We hadn’t initially planned to do anything with the living room, but about midway through the project we decided to open up the space by replacing the door/wall next to the stairs. With some professional help we also removed and replaced the old asbestos-lined HVAC duct.
Opening up the wall; the old duct was in the discoloured space. Fun fact: these studs are what ended up in my workbench and garbage hut.
The wall completely stripped of lathe and plaster, and the new duct installed.
We built a temporary support wall next to the original while we removed and replaced it.
The replacement, a pair of 2x12s forming a beam supported by pairs of 2x6s as columns.
The view after removing the temporary wall.
Post drywall+sanding+painting. I wanted to leave that gap between the column and duct to make some shelves.
With the final coat of paint, and new vinyl flooring.
With the shelves (still have to stain them). Also look how tall the monstera on the left is compared to the photo above!
