A lifelong project....

For the last ~8 years, Ron and I have been renovating our house, one room at a time. Technically, I started with the deck since it was falling apart. My dad came up to help me, and Ron volunteered (since we technically weren't dating at the time, I thought that was very generous!). Once we started dating seriously, We started together with the kitchen. We bought one of those demo models from Home Base when it went out of business. (Got a pretty good deal, too -- cherry cabinets, solid granite countertops, stainless steel, etc). We figured since we'd be pulling out the whole kitchen, we might as well re-plumb the place. Our pipes used to be galvinized steel, and the house had sat dormant for several years before I bought it. Yes, we had red sediment in our water, no matter how long we let it run. It was gross! And, since half of the walls were torn out, we decided to re-wire for internet, cable, and phone. Then, we went from there...

We've done 95% of the work ourselves. (So far, the only thing we contracted out was re-installing the granite counter top. And, Ron's dad comes down to help us with our floors). Ron has knocked down more walls than I can remember, and he's built a few back up as well! At this point we have most of the house done... except for the fancy guest bathroom upstairs with the velvet and gold-leaf wall paper, the gold-vein mirror, and 1972 vinyl floor. (I took down the chandelier and mirror surround on the tub back when we actually had to use the bathroom (the other two were taken down for repair....). That and this one wall downstairs that I haven't quite finished. We took off the dark wood paneling and I just need to mud it and paint it. And then we'll just have the trim work left.

So, my whole point in starting this diatribe was to state that I have been trying to get motivated to finish that one wall for the last 18 months. In my head, I have to finish that before I can hit the last bathroom. So, I'm going to follow my sister-in-law's lead, and post the "before" pictures here. You can all look forward to the "after" pictures as soon as it's done. (Thanks for the inspiration, Ashley!)
Yes, I know it's bad. It doesn't help that this corner has become the latest place to collect clutter.... And, yes, that IS weepy brick in the corner. As of right now, we're not planning on doing anything with that (though I'd love to re-grout it and paint the thing or something... I haven't quite figured out its destiny yet).

So, first step will be to clean it up. Second, will be to mud the tears on the drywall (They show through if you don't), then sand and paint! It will be the same light yellow that is next to the door (though you can't really see the distinction in this picture), and I want it to coordinate with this wall on the other side of the fireplace:

You can see we chose to paint over the dark brown paneling on this wall. I'm starting to think that was a mistake.... Maybe someday in the future, I'll tear it all down and start again, but not until I'm ready to change colors! (By the way, I took those three pictures on the wall at the Oregon Coast and framed them. I love the PAC NW!).

And, once it's all done, I even bough curtains to hang... I have everything I need, just need the little push to get it all started! :)