My SIL and I decided that while my parents were in Europe that we should re-do their family room. We got permission from my dad to surprise my mom. The next time one of us suggests doing something like this please refer me back to this blog post. Here is a recap of the black cloud redo.
Why is it the black cloud redo? Because, a black cloud followed us all weekend. It became so bad that we just had to laugh to keep from crying. It turned from laughing to full on hysterical, grab your belly laughing (like when you are delirious) and we actually had a blast redoing the space. But, it was not without trial.
Problem 1:
The weekend started with us driving to Tomball to pick up our UHAUL. Yes, we drove to Tomball from my house which took about an hour. We arrived to the UHAL location to learn that we had the wrong hitch on my car and they could not give us a UHAUL. Not a huge deal except for the furniture store was closing in 15 minutes and we needed to get the furniture from the store. We went to the furniture store and had them place all the furniture on the back loading dock. Then we called my amazing BIL to help us. He was kind enough to lend us his truck. We were able to get the UHAUL and head back to the furniture store. The furniture was all still waiting for us on the back loading dock.
Problem 2:
When we arrived to the furniture store all the men who would have been there to help us load this furniture had gone home. MY SIL is pregnant and cannot lift, so I had to help my BIL load two couches, two chairs and three bar stools. Shouldn't have been a problem because we got the exact UHAUL size they told us to get. Well, the furniture didn't all fit! So thank goodness we had Derek's truck because we needed every last inch to make it fit.
Here we are loading the furniture:
Problem 3:
Because we got such a late start picking up the UHAUL and loading the furniture we didn't arrive into San Antonio until after 11pm. Not a big deal except that my cousin was supposed to help us unload the truck when we arrived. But I couldn't call him at that hour and ask for his help. So Lauren and I used a lot of magic, cussing, a furniture dolly and managed to get all the furniture into my parents house.
Family room before:
The next morning cousin Brandon came over and helped me move the old furniture out and the new furniture in...
Problem 4:
We took a break from all the heavy work and had a nice dinner with my childhood friend, Meredith. We made a stop at Lowe's after dinner and then headed back to continue on our project. We sawed off the two long pieces of their built in and then were ready to hang the tv. So around 11:30 pm Lauren began to drill into the wall to hang the 2x4s to mount the television....and....she HIT A GAS LINE. Yes, she hit a gas line. I felt like I was in a movie, and was trying to figure out how I was going to call my parents in Europe and let them know that I had blown up their house. I grabbed their dog (because if something happens to Sadie, forget it) and we ran out into the street. I learned a lot about how Lauren handles things under pressure (she doesn't)!! I told her that we should probably call 911 to which she responded "No, you idiot! You call 311." Which is actually call before you dig, so I attempted to call 911 while she dialed 311. The guy who answered on 311 clarified with her "Ma'am did you just say that you hit a gas line, and you have natural gas flowing into your house? You need to hang up and call 911!!!"
And just like that a firetruck with 9 of the cutest firefighters you have ever seen showed up in my parents quiet gated neighborhood. At midnight. And I can honestly say, we have never looked worse:
Yes, that was after a full day of cleaning, sawing, drilling, etc.
I kept a safe distance from the house until the trucks arrived. I just knew the whole thing was going to blow....
So then the 9 firefighters opened every single window and door in my parents house, shut off the gas, and informed us that we cannot sleep in the house. So, we called Meredith up and begged her to let us come have a sleepover. Luckily, her family was out of town and she wanted company. So, a little after midnight we were greeted with ice cream and a place to sleep!
Problem 5:
What was supposed to be a small hole to hang the tv turned into a gutting of my parent's built-in. We had to call out a plumber who had to remove the pipe, fix it and reinstall it. Lauren and I then made our tenth trip to Lowes to get backing to fix the hole.
(Side note: it took me about ten trips to Lowe's before I noticed that Lauren was carrying her Kate Spade fancy purse into the store. For some reason this I thought this was hilarious.)
My mom (not knowing this is happening) had already scheduled to have someone come in and paint her built-ins. So once they are painted you won't be able to tell that there is a different piece of wood behind the tv (good engineering by my SIL).
My parent's best friends (Meredith's parents) learned about the fiasco and wanted to see for themselves what we were doing to my parent's house. Mr. Fisher was nice enough to help us mount the bracket and then it took a team to lift the TV and hang it.
Finished product:
With all the problems I am still really proud of how the room turned out. I learned that I am somewhat handy (I sawed, installed a new ceiling fan and screwed in new brackets for curtain rods) and enjoyed doing all the work.
I cannot wait for my parents to get back from their trip to see the reveal!
