The Color of Change
November 20, 2008
Since Roger and I bought our first house last March, we've been hard at work remodeling it. So far, we have:
- peeled up the carpet
- tackled the ceilings (and then smoothed them out)
- tore all the wood paneling off the walls
- dismantled a built-in book shelf and furr down in the living room
- (for that matter, we removed furr downs throughout the entire house)
- installed a new garbage disposal and garage door opener
- replaced both exterior faucets
- removed a divider wall in one bathroom (between the sink and the toilet)
- rewired all electrical outlets and light switches
- installed new pipes for running future cable lines to all rooms (including study, media room and bedrooms)
- re-built a wall in the hallway leading to the master bedroom
- stripped hideous wallpaper from the kitchen, breakfast nook and master bathroom
- removed all baseboards and door trim
- decimated the wet bar
- demolished a closet
- built a new laundry room
- converted the old laundry room into a walk-in pantry
- re-textured all walls in the house, including closets
And, after all this time, we FINALLY get to paint. (Thankfully, Roger's parents are coming into town for Thanksgiving. Guess what they'll be doing while they're here? Hey, I'm not against parental labor. I'm an equal-opportunity kind of gal.) We've narrowed our base paint colors down to the following:

1. Barn Owl White, used as a base color in most rooms and bathrooms
2. Nantucket White, for trim and baseboards
3. Architectural Off-White, for ceilings
4. Crab Apple, A little too blue-based, we're trying to stick with yellow hues. Probably won't be used.
5. Expedition Khaki, for the sunny dining room and living room.
Also this weekend, we're laying tile in the laundry room and pulling up the carpet nail strips from around the house.
Here's what we have left to do:
- Install blinds
- Re-finish the edge of the fireplace (jagged from initial build, where built-in bookshelf was)
- Choose and install bamboo floors
- Install remaining tile in kitchen and bathrooms (will not be done until we remodel those rooms)
- Replace sliding glass doors with french doors (living room and master bedroom)
- And then the fun stuff: choosing lighting fixtures, furniture, home accents, etc.
For the past seven months, Roger and I have literally been living in a construction zone - often using construction floodlights to illuminate our paths. And if I were totally honest, I'd tell you that Roger has done 95% of the work. But I'm not going to be honest. Instead, I'm going to take credit for it, too. (By association, you see.)
The one thing I look forward to the most is printing our before-and-after pictures, framing them, and hanging them around the house. And then I plan on hosting an open house, and inviting everyone I know to see what progress we've made. Oh, what progress we've made!



















Since buying our first home, I’ve become more and more conscientious about changes Roger and I can make to be less wasteful and more eco-friendly. I’ve outlined some modifications we’ve made already (or have plans to make), and thought that I’d share them with you in honor of Earth Day. 





