i heart this. like, seriously heart this.

i can’t tell you how happy i am to say these words: the great room makeover is complete.

i’m also happy to tell y’all that we survived.

so, in our house, we diy it all. we like the challenge, but honestly, it’s about saving moola on these kinds of projects. between my ability to find projects on pinterest, and mr. re-nest’s patience with my grand plans (and his ability to pretty much make or fix anything), we aren’t really afraid to tackle projects to improve our little corner of the world. and, it’s super awesome to be able to look at a space in our house and know that we did it together. (okay, when it comes to actually getting hands dirty, it’s more like a 85/15 split. i like to say that i’m the project manager. mr. re-nest is the one who makes miracles happen.)

little bit of background….our great room gets a lot of love. like, a lot. we’re always in this room as a family, and all of it was still pretty builder basic. we both kind of started thinking about ways we could update the room, make it more custom, and add some ummph to it at the same time….last fall. we hit up pinterest for some ideas and both had the same vision (more modern + adding something with a focal element). stone was really drawing both of us in, and we started doing our research. we ended up finding a great product by roma at menard’s, in the perfect shade of grey. we pulled the trigger, but we really weren’t amped to start the project (i should note: at the time we’re buying the stone, we’re also talking about a new mantle, new tile for in front of the fireplace, which then led to a conversation about putting new carpet in the room. suddenly our “little” update was becoming a pretty big (and pricey) undertaking!) the stone came home, and we let the winter go by, waiting for some spring carpet promotions.

spring rolled around, and i started chomping at the bit to get into the update….mostly because the more i looked at the builder grade, almost-ten-year-old carpet that was touched everywhere, i wanted that gone. mr. re-nest, the boys, and i headed to lowes one weekend, and picked out a great stainmaster carpet and waited for that to come in. while we waited, i tackled the re-painting of the great room (in the same exact color i chose ten years ago….picked out without any paint swatch at all! this was my first time using the hgtv home by sherwin williams showcase paint…and let me tell you, the coverage was ah-mazing! )

meanwhile, in real life….we found and ordered a mantle from a seller on etsy. i won’t go into the whole story because you can read it here, but basically, what should have come in three weeks took eight weeks and made us reschedule the carpet install, and made us not-so-happy buyers. but one weekend, i found mr. re-nest standing in front of the mantel, crow bar in hand, ready to start making some progress. come hell or high water (or come hell or no new mantle), we were going to get this project going!

fast forward four more weekends, about 30 tubes of adhesive, and some grout, we had new tile installed in front of the fireplace, and every.single.rock was adhered to the wall! (oh, and at weekend #2, the mantle showed up…miraculously. it was what we wanted, but i can tell you i’ll never, ever, ever order from this etsy seller again.)

and, today, it all came together. today was carpet install day. the day that the horrible, terrible, gross builder grade carpet with zero padding left to speak of was ripped up and taken away. the installers from lowes were fantastic, super fast, and it looks fab. (is it possible to be in love with carpet? because i think i am!) not only am i head over heels in love with this new carpet, but today meant we could put the room back together. my beloved gallery wall went back up. my decor came back in. and, i got to pull some new throw pillows out of hiding from the back of my car!

we love it. the room feels cozy. it feels totally upgraded + modern. it smells like new carpet. no shoes are allowed. (i even came downstairs wearing my fave ugg slippers, and stopped before walking on the carpet, looked at mr. re-nest and said, “i need new slippers. these are too dirty to walk on the carpet with.” good excuse to score a new pair, right?!? even little mr. re-nest #2 says, “don’t worry. i’m not going to walk on the super perfect new carpet with my shoes on!”)

i might have been bitten by the diy upgrade bug. (i’m currently eyeing our very bare, in need of an update, kitchen backsplash….can you say “white subway tile?”) and, then of course, there’s repainting little mr. re-nest #1’s room, finally finishing the decor in the master bathroom, and more that i can’t think of right now!