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Updating the Updates: Finished Rooms Revisited

We thought we would share some updated photos of rooms we've already posted, since they've changed a little since the original posts were done of each of the rooms. It's easy to forget that it takes time to get all the little things in place and although all of the little things still aren't in place, things are starting to feel a little more home-like and less empty and sterile. 

We would also share that it's been more than a little mentally (and physically) challenging to get this house to a livable point. It's easy to look at it from the outside and think of it like a television home renovation show, but it really isn't. The truth is that there isn't a giant crew behind the scenes doing all the work. It's the two of us doing our best to bust our rear ends every day to make this happen. We have no life outside of fixing this house. It is our choice to do this, but it's definitely not all roses and sunshine. Most projects don't happen as planned. Schedules go down the toilet, and even plans as far as what we intend to do often have to morph into something different from the original plan due to various road blocks that present themselves along the way. Many days it is also anything but glorious, exciting, fun, or any other adjective people often want to use when describing a home renovation. Nearly everyday we wonder why we do this to ourselves.

I will say that I am very proud of both of us that we are not lazy individuals. We will both break ourselves to make something happen, and while that's not necessarily a positive (as my aching body will currently attest), I also know that we so rarely take a moment to look at it from the perspective of that viewpoint, so I'm taking a moment to do it now. With that said, on to the original point of this writing...

One of the bigger things that has happened is that the painted wood floors were replaced with other flooring.  Well, to be fair, the wood floors are still there, but they've been covered by new vinyl flooring. We truly wanted to keep the wood floors, but the paint was not holding up well at all, and as has been previously shared, the wood itself is in pretty rough shape and cleaning was quickly becoming a nightmare. Unfortunately, poor Sam was tasked with the duty of installing the flooring on the main level, but it feels much better knowing that we can properly clean the floors now and not worry about every ounce of dirt that comes in the house. The area rugs somehow don't seem as vibrant against the grayish-tan flooring as they did against the white, but we'll certainly take that as a trade-off for easier cleaning.

New flooring... so, so, so much easier to deal with than what we originally did.
A very small portion of the floors before the new flooring was installed. As can be seen, they weren't looking great (this was one of the better spots), and they looked even worse in person.

 At last update of the closet-room it was pretty close to what it is today, but we ended up switching out the overhead light because it just felt too overwhelming to the space and instead moved it to the dining room. We still need to repaint the lingerie chest in the room (it's a family piece and not really what I'd choose, but it needs some love and so paint should fix it a bit), and I need to clear out the pillows on the floor, but beyond that, the room is about what we need it to be. 

The closet room as it stands today.
Original post photo... as can be seen, it hasn't changed too much.

The living room basics are also still the same, but there were some changes since the last update. It needed some little bits and pieces to make it feel more like a home. We were able to add some items to the walls, put some plants in place, and add some pillows to the couches. We still need to repaint the wood stove, but on the whole, things are falling in to place in this room. 

The living room as it stands today.
Original post photo of living room.

As for the dining room, we were missing quite a few things in this room at the last update, but we're slowly filling that room up as well. Some plants, wall hangings, and things are coming together. The small little table opposite the wood wardrobe/storage piece doesn't belong in this room, but since we haven't finished the room it will ultimately end up in, it's hanging out here for now. 

The dining room today.
Dining Room from the original posting.

The primary bedroom has had a few items added as well. Sam was able to get the outlets/switches replaced since the previous photos, we have put in the side tables and lamps, we picked up a bench too, and have generally filled up wall space. This room is starting to feel a bit more complete as we find all of the little things to put in place. 

As the primary bedroom stands today. It's mostly done at this point.
At last update, this was how the primary bedroom looked.

The secondary bathroom is also getting to an end point. We found a small corner piece to hold a few items, so it feels as though this room is getting there as well, but not as much has changed in this space.

The secondary bathroom, today.
Original posting photo of the same bathroom.

The laundry room area is pretty much the same, but we've nicely added "stuff" to hooks and have dirtied up the floor with filthy winter feet and paws. There is still some work to be done at the bottom of the stairs to this area, but it keeps getting pushed out as other areas seem to take precedence. 

Currently, we are working on the main bathroom and the guest room. It's kind of turned into a simultaneous task because we knew we were going to have a visitor coming at the end of March, so we needed to get it completed. We can say, living without a shower (though we've done it before) is not super fun, so we were anxious to get it completed as soon as possible. Fortunately, we were able to get things to a workable point in time for our visitor who arrived on Monday, but we still have some work to do, so those posts will be forthcoming in the next week or two (assuming something doesn't derail those plans).

In the meantime, hopefully being able to see the more finished product of each of the rooms has been enjoyable. We know that we are both house-project-burnt now, but we need to pull it together to finish up the inside so that we can get to the massive project that is the front and backyards as the weather starts to turn warmer.

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