[/caption]Initially, I thought all I needed to do was declutter, clean, repaint the white walls and ceiling, and even though the carpeting was NOT wall-to-wall, just clean it up.
Well... of course that's not what happened!
First, the easy part: I sold the recliner and couch, which did NOT match and were totally the wrong size for the room, at my yard sale,
and replaced both with a 2-piece used sectional in pretty good condition I got totally for free from the Pikes Peak Community Action Agency. Carl over there was so happy to have someone take it off their hands (taking up a lot of space in the Free pile!) that he arranged for someone to haul it the three blocks to my house! Granted, it took an entire bottle of Febreeze to kill the musty smell
of it, but it looks great, I think, and the dogs LOVE it. Especially Coco, who can still get to her favorite sleeping corner in the house
by simply walking behind it, but Binky can't cause he's too big - so she now has a place which is totally Binky-free! She's quite happy
about that :) Although she wasn't happy about the commotion I made tearing the living room apart, I think I've been forgiven.
All the steam cleaning in the world (and various chemical agents) would not take the black paint stain out of the carpet. I really debated about removing it, because it does help keep the room warm during the winter and it was a pain to get it into the living room to begin with, but at the same time, showing a house with a carpet that is one foot two small on two sides for the room, that doesn't meet up at the kitchen arch, is seriously stained, and frankly, rather tatty looking, just ain't going to work. Next-door-neighbor had given it to me when he replaced the carpeting in his house, his daughter's 2-year-old son was the "artist" who painted on it, and despite that, I really did like having it in there. But it had to go. Removing it was a pain - it's big and heavy - but by cutting it into
smaller pieces, I was able to tackle that job relatively easily.
I knew the wood floors would need some work... they've become pretty worn, but fortunately, they're oiled floors. That means I don't need
to sand and deal with expensive, life-threatening urethanes and all to get it to look good, I just need to get some Tung nut oil and reoil
them. But of course, *NOBODY* stocks traditional Tung oil anymore! All the so-called Tung oil products at Home Depot and Lowes are 
justurethane and varnish products with a touch of tung oil in them! I did find an old can of tung oil in the garage, probably dating to the 1950s when the floor was last properly finished, but it only had a small amount left in it. I did use that - it was barely enough to do a very, very light first coat over the floor, which did make a big difference (parts of the floor, especially in the traffic areas, are practically bare), and found a place on the 'net that sells proper, pure Tung oil for about $17 for a half- gallon, which should be more than enough for me to do another coat or two in the living room, and also touch up the office floor when I pull the carpet out of there. I'll order it when I next get paid, and finish the floor then. Some areas will need more than a few coats to get them to even out and match the rest of the floor, but that's okay with me.
[caption id="attachment_169" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Starting to re-oil the floor"]
[/caption]There's several reasons I'm sticking with the original wood floor treatment. Tung oil is completely natural - it's the oil from the
Tung nut - and has a very pleasant, somewhat-peanutty, odor. You don't need to wear respirator masks when installing it, and can even handle it with bare hands if you really wanted to. I can't, because I'm still somewhat allergic to nuts, but latex gloves does the trick. An oiled floor, if it becomes damaged, doesn't require you to refinish the entire thing - just sand where the damage is, and then brush some
oil on it till it matches. The oil blends right in to the existing area. The more you oil it, the darker and shinier the finish. You don't need anything special to clean or care for it - can wash the floor with simply water, and should it get worn off (like in the case of my floor), just brush some oil on, and lightly hand buff it, and you're done. Finally, I'm using it because that's what's always been used on the hardwood floors in this house: tung oil. Never a touch of stain, never any harsh chemicals :) Of course, there is one downside: it takes about two days to dry out enough to move furniture back on it and walk on it without sticking, and about a month to fully "cure" (get hard), but I don't mind that.
The walls turned into a nightmare. When I first started to paint them, the existing paint started to peel off!! Apparently the last time this room was painted (which was probably around 1984!), either extremely cheap paint was used, or the surface wasn't prepared right - likely both. I knew I was going to have some problems covering all the yellowed and stained walls, but the existing paint just simply falling off the wall wasn't a problem I was prepared for.
Fortunately, there was a simple solution: TSP, the same stuff I used on the tiles in the kitchen! Ya know, that big box of TSP I bought
about ten years ago for like $4 sure has come in handy more than I can count! I had to scrub all three white walls, AND the ceiling, with
TSP, and even sand some places. Lots of spackling was needed, too, then I could finally paint. It took three days... sigh... I hate
painting ceilings! And parts of the room still need another coat of paint, but that will wait, also, for payday, when I can buy another
gallon :) Still, the walls are nice and white, the ceiling reflects too much light, but it looks good :)
I sold the dresser I was using as a TV stand, and repurposed the wood shelves I used to have in the middle of the kitchen. I stained the
wood shelves with a woodstain mis-tint I picked up at Home Depot for $1.00, and trimmed it in "black leatherette" contact paper. Yes, I really love contact paper :) I did the same to the dvd-stand just left of the door, so it looks like a matched set of furniture now. I removed the shelving behind the door that I had all my "back up copies" of dvds (read that the way you want *grins*), as my realtor has suggested that having piles of "back up" dvds laying around the living room for strangers to comment on may not be a very good idea... They are now boxed up. I pulled out all the wiring I had from the living room to the bedroom and office, and replaced it with a used wireless media networking system I picked up at Goodwill for $7.75 ...that way I still can stream any video or music I want from the living room to the office or bedroom or back to the living room, but no longer have a bunch of wires hanging out all over the place! I unhooked the home theater sound system speakers from the wall, and just have them neatly sitting on the shelves around the tv... do miss the true surround sound of having the speakers placed properly, but it
still sounds good. Besides, wires draped over the windows just isn't very attractive :)
I've only rehung two pictures, although I think the corner behind the sectional looks too bare now, I think it's better than making new
holes in walls I just spent what feels like a year patching to hang more pictures. :) I'm leaving the mural on the arch wall as it is (although I did finish painting the flowers, and cleaned it)... I'll offer to paint over it to whoever buys the house if they want me to. I love it too much to paint over it while the house is still mine :)
So there you have it... Laura's new, nice, clean, neat, ready-to-show, living room. Sure, still a few things to do ... some touch-up paint,
floor needs more oiling, ceiling fan needs cleaning, finish the molding around the front window, and a throw-rug (currently hanging on the fence after being hosed down and cleaned) to lay on the floor, but it's done.
Here's the best part: Total cost: $45.11
Tung Oil, $15.95 with free shipping (will use in office later, too)
Gallon of White Paint, $7.44
Blue wood stain, $1.07
"Black Leatherette" Contact paper, $5.95 (will use in office later, too)
Yet more spackling, $1.95 (I should just break down and buy the big jug)
Two new end tables, from GoodWill, $5 (they were still in the box, unopened! Only one in the picture, the other one will be placed by the door after I finish the floor)
New (used) wireless media streaming center from Goodwill $7.75
Sorry the final photo is kinda warped looking... I'm still getting the hang of the panoramic photo feature :)
It echos, just like the kitchen :)
[caption id="attachment_171" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Living room, done"]
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