Operation: Update the Front Bedroom
When I moved into my house in 2007 the very first thing that I worked on was getting the side wing in decent shape so I could live there while the rest of the house was under construction. The side wing used to be a neighborhood grocery and sometime after the grocery closed in the 1960s it was converted into three bedrooms, a laundry room and a long hall. Those rooms were by no means in good condition, but they were the best in the house.
I've shared a bit about the guest room and the back bedroom before, but I've never shared about the third front bedroom in the side wing which is the largest of the three. Here is what it looked like in 2007.
Like the rest of the house it was filthy. After getting rid of the faux wood paneling the raw drywall underneath needed to be finished and then I primed and painted the walls. Since I was in a hurry to get it habitable, I left the drop ceiling in place and just gave a coat of paint. The carpet was disgusting and I had the carpet replaced. The trim was made from cutting down pieces of of the real wood paneling that had lived in my stairway. It was a fast and cheap update that made the room livable while the main part of the house was gutted. Unfortunately, I've never gotten around to actually finishing up the room the way I want and the room has existed like this for several years.
Now that Frank and I are engaged, we've been planning for him to move in. The large front bedroom seemed like an ideal spot for him to have an office/man cave so I have been working on cleaning it out since it had become a catch all room for me. After cleaning the room up we discussed giving the room a fresh coat of paint, but then the conversation started veering into actually properly finishing the room since it was empty. Here are a few pictures of the room as it stands now. (As a side note, those little couches were my couches in my living room in Japan and the biggest I could find at the time)
First, I want to rip down the ceiling tiles and replace the ceiling. We are thinking that maybe adding a tin ceiling would be cool. Next, the cheap carpet has to go and we want to add hardwood. I also want to replace the trim in the room to match the rest of the house and the outlets need replacing as well.
The hollow core door needs to go and I need to do some hunting around for an old five panel door to replace it with. The closet also needs some work to replace the hollow bi-fold doors and change out the interior to make it more usable.
It will be a good chunk of work, but I am excited to finally start working on finishing the side wing properly.
Monday, February 25, 2013 at 8:14AM | Posted by Lisa | 4 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article 
in Home 
Reader Comments (4)
It will be interesting to see this room develop over time. Is this a before the wedding project or after wedding project? What ideas does Frank have for the space? It would be an interesting post to see his take on this room reno ..........
Mary-Lou- The room will be Frank's office/man cave and will have Michigan Wolverine decor. He has a ton of old football memorabilia that he is planning on hanging on the walls once we get the room finished.
My advice to him is that he was hired to do a job for his employer. It’s not to compare how much another coworker is doing and rationalize crappy work habits. You must establish your own ethical/professional standards and adhere to them. If you do that, you make it much easier on yourself
Thank you for sharing the information. You have nicely described each points of successful home renovations. Eager to read more such posts.