Living Room Remodel: Week 1

So we bought this 1960s house when we moved to ABQ that essentially hadn't been changed since it was built.

We did a remodel on my mother-in-law's space when we first moved in to make it nice for her, but haven't done anything with our space. We've been saving up money 'til we can pay cash. We're going to do the remodel in stages, the first being the living room/dining room, the upstairs family room which we call the "Daddy Lounge," and the hallways.

We're taking out the white carpet (which is impossible to keep clean with kids and dogs), putting in hardwood floors, redoing some of the lighting, the big huge wall in the living room we're going to turn into a work of art per my husband's vision, new pillows and accessories, family photos on the wall, reupholstering the dining room chairs, new windows that don't leak cold air in the winter like crazy. Furniture stays the same, but we're hoping to bring a lot of color and personality into our space.

Here are some before pictures, as well as some showing the tear-out of the carpet and installation of the wood floor (windows got installed too). Next will be lighting and staining of the floors and some finish work. The huge wall will come after that. Followed by the little stuff (pillows, etc.). Our plan is to get these rooms totally done before moving on. At some point when funds allow we want to do our bedroom/bath, the guest and kid's rooms, outside, and probably last the kitchen. One step at a time.

I am SO EXCITED to be making this house into a true home. And actually, it's good that we needed to wait, because living here close to a year has given us a very good sense of what we like and don't like and what we feel we need. We didn't know when we first moved in...

Anyway, here is a "before" of the living room:

And the dining room:

Dining room looking into the kitchen:

Living room looking into the entry hall...the dark tiles are staying, they are one of my favorite things aobut the house:

Hallway where we plan to put family pictures as part of this project:

Stairs up to the Daddy Lounge:

Track lighting that is going away...my husband and I found the coolest lights antiquing that are going to go here...

Here's the carpet coming out of the dining room:

And living room:

The floor had to be flattened, was very uneven:

And hardwood going in:

Here's the Daddy Lounge...we pulled up the carpet to discover there were already beautiful hardwoods up here:

And hardwoods complete in the living room/dining room:

Can't wait to show you all how this project progresses!

XOXO