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Introducing Valhalla – our “Great” Room

When we purchased our home in 2013; it was at the bottom of the market. So much so- that the previous owners of this house did not finish their addition to the garage/great room above the garage. The builders sold it to a Graduate Student, who in turn sold it to Sam and I.

We knew we wanted a home improvement project… but had no clue as to what was in store for us. This house of ours sucks up every last penny in our budget. But we are getting SO close to being finished now!!

We affectionately named this great bare room Valhalla, and it started as an empty shell.

The steps we’ve taken to finish this room includes: framing in walls,

A room with bare studs and framed in walls under construction

Installing insulation

A man and woman standing in front of a bunch of rolls of insulation in a bare construction room kissing

And attic soffits,

A wall with rolls of insulation installed, and attic soffits on the roof corners

wiring lights and outlets,

A ceiling with bare trusses and new construction can lights with wires installed

installing drywall, using a drywall jack,

A room under construction with a drywall jack and ladder in the room with the drywall partially finished

mudding and texturing,

A man and woman with masks on while sanding drywall

painting and installing molding, (see my post on my master bedroom painting and molding)

building closet storage (check out our awesome Walnut closet built ins!)

and we now come to the beginning of the end of our 460 sqft living room.

Here are some progress photos over the past month:

Sam began texturing the ceiling on July 14th:

A room with drywall hung and tape with mud applied

The texturing was almost complete and we added the last of the drywall around the walls on July 19th:

A room with new drywall hung, and the ceiling partially textured

And after taping, and level 5 mudding the walls, sanding, painting the ceiling(and installing 1 last door) we are brought to this place today, August 12th:

A room with the lights removed and the ceiling painted, and the walls level 5 mudded

After years of periodic work on this room, we can see the end in sight! Our goal within the next few months is:

  • Finish sanding
  • Prime the walls
  • Paint the walls (2 tones of gray)
  • Install a built-in window bench under the window on the right side
  • Install built in shelving between the two doors
  • Install floating shelves on the large right wall
  • Start installing the chair rail and crown molding

Begin the Bathroom:

  • Find 2 matching vanities
  • Purchase and Install toilet
  • Purchase and Install mirrors
  • Install returns to the septic tank
  • Finish plumbing the water
  • Hang drywall/cement board
  • Tile the bathtub

And the very last step for the entire room:

Install flooring!

I hope to achieve all of these tasks by the end of the year. Think we can get it done?

Wish us luck!

With Love, Erika Nora

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