so much debt I will have the funds to be able to make some of this happen! With good choices, of course. 

What do you think?

Time to Get to Class

About a month ago I showed you some of the steps I was taking to update my master bedroom and I have to say... I think its starting to look pretty smashing! It isn't totally done, there are a few things on my to-do list but so far the progress is great!

I am so excited about how adorable my room is! Ready to see it! Let's start with my fabulous new door, that I still will occasionally stop and pet and coo at. Not a big deal...

As you walk in you can see that I have taken down some of the art and photos that have been up foreverrr. I left the same gray walls because I just love how soft and airy it is. I added a hat rack for my more adorable hats, the baseball caps and such still live elsewhere. Having it reminds me of my Grandpa who used to have one full of trucker hats in his living room that he would let us try on.

I stole my Raggedy Ann and Andy back from the guest room and holy moly do I love them in here. The contrast of their vintage fabulousness and the glam high gloss wallpaper is on point! In the office they felt dulled and blended against the stripes but against the walls in here... perfect. I plan to add some more cool pieces to that wall but only one step at a time.

I traded a white mirror from my room for the cool vintage mirror from my sister's room. I like it against the white wall also.

Here's what the wall looks like after being painted (notice that the 80s wood is gone? Holla at it!) I also pet this wall sometimes too. It is sort of like being in Willie Wonka, minus the Schnozberries.

Oh! And of course my new rugs! I decided that doing runners would be much better than a big area rug, partially because I love how much larger and open my room feels with some of the wood floors showing but it makes it cozier to have some rugs on the side of the bed. I got them at IKEA for $19.99 a piece. $40.00 total is way cheaper than an area rug! What do you think?

And here's another look at my wonderful new art! I love the mismatched frames and the gold tones. Don't get me wrong- I still love white but I feel it is reflecting so much more of who I am and reflects my quirkiness.

So here is the break down of the new changes! I'm still in the market for a new comforter and shams, as well as a headboard, but I think its looking pretty great so far!

Master Bedroom Update:

• find a second short dresser as a nightstand- paint it white
• get a new rug situation
• make/find a new headboard
• update the shams and bedding
• new wall art
• patch and repaint sections
• replace door
• organize dog kennel area 
• clear clutter/donate unworn clothes

Team Should-Finally-Fix-That

It has been so long since I posted! The end of the year is such a busy crazy time for a teacher, especially a first year! But now it is officially summer (6 weeks of paid vacation!) and I have finally the time and energy to get things done. So I have made a simple list of things that have to get done. Mostly things I've put off for about five years. No rush right?

First things first: I need paint this outdated light fixture and make the light actually work. It has worked since 2009, whoops.

2. I started this project last summer. I think I should probably go ahead and like... I dunno... finish painting the beam...

3. My bedroom needs to have all the trim updated and painted out. It looks so tacky being the outdated 80s faux wood.

4. On that same note... I should probably install the trim I bought for the door in March.

5. Oh and this other randomly not updated light fixture in the master bath. Should do that too.

6. I exploded a bottle of nail polish on my wall... my favorite new color. :( I need to repaint the wall and the trim. 

7. Within the next couple weeks I am going to replace these doors just like I did with the master bedroom, that is going to be fabulous! Fully updated trim and doors! Amazing! Fully updated and no more ugly wood!

8. I am also thinking about replacing this door to make it coordinate with the others in the house, though it is in the best shape of all, so it might be one I can postpone for a bit.

9. New backdoor! That is actually happening this week! Finally. It is going to be great to have a secondary entrance that is fully functional and safe. 

10. Though it is hard to see... I am also getting new gutters this week! Super expensive... but it will be nice to have a fully functional system on the house. Then I can actually repaint the porch and beams without losing all progress from rain the next day. 

Operation Get-er-Done has officially begun! Here's to an excellent summer. :)

Doorable!

Way back in December I posted about the most obvious remaining ghettofabulous thing in my house... the doors. (Find that post {here})

Well! For once instead of just making a list of crap to do and then not ever doing it... I have for you my lovely readers... PROGRESS!

Okay so here it is. The old ugly door. Well... it fell out in the night. Truly terrible. Luckily I have a protector, he may be small but he's fierce. Just kidding. He hid under the blankets and barked from there. 

Anyway. My door! It had a hole in the front that the previous owners had simply covered with contact paper (like shelf liner) which had begun to peel because well. That's not really what it is for.

Here's the old:

I didn't think it'd be a huge deal to fix the door and for my first one I suppose it wasn't but I went ahead and a bought just a slab door instead of one that was prehung... there was definitely some damage done on this particular frame...

Yup. Totally blown out at multiple points. Perhaps why it fell? Hmm.

So I patched and filled those holes (I didn't take pictures because that is not exciting) and brought my new baby door home! I purchased it at Lowe's for $32.00 and brought it home in my Honda Civic. Oh heck yes. It fit! It is just an interior door so I was able to move it myself pretty easily.

Originally I was going to paint the doors all white but I thought "hey! I'm not going to recoup any of my costs on this when I go sell my house so why not give it some sass and character?" I'm glad I did! I'm sure it would have been easier to spray the door but I hand painted it using paint I already had, a mistint from Lowe's for $7.00 that I used on my stools and front door already. Reduce, reuse, right?

The paint I used was a Paint+Primer by Valspar so it only took two coats for full coverage. Now that the easy part was over... I had to manage to fit the dumb thing into the spot.

The previous owners were rather... well... crafty? with their improvisation and doctoring on the house. For instance instead of using solid shims that they sell mega cheap at the store, they used chunks of wainscoting from the rest of the house. #notsturdy #notconsistentthickness

Meaning essentially that when I measured the top and bottom of the frame and got 30" the middle was actually 29 3/4" which sucked. It took me many swear words and destruction of the frame (as you can see below) in order to get the entire thing one even 30" measurement. I'm still considering taking out the one side and replacing it with a more solid piece and using REAL shims. Maybe when my parents come back in the summer. Hi Dad!

I had to replace the casings, which I planned to do anyway, but when I tried to remove the old stuff it snapped into multiple pieces. So. That's great But here is the door finally hung! Looking beautiful and wonderful!

I put my door mirror back on because I have to be able to look at my outfits you know but hopefully I can get a mirror somewhere else and lose this one so you can just see the awesome door. I even replaced the handle ($10.00 at Lowe's) with a cool Oil-Rubbed Bronze look, which coordinates with the handles and chandelier in the kitchen and dining room. Plus it is actually a bedroom lock rather than a keyed entry lock like the old one.

Here's one last look at the awesome new door. How's that for detrashing the trailer?

So the total cost for this project:

• Slab door: $32.00
• Door knob: $10.00
• New casing (not installed/shown): $14.00
• New hinges (x3): $9.00

Total Cost: $65.00

One door down. Three to go.

Want to follow? Google Reader is gone? Try 

Linked to: Addicted 2 DIY Remodelaholic Domestically Speaking Savvy Southern Style Kammy's Korner Dream to Reality