The Upstairs Hallway

In the beginning when we got the house, 

there was a wall 

separating the first and second floor apartments.

It surrounding the upstairs railing of the staircase.

We couldn't wait to open the area up.

The original wall color in the downstairs hallway was an off white,

while the upstairs hallway was a rather dark and dreary dark brown paneling.

We painted the downstairs hallway a light blue color.

You can check out that project here

I was not fond of the dark paneling. 

It sucked up all the available light.

And on the triangular wall above the stairs

was a lovely shade of baby poop mustard yellow.

So I decided to paint the paneling.

Painting paneling isn't really that difficult. 

The hardest part is the cutting in, as 

you need to paint down each of the grooves in the paneling.

And you want to make sure you use a good primer 

to help hide any staining, and give your paint a good base to adhere to.

Even with just the primer,

the hallway looked so much better and brighter.

I painted the upstairs hall the same color as the downstairs hall.

Right now I have to live with the ugly wire hanging by the stairs.

It was originally hidden by the wall that used to be at the stop of the stairs.

Once we replace the door with the new construction window,

the wires will be gone.

The curtains on the door and window were curtains my mom made for her dining room years ago.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the hallway.

You can see where I'm working on the floor.

I've only been able to get the section between the steps and the bathroom scraped.

I'm still working on the other area of the floor.

There's still lots of updates coming!

The Secret Project: The Upstairs Bathroom

The following photos are the before shots

of the upstairs bathroom.

This is our only working bathroom while the downstairs bathroom 

gets gutted and remodeled.

The bathroom is ugly.

It's ugly, and it seems like it isn't clean, 

though I assure you it is, 

and that means it's a huge embarrassment when people need to use it.

So I came up with the idea to paint the paneling.

I met resistance from Big E, but he eventually gave in.

He didn't agree with me, he just accepted I was doing it either way.

The bathroom has the exact same formica on the walls

that is on the kitchen counter and backsplash.

And one of the previous tenants used that plastic window film

to winterize the windows, 

but they left the sticky strip of double sided tape behind.

It actually came off pretty easy with some scraping with a putty knife

and a little Goo Gone.

The room looked better just removing that old yellowed tape.

Afterwards, I washed down the walls with just some warm soapy water-

just using a little Dawn dish soap, nothing chemical.

Then I had to use medium grit sand paper to knock the shine off the paneling, 

and then use a damp rag to wipe the dust off the walls.

You can't see in these photos, 

but the wall inside the shower is actually damaged from the water.

That's what happens when you put paneling inside a shower.

(you an see that the tile doesn't go all the way up the wall)

Then I used a kitchen and bath primer to prime all the walls.

It took 2 coats to get really good coverage.

The room really brightened up and looked 100 times better

just with the primer!

The primer also covered the areas of damaged paneling.

I'm not sure how it will hold up with the water from the shower,

but it's still better than it was.

Big E grudgingly admitted it was an improvement.

Now he wants to paint the ceiling too.

I picked a peachy color for the walls.

These photos don't really do the color justice 

because the lighting isn't the best.

It took 2 coats of paint to get the best coverage for the paint.

I washed the mini blinds off in the tub with some warm water

and a little soap which cleaned them up pretty good.

I also got a new shower curtain to match the new walls.

Big E isn't a fan of the shower curtain, 

he thinks it's too psychedelic.

 But he also didn't think painting the bathroom was a good idea either.

The last thing I wanted to point out was 

the watercolor painting hanging on the wall.

It was painted by my very talented cousin for our grandmother.

The bathroom color was chosen to match this painting.

I think I chose well.

The bathroom turned out awesome if I say so myself.

I was unsure of the color once it was up, 

but it is actually exactly what I was looking for.

It makes the bathroom feel bright, warm and cheery.

The cost break down is:

Gallon of Primer- $20

Gallon of Paint- $15

Shower Curtain- $15

Picture Frame- $15

For a total cost of $65.00

I didn't go with the expensive paint because this room will be demoed in the future, 

I just wanted a quick fix to make it less embarrassing. 

I think I totally accomplished the goal.

Irons in the Fire

This past weekend was pretty busy, 

and the week promises more of the same.

Big E is away for the week, 

so I've kicked my projects into high gear.

I figure this way he can't stop me from ripping something out

or painting something

won't have to worry about getting sucked into a job.

First up, we got us a 'coon trap.

So far, no raccoon, though he did eat the bait and trip the trap.

Current thought: he's a biggun and

I think we need a bigger boat, er, trap.

Or an elephant gun.

There is also a lot of stripping going on since Big E left.

Paint, I'm stripping paint.

I plan on stripping this old farm table and staining the top

and painting the legs.

It's going to be used under the windows in the dining room for photos and plants,

but also be available for more table space should I ever get anything finished enough

to have more than about 5 people over for dinner.

I'm also stripping the 100 years of paint off the transom window.

