A quick look at the demo progress that has been made in my breakfast nook renovation.
MACTAVISH HOUSE | Published March 8, 2020
As I mentioned in the video I put on Instagram about a week ago, this room was supposed to be a very minimal demo and then I could start putting everything back together quickly. But plans changed.
THE WALLS
Demo started with me ripping up the carpet from the floor. There were actually two layers of carpeting and once I removed the carpet strips, it left quite a gap under where the paneling where it met the floor. I had assumed that there was nothing but insulation behind the paneled walls, but the gap revealed that drywall had been installed before paneling over it.
The original plan for this room was to leave the paneling on the walls and paint it as I did in the living room. I love how it turned out and I wanted this room to be as simple and problem free as possible.
But now that I knew there was drywall behind it all, I decided to take off the paneling and see what I had to work with. There was some glue holding the paneling on in places, but aside from that it was in good condition. My mom and I worked yesterday at getting the glue off, taping the seams, and mudding the walls. I've got another coat to do and then they will be as good as new.
The problem with the drywall is that only the walls that had been built to close in this old porch had it. Taking the paneling off of the other two walls revealed old vertical tongue and groove paneling, which was nice, and behind that was the original horizontal wood siding of the house, which I also thought was neat to see.
I really went back and forth over which I wanted to have exposed in this room because either would be pretty painted and they both needed work prior to painting.
Ultimately, I decided to go with the original siding because I think it keeps with my idea of making this feel like a sun porch and because there is rarely an opportunity to have something like this exposed in an old house. I'm keeping the paneling boards, though, and will hopefully find somewhere else to use them.
THE CEILING
I had hoped that underneath the ceiling tiles there would have been the original porch ceiling, but no such luck. It is just insulation and joists put in to hold up the ceiling. Someday, I'd love to open it all up and expose the angled roof line connecting into the kitchen. But because I'm keeping this reno budget friendly, I needed to find something else to do with it for now.
I debated getting drywall, but that is hard to get home unless you have a truck and even then I didn't know how easy it would be for my mom and I to install ourselves. I also looked at ceiling planks, but didn't love how pricey it was going to be for such a small space.
The idea I decided on is unconventional, but extremely budget friendly, especially in my case. I'm just about done installing the ceiling and then have a few more things to do to it before I can paint. And I think I'm going to keep you in suspense until I can share it all completed with you before I say what I used.
THE FLOORS
And finally, the floors. In my post last week with my design plans, I mentioned I hoped I'd be able to take the hardwood floors up in the entryway and bathroom and reuse them in this space. That isn't going to work, though. I've tried removing some in the bathroom and am going to end up damaging them too far beyond use if I go any further. So it's on to plan B with the floors.
So that is where we are at the moment with the breakfast nook renovations. I'm hoping this week to get done installing the ceiling and doing the second coat on the walls. I also have to cut the siding boards where I'll be removing the wall. The weather looks warmer for this week, too, I'd like to get a few things done with the front door and install some new hardware.