Dhu with a View: An Adventure in Remodeling (The Living Room)

I don't know... is it a living room? A great room? A family room? My family called it the den. Needless to say, the main room in the middle of my house is having a bit of an identity crisis. I think I say the words living room more than anything, but every once in a while, the word den pops out. For the purposes of this blog, and NOT losing my mind about it, I'll call it the LIVING ROOM. There. Done. The official proclamation has been... well, proclaimed.

SO just in case you've stumbled onto this here little bloggy, and are not one of my beloved Facebook friends, let me do a quick update... approximately six months ago, I decided to move into my childhood home. However, I had three basic non-negotiables that had to be taken care of before moving in.

1.) The popcorn ceilings had to go bye bye.

2.) The carpet (otherwise known as my mom's cats' litter box) had to go wherever toxic, fecal ridden, rolls of cat diapers go to die.

3.) Paint, paint, paint.

Three fairly simple things... that turned into a nearly complete gut of the house, and FIVE months of renovation. Oops. I might've gotten a teensy bit carried away.

The three major areas of improvement were the kitchen, the master bathroom, and of course the living room, which is where I will begin...

My parents built our home in 1978, the year I turned six, and I'm pretty sure my Dad's absolute pride and joy (besides Kentucky basketball... "Go Big Blue," his fishing retreat on Clark Hill lake, and of course his stunningly beautiful family) was his Fisher wood burning stove along with its brick hearth. He laid the bricks himself...

Look, it's me! (Rockin' that Dorothy Hamill haircut, thank you.)

Love this man

This red brick behemoth was the centerpiece of our family gatherings, witnessing nearly forty Christmas Eve parties, numerous slumber parties and loads of posed photo moments. "Hey, let's get a photo of the family... everybody go stand by the hearth!"

So, you can imagine my inner struggle when it came to redesigning this room. I have an entire life of memories built around this work of masonry and iron. Not to mention, this was probably the last photo of my family all together, because my Dad died five months after it was taken, which adds to the sentimental attachment we all have to our beloved hearth.

In the end, though, I decided to remove Dad's stove (it's now on the back porch waiting to be re-purposed) and my contractors built around the brick hearth (yep, it's still back there, just completely hidden, but still serving as the heart of this home.)

So see? I'm not such a TOTAL heartless bitch, right? Maybe? Man, it really was a gut wrenching decision.

Throughout the years, Mom made cosmetic changes to the room formerly known as the den, including busting out a big wall and opening it to the hallway to give it more of an open concept feel (way back in the early '90's.) At one point, the wall of windows that looks out onto Houston Creek was hampered by grids, mini-blinds and dark curtains, and the floors were a delicious shade of good ol' 1970's 'rust.'

Don't knock the footie pajamas... I'd be wearing them RIGHT now if I didn't think I'd look like Big Bird in desperate need of a fresh round of Botox.

My goals for the room were to make it (along with the rest of the house) very zen and relaxing. I envisioned a squishy sectional, a warm functional fireplace with a traditional mantle, and built-in cabinets. I love texture, so it was natural to fall in love with a split-face brick tile in soft hues. The carpet, which had run through its rust phase and evolved to a cream that threatened to get dingy every time a shoe tread upon it, was replaced with beautiful bamboo flooring. I chose Antique Strand bamboo for its hardiness (it's tough, and I have pets), and its beautiful variegation of colors. Culver Rug installed it, and I couldn't be happier. They knocked it out the park, and it was one of the ONLY things that actually came in under budget! (Brian Culver was my contact, and he's wonderful.)

I guess I can't talk about the living room without mentioning the fact that we knocked out some walls in the adjoining 'lounge/piano room' and dining room, in my quest for more openness. My Mom always wanted to do this so we could have the water views from the front of the house, but it just never got done... until now!

So are you ready to see? Prepare for an avalanche of photos...

Here's the original room that I started with...

Before: Hearth and stove, popcorn ceilings, cream carpet, bare windows, dark hallway

Living room renovation after, bambo floors, antique strand, Culver Rug, Garden State Tile, built-in cabinets, tile hearth, travertine

After: Beautiful bamboo floors, split-face brick tile, travertine hearth, custom built-in's, smooth ceilings, fresh curtains, bright opening to lounge across the hall.

Before: Walls on either side of the foyer, carpet, popcorn ceiling.

Walls gone, next up: Casement doors!

Feeling HUGE!

Living room renovation After, bamboo floor, antique strand, culver rug, sectional

Open and airy... there's so much light.

I have SO many favorite things about this room! From the absolutely GORGEOUS Gabby Home reclaimed wood cocktail table from Whelan's Furniture, to the cabinets, and clean simple mantle built by my General Contractor, Leigh Smith of LMS Construction...

The hearth is a solid slab of travertine from Counter Fitters. I'm not normally a fan of this particular stone (limestone), but found myself attracted to the underside of the surface. So my AWESOME salesperson, Jenny, told the guys to cut it upside down, and voila! I absolutely adore its rough, irregular surface. (More texture!)

And this little cutie makes me happy...

Who doesn't love a nook, right?

Nadeua furniture with a soul, nook, living room renovation

This bodacious chest from Nadeau told me it had to come home with me!

This room fills me with such joy and pure relaxation... I absolutely LOVE it, and I know my Mom and Dad would too. Lizzy and I will always fill it with love and family and friendship, just like it was meant to be.