THE BACKSTORY
The story of our journey really began in 2003 when we bought this house and began the first remodel. Here is peek at the family room we saw when we moved in.

FIRST HOME
Within the first few months of ownership, I got horribly sick while pregnant with our second and was in ICU for a couple of weeks. I nearly didn't make it. The bills that accrued threw a wrench in our plans and budget for sure. But that didn't stop us and I was so thankful to even be alive. With a newborn and toddler in tow, we began by updating windows, doors, and roof. Then we began the interior. We did what we could, and began to try to sell our home while pregnant with our third. I had no idea the selling roller coaster ride we were in for.NEXT STEPS
Let me tell you that when you are seeking God's leading, there is no point in banging on the closed door in front of you, but rather waiting for His lead. We had over 75 showings with several near misses all in one summer. We were EXHAUSTED and couldn't figure out why it wasn't selling. It was then we chose to pull the house off the market and try again next spring. That ended in more stress and chaos too. We finally agreed we are done trying until God opens the door. Well...here we are 15 years later and redoing our home a second time. I have learned in all this time to cherish what I have, make it my own, and make the best lemonade ever of my lemons. Is city living for me? NO. But God obviously has me here for a reason and I'm daily trying to stay in His will. After the passing of our two children, I needed a sort of reset and to make my house my home. No more fixing it up to sell for others to like. It was then I decided it was time to paint all the wood paneling in our dining room and family room, as well as update our kitchen for the third time.NEVER DONE
What a chore it was to remove the drop-ceiling and put up paintable pressed tin wallpaper over the existing tile. It felt good to see it the old ceiling come down and helped me work through my grief. All was good until 2 weeks later we had a heavy snow, it melted and refroze which caused an ice dam to back up under our roof and cause the nemesis gape. See it sagging here along the back window?
WHAT NEXT?
That next winter, last winter, we had leaks. A perfectly good roof that never had leaks, now leaked. To top it off, the roofer wouldn't do anything about it. I was sitting Christmas Eve by our tree all lit up and happy and I felt a drip on my shoulder. No way... Turns out he didn't even flash the skylight. His lack of roofing 101 skills led to us having buckets placed in our room for the entire winter. We couldn't fix anything until spring and I was a fired up angry mama. Mind you, we were still working so hard on our kitchen during this time as well. All the time, I'm praising God we have a house to work on that is warm and full of those I love.PRESENT DAY
Fast forward to present day...JC is finishing up the kitchen and there's little I can do to help it get done faster. He gets one day a week to put into it and sometimes that one day is needed to repair vehicles or do other "normal people" work. In Ohio, you begin preparing for winter the moment summer starts, so I knew we have little time to get our family room done before the cold hits. Why before the cold? Well, our room used to be a garage that was turned into a living space. It has a poured concrete floor that had one MASSIVE oak tree on the one side and a twin trunk MASSIVE oak tree on the other. We had the trees removed years ago, but their damage had already been done. The floor had cracks when we moved in and we knew it. Our furniture never sits level and the immensity of our problem was not affordable until now. So, with JC's approval, I told him I would start the family room while he finished the kitchen. And our fun begins...THE BEGINNING
Here's a quick tour of what it looked like prior to my current start of my DIY coffered ceiling. (never mind the mess - I'm being real with y'all) You've seen the view of the ceiling in the one area, here's what it looks like from the steps.
UGH...CARPET
The disgusting Berber carpet has had a death sentence since we moved in, but we never knew what to do with the floor, so it stayed. ugh. I mean, who puts carpet up to a fireplace?! It wasn't until the other day I dropped a quart of paint on it and that sealed the deal for me to get this demo started.

MORE DETAILS



DEMO
The day I was able to finally yank down, not only the wall paper, but the tile underneath I was screaming my excitement! (yes, my neighbors love me) No need to pay for therapy, just demo your home! yeah baby!!
WHEW!
Thankfully, I found a perfect grid in great shape and ready to go for my new DIY coffered ceiling. For those of you that have been asking for the details...here ya go.
MY LOOT



*post lighting provided by eFaucets (see full disclosure)
Installing them wasn't an easy task by far and it was all me. I started by finding center and measuring out from there to find where my first course would start. I had to layer the shingles and interlock them as I went. That meant bending and prying and hammering them to fit as they originally did. All this work with my injured rotator cuff. However, I was on fire to see my DIY coffered ceiling done. My jigsaw came in handy to cut the hole out of the center shingle for my light fixture.
BUILDING
Once the center panel of shingles was up, I then began cutting beadboard panels to go around. Me and my little circular saw had oodles of fun.

FIRST COURSE
For my first course of wood, I began with my squares cut from 1" x 8" boards. They are set at each corner and in the middle of each section for a total of 8 squares. I attached them to my underlying grid with screws and my drill. Then, for each section between the squares, I measured and cut 1" x 6" lengths on my miter saw and attached them with screws. Just had to maker sure to land on my underlying grid.
SECOND COURSE
For the second course, I stared in the same manner with my 1" x 6" squares layered on top of the larger squares using my nailer. On top of the square stack I added a rosette (or bullseye) for interest. Once the stack of squares were in place, I measure the length from 1" x 6" square to the other 1" x 6" square. Then, I cut my 1" x 4" boards.

TIME FOR PAINT
Time for paint! To ensure no knot holes would bleed through, I first primed the boards with Kilz stain-blocking primer, and then topped off the entire ceiling with two coats of an eggshell paint in Dove White. Also, huge thanks to my oldest daughter who jumped in to help this mama with a stiff neck.[metaslider id=30251]
Here is my DIY coffered ceiling ready for my new light fixture. I'm so excited!!
LIGHTING
When I found the light that would match my rusty patina, I was like a kid in a candy store. Just look at the ceiling medallion! You can read the details on the fixture HERE.





ALMOST DONE
There's still much to do before the temps drop. We've been waiting for over 4 weeks for a concrete company to feel like telling us if our floor is salvageable or if we need to build a floating floor. (I'm not happy in the least about that and have called everyone in the area...grrr). So in the meantime we're working on what we can. Our back window awning had a leak, so we built a new one for that last week. See how badly it is rotten? It is an adventure to repair because of rain, but...we got it done and now have a cute cedar shake roof. yay!





DOG DAYS
Teddy isn't too happy though. He refuses to move as we took up the last bit of padding. No worries though...he has several beds throughout our home to keep cozy.

ONWARD
So, for those of you who would love to have the look you want, it's doable in most instances. Patience and hard work is key. There are so many ways to improvise and make do because there are so many fantastic DIY bloggers who give you free advice. If you have ANY questions about what I've shared, please send me an email. I'm happy to help! In the meantime, do pin and share my DIY coffered ceiling to inspire. You just know there are others who would love to learn how. (or even follow our crazy adventure) It's never dull here!

Also, more projects like my DIY coffered ceiling tutorial:

