@akamainegrower It's only one layer of drywall over some sort of thick multi-layered paper (approx 1/4 in thick), over some shiplap or tongue and groove wall. Not sure how electrical was done, but it's all behind that shiplap stuff. @sombreuil We had the house inspected for termites and it seems that we're in the clear. I'm thinking this is all old termite damage. The termite company just inspected the traps yesterday and we're a-ok. It's kind of funny and ironic, because when we first bought the house I had dreams of filling it with plank walls to go with the its country farm-housey charm. And now, I think that's what was there all along. Based on what we've been able to see in the attic, we also have this same tongue/groove on the ceiling. I still have to inspect for tightness/sealing a bit closer once I'm done tearing the rest of the drywall off. It's just lil ol' 85lb me working on it for now, so it's taking me some time. If we were to keep, we have some newer drywall-only walls in the living room that were a more recent addition, so we'd have to match those walls somehow to the existing tongue & groove. The plus side is our living room isn't too big. I'd paint over the planks like this. We were thinking white: And worse case scenario would be to put thinner drywall back up so we don't have the weird recessed window molding. Removing the paperboard will also help. I'll update again once I uncover more walls. :)

first.. remove dead leaves ... if they were in the ground.. i would suggest that is where early slugs are hiding ... second ... you should be able to tell from the weight of the bag... how much water is in there ... if you had a grow bag of dry media ... im just making up numbers.. maybe it would weigh one pound ... if you can barely lift a bag .. and it feels like ten pounds.. well ... you have 9 pounds of water in there... just a little more than a gallon.. if that old 7 pound thing is correct ... what you should do over the summer.. is water a bag ... mark the date.. and not water it again.. until you see the plant wilting a bit ... then see how many days to took to dry ... and then water accordingly ... i think you ought to cut way back.. until you figure out some facts to work with ... until the high heat of summer hits.. i cant really think they need water every day .. especially when they havent spread out their water losing leaves to the atmosphere ... and keep track of spring rain amounts... to use in your equation ... my bottom line.. as usual ... try not to kill them with too much love.. and watering every day in march.. might just be that ... ken

When I was a child growing up in a 100 year old house, my parents bred chocolate labs and golden retrievers. We had at least 4 80+ dogs in the house at all times, plus puppies and cats, plus 4 kids and our friends , and 3 adults. Hardwood throughout. My own 200 year old home has the original hardwood floors. There is a reason for this. Hardwood floors can take endless beatings and survive. Please don’t think hardwood can’t stand up to hard traffic. You would be doing yourself, your house, and future occupants of your house an incredible disservice if you cover good hardwood with a faddish synthetic.

I would put hardwood floors throughout the area but I am partial to hardwood and know it’s not budget friendly. You could use rugs to create distinct areas — one for dining and then one with the couch you float. Then choose a curtain to coordinate with rugs. Then pull a couch color from the rug (I believe in choosing your favorite color for a couch unless doing a white slipcover which actually has been my best couch with kids because BLEACH haha. Most couches today just don’t last forever anyways — get something you will love). Then choose an accent colors for toss pillows, get an end table and some lamps, and a chair in your accent color. Art. Then paint. And maybe think about painting the brick and wait until the other elements come together to see how you feel about it. I think you would feel a lot better about the space if it looks more put together. Then for your storage, you could get ikea sektion cabinets or something like that and even paint them to have more attractive storage and there are even hacks to make them look more built in. I’ve hacked several ikea things in my house (closets, playroom storage, a bookcase.. and I am not a DIY person at all LOL but custom storage is so expensive and if it’s not in areas where I entertain or my kids are just going to beat it up, no way am I doing anything custom) you could maybe even add “mudroom cabinets” because your garage door leads into the dining room correct? You could totally hack ikea pax into mudroom cabinets if on a tight budget/. You could maybe also add a pantry cabinet if you need extra storage (I don’t think I saw a pantry in your drawing and this is where getting the full floor detail is really helpful!!) if you can better think about what you need, you can probably get more advice about what to do with that area.