Living Room/Dining Room Transformation

Since moving into our home in the Fall of 2004, we have wanted to do something with our living room and dining room. Both rooms had great wood floors, but they needed refinishing. Also, the living room walls had a certain, um, "dated" texture that we felt had to go. Lastly, there was an arch between the rooms that, although unique, was not necessarily to our liking.

After much talking, Jen eventually took matters into her own hands and demolished the arch (while I was away on business -- I saw the initial pictures from a hotel room in Huntsville, Alabama). Jen then ripped out all of the drywall in the living room (the drywall in the dining room was not afflicted with the same texturing). Our friend, Jeff Shaw, then replaced the drywall and put in some of the moldings (particularly the crown moldings, with which, unlike other moldings, we had no previous installation experience). After Jeff's excellent work, we (almost all Jen) painted and then had the floors redone. We thought the result was overall quite an improvement.