Project: Chaos

Since we didn't have enough transition in our lives with the coming baby and me leaving work.... we decided to renovate our living room. I think we must be crazy. The project is, of course, bigger than I had originally realized, but it's finally coming together, and will be worth it in the end.

Ever since we moved in, I have despised the color on our walls (I think it should be called "puke yellow"). For 2 and a half years, I have planned to address this atrocity, but somehow never got around to it. In addition, our TV and entertainment system have had a "temporary" set up since we moved in, complete with TV trays to hold the DVD player and a speaker resting on top of the TV (which was obligated to be too high for comfortable viewing because the fireplace mantel was too high). So to remedy this, we are doing the following:

Lower mantel
Install drywall over the mantel, to cover up the ugly painted brick
Paint the brick an actual brick-like color, instead of afore-mentioned mustard color
Install an upper shelf to hold the speaker
Install built-in shelving on either side of the fireplace to hold DVD player, speakers, amp, etc
REPAINT the room in some neutral and non-offensive shade
Install new lighting on either side of the fireplace (including rewiring)
Run wires from computer to speakers to be able to play music in the living room (under the house)

We started this project a couple weeks ago, and have made much progress in that time. Jacob is doing a lot of himself, and we have hired a friend from church who is a contractor to provide the expertise to work alongside Jacob.

I have been so impressed through this process with how much Jacob is willing to tackle on the house. He isn't afraid to cut holes, run wiring, crawl under and over the house, and get his hands dirty to make this dream of mine happen. AND, not only is he willing to tackle these jobs, he's good at it, too. What a wonderful husband!

I can't talk about this project, though, and not also mention the amazing contribution of my parents to this project. My mom and dad have already come over multiple times to help paint, assist with drilling and sawing and measuring, and provide moral support. This would be so much more overwhelming without their help and encouragement!

By the way, there's steak on the table for anyone interested in helping us paint on Monday the 5th! :)

If you want to see pictures of the work in progress, you can see the facebook album here.

Next stop.... project nursery!