Immediately I connected with this house because of the open floor plan and good placement of the formal and informal areas, large bedrooms and beautiful neighborhood. This home had loads of character but needed much love and with at least 2700 square feet of shiny white ceramic tile (the house has a total of 4000 sq feet) that had to be removed, it is obvious why few were up to the task. We lived in this house with white tile, bad fixtures and ten, yes ten, tacky metal floor to ceiling pillars in our living room for six years before we hit the ground running with a six month remodel that made this house our home.
I have been trying to post a group of before and after photos of our home each week featuring a different room or area. This week i feel that I need explain my way through the living room because at first glance it can be difficult to spot the changes that I found absolutely necessary. Of course we took out the white tile surround below the mantle, took away the white ceiling fan, removed the carpet and removed the mirror above the mantle (that was set into the wood), I got rid of the dark red paint and of course updated the furniture.
Before
We painted the walls and ceiling a warm gray and added black honed granite to the fireplace surround. The entire house, except for the bathrooms and laundry and mud room have these fabulous 5″ solid hickory plank flooring accented with area rugs.
After
Before
Now this was a hard call but in hind sight, definitely an improvement! There used to be these quaint arches(held up by tacky pillars) that divided a sitting area from the main living area. We busted them out but of course had to rip out most of the ceiling to install an 18′ support beam to support the weight of the roof. A big shout out to my framer and especially my trim guy who held my hand thru this highly stressful process.
After
Got rid of drab decor and replaced with fun art, and lighter furniture and accessories.
Before
After
Here we have a lesson in scale…
Before (This dining room is much too large and empty feeling)
See the tacky tile and pillars? We eliminated the useless and dangerous step up, ugly pillars and dated chandelier and replaced with all one level wood floors, two large square colomns and paneling that were much more to scale of the large room and of course a large crystal chandelier which much better fills the space.
After
I set out to create a clean and modern living space practical for a family of five with a touch of sophistication. I could not be happier with the results and still happier with the potential of continued progress to come.
Before
After
Have I mentioned that we, all five of us, Never left the house? Yep, we lived in it all through construction to save money. Again, totally worth it!
We love hearing from fellow Remodelaholics, so let us know what you like about this and leave any questions below in the comments. If you've followed a tutorial or been inspired by something you've seen here, we'd love to see pictures! Submit pictures here or by messaging us over on Facebook.
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
