Office Renovation is Finally Done!!
Living Room BEFORE
Formal Office AFTER
We started the renovation in September and finally finished in December. This timeframe includes all the shopping for flooring, furniture, accessories, and final decorating… which all takes time, especially when trying to find things on a budget. In the beginning we had a very slow start to the project because of the people we hired and problems with the furniture.
We only hired out the installation of the tile and closing of the archway. We ripped out the carpet, took off the baseboards and reinstalled them. Hank installed all the new electrical requirements, phone, and internet connections, we painted the walls ourselves and installed a fan.
Closing the archway was delayed by 3 weeks due to a somewhat serious heart problem of the guy we hired. His first day here he was sweating profusely and we almost had to call 911. The doctor told him to take several days off, so we were on ‘'hold”. But when he couldn’t come back to finish the job after 3 weeks, we ended up having to hire his counterpart to finish. The second guy fell off our ladder that totally collapsed in our house and the texture stuff went flying everywhere. Thank God he wasn’t injured, but I can’t say the same for our ladder… it was crumpled. And it was very helpful that the texture material cleans up with just water. Not off to a good start.
When the furniture finally arrived it had some very noticeable defects and we rejected the delivery. So we had to wait over a week for the new delivery. Once it was finally delivered and put together, all of the magnet contacts were either broken or cracked. So we submitted our “punch” list for repair and had to wait almost a month for the parts to come in. Although that did not stop us from moving all our office supplies into the new room. It was quite a project just to move all the equipment and run the cabling so you can’t see it when you walk in the room.
Archway BEFORE 
Closed off archway AFTER 
We ripped up the carpet & pad, then cleaned up the floor. 
We cut the existing caulking, then pulled off the baseboards. 
Hank was in the attic about a dozen times doing all the wiring. Below is the electrical panel (with a gazillion wires) in my closet that he had to access to do the job.
The floor had to be sealed and prepped for the tile installation. The tile we selected looks like real hardwood floors, it’s very nice.
Once the tile was installed, the grout was added… a very messy job. It’s no wonder we didn’t want to tackle this job!
Once the tile was installed we were ready to close off the archway. This is the view from the Living Room/Office side.
This is the view from the little room that we used for 2 years as our temporary office.
Painting the walls after the work was complete.
We had to nail, re-caulk the baseboards, and touch up the paint.
Most of the silk plants came from other rooms in the house. It was musical plants for a couple of days until I got it looking the way I wanted. The tall fichus tree in the right corner I found for 10 bucks at a garage sale… deal of the century! The lamp is from the guest room (not needed in the bedroom because it has an overhead light) and it matches perfectly. 
The little table with the lamp on it was purchased at Target and we got the side table on the right at Costco. The prices were so much cheaper than anything else we found and they tie in very nicely with the color and design. Furniture is so outrageously priced so we were very happy with finding these because I refuse to pay high prices! 
The huge clock was a December door buster that we got for $25 at Home Depot. The vase was really cheap on clearance at a furniture store and I just added some dried weeds and it looks great. The rest of the décor I already had and I got a couple of items for cheap at Ross on senior discount Tuesday.
WE LOVE OUR NEW OFFICE!!
Our New Workout Room
This small room is where our office resided for the past 2 1/2 years. My desk consisted of a 6’ fold out table, but it worked. We moved the treadmill from a spare “catch all” bedroom into this small room. I’m using an existing book shelf for the equipment. Hank is going to make a frame from wood that we already have for an ottoman and I’ll put foam and cover it with material. This will give us something to sit on when we put on our shoes. The room is not finished yet… we need a few minor decorations and the TV needs to be put on the wall. 
Home Made Journal
for my Granddaughter Lauren
You all know me by now that I love to make and do things as inexpensively as possible and use stuff that I already have at home. I made this journal for Lauren from stuff that I already had in my craft room. I love the way it turned out and it came from my heart.
I used thick cardboard for the front & back covers. I covered it with paper and added embellishments. I got the lined paper from Staples for free (Staples regularly has free stuff using their Easy Rebate program). I cut the paper to size and punched holes (that was the most time consuming part of this). I thought about using rings to secure the book, but I decided to use 2 different ribbons to add character. I especially love the jewel studded heart dangling from the flower. Lauren told me she really likes it, so hopefully she is using it on a regular basis.
Renewed Coach Lights
Our outside lights were very weathered and they really needed a face lift. I decided to tackle this job by myself and they turned out fabulous!! I ended up painting 8 lights total.
Here are the BEFORE and AFTER pictures of the small coach lights. We have 2 in the back yard and 1 on each side of the house.
I started by washing all the glass in each light. Hank removed one small light (the first picture below) from the stucco and we decided it was too much work to remove and have to re-caulk 8 lights. The stucco also came off when he removed it which had to be repaired and painted, so forget that extra work.
I taped each light to protect the glass from the paint and also taped plastic on the house. 
I primed each light, then painted it using spray cans.
Here are the BEFORE and AFTER pictures of the 4 big lights. They are located in our driveway on each side of the two garages.
The big lights actually unscrew from the base, which made it easier for me to tackle…. taped, primed, and painted. 
I’m so happy that I decided to do this job because they look awesome, but I NEVER want to do this again because it was a ton of work. The best part is it only cost about $20. Just think how much it would be if it was hired out!
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