I really hate the design on the glass.

Big E really hates the design on the glass.

So, I'm going to measure the glass and start hunting up prices for stained glass.

I'm not even 100% sure this is the original glass.

And honestly, I'm not sure this is even the original transom shape.  

More on that when I get to the whole post about the stripping and painting of the transom window.

Also going on is the sanding, priming and painting of the hallway door, entryways and living room windows.

I will finally have that chore marked off the list.

So, when I get a moment to sit and breathe,

and maybe take some better photos,

I'll share more detailed info on what I've done,

and the products I've used,

and what works and what doesn't,

and what not to do.

 

Laundry Room

The laundry room had some serious carpet issues.

Not only was it an unattractive color,

but is didn't smell very good either.

And it was glued to the cement.

At one time, the laundry room was a porch.

They left the siding on the former exterior wall.

This turns out to be a good thing for us.

When we convert the upstairs apartment entrance door to a window, 

we can use the siding from the laundry room

to fill in on the exterior where the door was.

So, we got rid of the old fridge and began scraping 

up the carpet backing
(we seem to do this a lot).

And from what we can tell,

we'll be doing the same thing in the upstairs.

Anyway, we scraped the floor.

After removing all the carpet and padding, 

I scrubbed the floor to try to get rid of the odor.

Nothing seemed to work with that 100%.

My thought is that a dog peed in there on the carpet

and it soaked through to the porous cement.

The game plan is to seal the cement with a primer that locks in odors.

I primed the walls,

and chose a minty green color called Witch's Brew

for the room.

Yes, I chose it mostly for its name.

So, I planned on finishing up the trim paint
and priming the floor
before posting any kind of reveal.
Then Friday, Big E got home early.

 And he decided it was a good time to rip off the aluminum siding
from the former exterior wall.

 Underneath is old asphalt siding.
If it were in better shape,
 I would have painted it white and leave the brick-like effect,
but there are too many holes.

Big E also took out the bathroom window.
We're preparing for demoing the bathroom,
which is what prompted the whole window and siding removal.

So the laundry room is not finished,
and the big reveal will have to wait until we have
fixed the back wall and closed in the window
and put down the laminate flooring. 
So much to do!

Hallway Reveal

Somehow, I managed to miss posting about the hallway makeover.

Here we have the before photos.

The hallway wasn't really in bad shape,

it just needed some updating and color.

As you can see, 

we decided to go with blue.

I believe the color was Oatlands Pale Flowers

or maybe not, I don't remember

but it is one of the historical paint colors offered by Valspar.

And here is the finished product.

I haven't touched the stairs yet.

I'll need to chemically strip the paint off the steps and the hand rail

because of the lead paint that is sure to be lurking there.

We're also waiting to find someone who can replace the section of railing

that was cut off during the conversion to apartments.

Plus there is the discovery of the ornamental scroll work

that was once on the steps.  

I discovered it on the upstairs edge of the hall,

and I found evidence of it on the steps in the hallway.

I'm hoping to be able to replicate the pattern in paint.

I'm really happy with the color and

with the light that pours in front the front door.

Now to work on finishing the laundry room.

Kitchen Reveal

It's been a while since the kitchen walls were painted, 

and finally (thanks to being confined because of the snow)

I finished the trim and most of the touchups.

So, here's the kitchen process.

First photo is the kitchen as it was originally.

Note the "table" to the left- 

it was actually a cabinet with laminate counter top.

The fridge had apple stickers on it,

the floor had duct tape over areas that had been worn down.

 First we removed the built in "table".

Then we removed the vinyl flooring,

which revealed hardwood on most of the floor.

We attempted to removed the wallpaper paneling, 

but discovered the plaster walls were in very bad shape.

The decision was made to paint over the paneling.

Primer made a HUGE improvement.

Notice the cabinet by the doorway

(it's white on top, brown on bottom)

It's been the topic of much discussion on what to do with it.

Painted brown it was an eyesore, 

and I was thinking of taking off the top door to see if it made a difference.

 On the agenda is removing the retro lamp.

 We started cutting in.

And I want to say another THANK YOU! 

.to my family who helped.

 When my dad saw the color he wanted to know 

if we were opening a bordello.

(he's also not fond of the red front door)

Here is the finished product.

Turns out the white on the cabinet made a world of difference.

I'm using it as is for storing my small appliances.

The floor isn't done, of course.

There is some serious hope that I'll be able to remove the plywood,

and put down hardwood in the back part of the kitchen.

I don't want to lose the hardwood floors.

This spring, the cabinets will be updated.

I'll be adding some 1x2's to frame the doors and then paint them white.

But for now, they're fine.

Amazing what a few coats of paint can do.

(Note: red paint takes several coats before it's covered. 

 I should have tinted the primer red but didn't.  I think that would have made a difference. 

 I applied about 2 1/2 coats- after the 2nd coat I only had to spot treat the light areas)