What can you get done in 2 days?

Took some 'before' pics of the living room before I delve into the remodel of this room. I had moved the couch into the middle of the room and evenually moved it out onto the deck. I was initally going to move it into the dining room but then remembered that I had to bring this in through the french doors when we moved into the house. One of the reasons I love this couch is because it is so deep, so there was only one option and that was outside.
I took some random pictures of the room before everything just to get some 'before' official pictures. ha ha.

Im not going to change the paint color but the popcorn is definately coming off the ceiling! It a fairly simple process, time consuming but fairly simple. And the outcome is amazing.

I put up drop cloths all around the room and double-covered the boxes of hardwood flooring that comes after the ceiling gets completed. I cannot wait to see the outcome of this room. I think the flooring is going to make the biggest improvement, even to the point where Im not bringing the couch back in. Its going to look too nice and my couch (even though I love it) is about 13 years old....I think its ok to get a new one...and hey, couldn't be a better time!

Everything got taped and covered! The worst part of removing a popcorn ceiling is the chalky dust that comes from sanding. The initial removal by scraping is not bad at all. It is crazy how heavy the popcorn actually is. I made sure that the entry way into the kitchen and the entry way by the front door were sealed with the heavier plastic Chris brought me and made some 'doors' that overlapped into both the front and back so I could get through the house if needed. I wanted to make sure the dust stayed within the living room as much as possible.

It didn't take long to get everything taped and covered before actually starting on the ceiling. My goal was to get the popcorn off by the end of Day 1. I only had Thursday & Friday off so it was important to get as much done as possible. We had plans Thursday night to go to Jordan's concert so I had to stop by 5:00 in order to get ready.

So the spraying and the scraping began. It went fairly quickly and I making a mess was kind of fun. I love home improvement stuff. Just wish it didn't cost anything! I think if I ever won the lottery I would flip houses for the fun of it! The popcorn kept piling up. But the ceiling was looking good, even though there was going to be a ton of sanding to do. The room is about 350 sq. ft. and taking the popcorn down doesnt stir up alot of dust, so this is the quickest part.
This is what the ceiling looks like without the popcorn but BEFORE sanding....it was looking better every step of the way....this is the end of DAY 1.
Which brings us to Day 2. I ended up sleeping in today until 0915. WOW! That felt great! But I knew I had a ton to do today and sanding was going to take up most, if not all, of the day. I got everything together that I needed, including my head cover and my mask. I put contacts in, not sure why, but I thought it would be better and I would try to wear some goggles. Cant you just picture me now? Can't you see how big of a difference sanding makes? I had the french doors open all day. I had turned off the heat today and left the doors open to help ventilate the room. Luckily most of the dust you could see going out the doors, but a ton also stayed. I tried my best to keep my face away from being directly around the sander but most of the time I couldn't help it. The goggles I had got covered in dust so quickly I couldn't keep them on and be able to see. I am paying for it now.
IThe ACC Tournament is on and, of course, UNC was playing at noon, so even through the plastic covered tv, I had to stop and listen and attempt to watch parts of the game. Even though they played like crap and almost lost to Virginia Tech! Whew~! Glad that game is over...now back to sanding...
So for the most part I completed the sanding by the end of Day 2. I am glad. I do have small spots that I need to go over, you can still see some spots that have some dust on them, but 99% of the sanding is complete. I do have a few spots that need spackling and then light sanding but other than that, I got everything accomplished in 2 days that I wanted to.

This picture says it all. This room is probably the one that will have the biggest impact with the least amount of 'stuff' done. Stay tuned...there is definately more to follow~