Main Floor Renovations And Decor Refresh
/Heartwarming Main Floor Renovations And Decor Refresh Project Part I
Dated finishes and a very busy lifestyle left this house begging for some main floor renovations and a decor refresh. The homeowners are one of the sweetest couples, who happen to belong to the daughter of my client who is also a dear friend. A little side note here. I have some of the best friends in the world. True fact!
My client, Marilyn, wanted to encourage her daughter who was going through a tough patch. Don’t we all have those at some point? It’s hard work raising children, running a home, working opposite shifts from your spouse, working full time, and adding extensive study time in the wee hours for 3 years in pursuit of becoming a Registered Veterinary Technician.
The Back Story
I learned that shortly after being married, Mike and Kerri found out they were pregnant, so they purchased this house and moved in on Halloween day, with their twin girls being born prematurely on December 4th. Juggling all that life was throwing at them, they never found the time to do much with the house to make it their home.
Marilyn and I chatted about how we could encourage Kerri and help get her out of her slump. We decided to go and tie up a few loose ends in Kerri and Mike’s recent kitchen reno that hadn’t gotten finished.
If any of you know me at all, once we got on site, I saw so many other things that I wanted to do with the space. Before we knew it, we had plans for a room refresh for the kitchen and dining area, main living area and entry that would be executed over several months with a firm completion date of September 3rd.
The catch was that most of what we were doing would be a surprise for Kerri. We would swoop in while she was away on a learning session out of province for a week, and do installs, accessorize and add any final touch ups to have everything completed on her return.
We couldn’t hide everything. She knew about the countertops getting painted and new flooring being installed throughout, before she left. The rest was kept under tight lips and purchases were hidden away as we sourced all the items we needed.
It was a pleasure to get involved with this project as Marilyn and I put our heads together and crafted a plan using inexpensive decor updates where we could. This home had not been changed from the previous owners in almost 13 years.
Home Decor Project Before
The start of any project is always an exciting time for me. I still get that little rush at the door before going in to see what’s on the other side. This time I stopped long enough to take a quick before video. It’s really fun to look at the before images when everything is complete, often several months later. We can almost forget how things actually looked at the beginning.
Join me for the walkthrough of this home decor project before we began, and hear some of the goals we already had in mind at that point. These next two quick videos show you where things were at on my first site visit and then at the start of our first work day.
A look at the project before we started.
This quick little clip is day one of the project when we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Mike had already patched the walls that got sanded later that day, ripped out all of the old flooring, and we all unloaded our gear and got things set up and jobs were delegated.
work day one of this main floor renovation
Decorating Updates - The Project Goals
Marilyn was put in charge of project management with me behind the scenes crafting the plan alongside her, and barking out orders to everyone week after week as we executed our goals. Here’s a summary of our decorating list considering Kerri’s style, preferred colours, the function of the spaces, and room layout.
source and arrange install of new engineered hardwood flooring throughout
finish the kitchen project the homeowners had started
faux finish countertops - Marilyn taking the lead with technique and how-to while, I assisted - we had way too much fun and so many laughs that day
Fusion paint existing table and chairs - Marilyn hadn’t “Fusioned” before and jumped right in with a beautiful end result
source and Fusion paint sideboard to match kitchen set
add original “Daisy flower” artwork done by Marilyn for her Kerri - such a special piece and her first ever signed work
purge and organize kitchen cabinets with free advice (this time) from my friend Nicole at Organized By Design. Mike and I jumped right in to that one. I love purging.
add Marilyn’s stencil word art to their coffee station cabinet
source new wine glasses and under cabinet mounted holder
repurpose and repair a mirror for over the sideboard
add accessories throughout
unpack the good dishes and silver that had been in boxes in the basement since the wedding 14 years ago
paint entry walls Wickham Gray to connect with the rest of the project
entry closet purge and organize, add shoe storage, a place to drop keys and mail, add artwork and accessories to make it welcoming
total redo of the living room
new flooring as mentioned
walls and stairwell leading to upper level painted to match kitchen in Wickham Gray
new baseboards and trim
Fusion painted honey oak staircase handrail and balusters to dark charcoal
relocate flatscreen to over corner fireplace to allow for new furniture placement plan
update brass fireplace screen with flat black paint
new lighting
add side console and accessories
new artwork
new sectional sofa (a gift from hubby to his wife) and new rocking chair were added
repurpose existing side tables
The Couple Share Thoughts On The Finished Project A Week Later
Creating functional home decor and a beautiful home is an important service I offer to my clients. It gives me great joy to get them past the overwhelm and to a place of order and calm that they look forward to at the end of their busy day. Don’t we love to see the affect the end result has on the homeowners and their families? Have a look at the video below as Mike and Kerri share how they’ve been impacted.
This sweet couple share how the main floor renovations and decor refresh have affected them.
I wanted to share a few fun pics of Kerri’s family during the work in progress. The main floor renovations and decor refresh turned out so well. So please look for Part II of this blog post for the before and after videos and those fun pics along the way. It was entirely too long to do all in one posting. I hope you’re as delighted with the outcome as Marilyn and I are.
