No Mas Mirrors

The mirrors are to be removed and a fireplace will be built into the wall.  Here again is what the living room looked like before.

We called the same company that might have installed it over 20 years ago.  These pictures show the mirrors being removed and wouldn't you know it.  There was a pink wall underneath the mirrors.  The black splotches are the glue that held the mirrors in place.

The next step is for Max to remove those black splotches and stucco the wall.

Front Door

If anyone would tell me back when I was single that I would be shopping for doors, I would call them crazy with that pityingly cryptic look some would call the "Benigno Stinkeye".  A door is a door.

But life and priorities change.  Our door is the original door when the house was built back in the 70's.  Due to time and weather, the door had the aged look no matter how much we cleaned and polished.  We were thinking about having it repainted, but we decided for a whole new look.

When we were ordering travertine tile for our dining room we were in the tile storeroom.  I was perusing through a magazine called Luxe. It is a fantastic magazine with tons of high end home design ideas.  There was an ad for doors and the showroom was located in San Diego.  So one Saturday we drove 1.5 hours to San Diego to check out the showroom.  As I looked around, I thought "Oh no, there is so much to look at.  We will be here forever trying to figure out which one the both of us would like."  It is a long drive to get here and I didn't want to make this trip back and forth as we tried to make a decision.

So in an organized manner, we went through the showroom and I took pictures of doors that caught our eyes.  Here are just some of the pictures.

 




 
 


So after we made our rounds, we looked at each other and said, "Well, which one do you like?"

Surprisingly, we both selected the same door.  No debates, no questions, compromises or disappointments.

So this is the door we chose and it would take 6-8 weeks to make.  The finish would be done in Mexico because some of it is not allowed in the U.S. because of some sort of law or something.

Advertisement

We would have to contract a special installer that they use and probably safer.  After a few weeks after we ordered the door, we would have to go back to San Diego, inspect the door and sign off on it before we could schedule the installer.

Introduction

Max and I have been discussing the remodeling of our Living Room for many years.  This room as you walk through the front door is located immediately to the left.  It has remained unused except for once or twice a year during the holidays or other special occasions and even then, we usually gather in the smaller family room with the TV.  The room is so unused, I think the spiders and cobwebs are more at home in this room than I am.

The only area of contention was that Max wanted to put a pool table in it and I did not want a pool table to be the first thing guests see as they walk into our house.  So the discussions went on over time.  Max was persistent until finally, I thought, what the heck.  Whatever makes Max happy because life is short.  Plus, I don't care what people think.  If anything, it would not even matter to our good friends and family.  Most of all, it is such a shame to have wasted space in the house.  We want to expand our living area.  So we made the decision to finally make it happen.

Below are pictures of the family room at the start.  As you face the living room, the dining room is to the right through the archway.

The plan is to remove the mirrors, install a fireplace and mantle then replace the carpet with travertine flooring, similar to what we have in the dining room.

By the way, this will the last of the carpeting in the first floor and the next project would be to replace the carpeting throughout the rest of the house with travertine flooring.  I think it will be so much cleaner.

The other part of the remodeling will be to replace the front door, remove the side glass panel and move it to the living room.  We love that piece and want to keep it somehow.  It will provide more light in the new family / living room.  We are so glad to get rid of this door.  We've hated it for quite a long time.