An Unexpected Reno!!

Have you ever been thrown into a renovation you really didn't expect to be in? 

Some of you are probably thinking "aren't reno's supposed to be a thought out processes?" while others are thinking "I'm a home owner, of course I have". 

Well, last week we were thrown in head first. 

Let me give you a back story. 

Here is our living room wall the day we moved in. 

Not very pretty nor very useful. The bottom cubby in the wall is where the old owners used to have their TV. Who wants to stare at the floor and watch TV? Not I! 

So we had our awesome friend Mike come in and give this wall a makeover. 

In the end it looked like this. The main feature: A built in fish tank in the wall. All was well in our world. 

At least until last Wednesday. While talking on the phone I noticed the shelf that the fish tank was sitting on had changed, my first thought "Oh no the tank is falling"! After 2 years and solid construction by Mike that couldn't have been the issue so I needed a closer look. 

Yep..a leak. 

Turns out it was our own fault for not changing the filter sooner. Whoops. It was hard to tell when the filter was full because of the shelf on top. 

So everything had to be ripped out! 

Sad I know. 

I called Mike right away and he came back bringing the help of his dad, they are an amazing team! They created a custom built in and did exactly what I asked for every step of the way!

 Here she is primed. 

We decided to go with black to match the fireplace and I am so happy we did. 

Here is our living room set up now. 

At least we have no more worries of leaky tanks ruining walls! 

It was unexpected yes, but in the end I am so happy with the results.