Renovation, Renovation, Renovation

We have transformed numerous houses over the years but our biggest eyesore to date was

our house in Wheaton. A fixer upper was almost too cliche for this one. We loved the neighborhood, the Chicagoland downtown feel and it backed up to one of the nicest parks in the city offering an accessible trail, public swimming pool and tons more.

But it was UGLY. My husband of course saw the possibility in 5 seconds, I had to be coerced and finally just said “ok fine.”

The first thing to tackle in the house was the floors and ceiling in the dining/living room combo.

Carpet in a dining room and a dark wood beamed ceiling that made you feel cramped had to be addressed and quick. We chose a family friendly hardwood from Home Depot and bought a DIY sprayer for the ceiling using Sherwin Williams White Snow and got to work. We also flipped the design of the room, yanked out the 1950;s bookcase and heads straight for the RH outlet for some furniture pieces.

Carpet check, bookcase demo check, fireplace check. Paint, hardwood floors, lighting and it was time to get to work. 40 days later, my husbands dream became a reality. I have to admit looking back I am impressed with what he envisioned and created. He designed the layout, sketched the furniture placement and did a lot of the dirty work but this one is up there on one of my favorties.