Can we please finish one project before moving to the next?

No good news on the front of our guest bathroom. It is still a disaster area. We have managed to get the lights installed, the glue scrubbed off the walls and there is drywall over the holes in the wall but we still have to patch the drywall and fill in small holes and cracks in the walls before I can begin painting. I guess I do see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The new project right now is the installation of lighting in the guest room (there was none when we moved in). The problem is that there is no attic space above this room, just a flat roof and it is a very difficult task for my husband to run the wires through the ceiling and down the wall to under the house. He worked on this room all weekend but only got as far as ripping down some crown molding and putting a hole in the celing. I have to remind myself that the messes are all worth it.

A little update

Its finally in (and its awesome)!!!!!

Today I felt like actually accomplishing something and getting a room finished so I focused on the office. Its the only room in the house I do not want to paint for a while so I hung things on the walls and unpacked everything I could find that goes in the office. Here are a few pictures.

This is going to be my craft area once I buy a table this weekend.

Progress....kinda

So it has been a little over a week since we started this mess we call home rennovation and from the outside looking in, it doesnt look like we have done anything but create huge messes all over the house.

Bathroom update:

We are still working on the bathroom of course because no project is ever an easy one. I only have one more wall to finish scrubbing the glue off of so that is promising. However, now we have a huge hole in the wall where my husband ripped out the bad repair job. We were unable to buy drywall last week to repair it because it rained most of the week and we all know that wet drywall is just a huge mess. Now we have the drywall but other projects have taken precedence this weekend. I am bound and determined to at least have The bathroom ready to paint by next weekend. That means all the drywall repaired, the rewiring for the lights and the primer put on the drywall. This is of course a very optimistic goal. Below is a picture of the hole in the wall.

Project 2: Dishwasher

The old 1960's era dishwasher that was in the kitchen when we moved in went out. It had standing water in the bottom of it that would not drain and it smelled BAD. We went to our local Lowe's last Monday who happened to be having a great sale on dishwashers! So we bought one thinking that we would have nice clean dishes that night. WRONG! After removing the old dinosaur we discovered all sorts of great suprises. First, there was no shut off valve to the old dishwasher, second, the subfloor was rotten, third, the pipes and fittings were so ancient they dont even make adapters for them anymore! Also, this project brought about several other little projects like making my faucet not leak anymore and patching a hole in the floor where there used to be an ice machine drain. This "easy" project has taken up my husbands time for the whole week, caused us to not have hot water in the kitchen for several days, and caused me to have to do dishes in the laundry room all week.

Needless to say, I'm not liking the house much right now. The status on this project right now is that we have running water in the kitchen, the pipes for the dishwasher have been stripped out, and a shut off valve has been installed. All of this was accomplished after a lot of cussing and many trips to Lowe's on my husbands part. As I type this right now, he is outside salvaging wood off the handicap ramp (yes I said handicap ramp)for the flooring for the new dishwasher.

Here is a picture of the dinosaur. Notice the push buttons on it. This thing was ancient. Now its at the city dump. RIP old man.

This is the hole that's in my kitchen now. Notice the ultra expensive hole filler that's there right now (Dos Equis bottle).

And finally, my new lonely dishwasher sitting by itself in the breakfast nook all bundled up in plastic (*tear).

Project 3: Handicapped ramp

This runs along the back of the house off one of the back doors. The husband wanted to salvage some of the wood to make some saw horses with so that he could cut wood for the subflooring for the dishwasher. Now the ramp has no railing which means its that much closer to being GONE. I might take out some agression on the rest of it this week and knock this off the list of things to finish!

Its all ours and its a hell of a lot of work!

After a couple of months of waiting, every inch of this house is finally ours!!! We closed on the house Thursday afternoon.

Needless to say, as soon as we got home, I created a mess in our guest bathroom.  This is the pattern of wallpaper that this room was covered in. Isnt it lovely. I mean, who the hell chooses black wallpaper in a tiny ass bathroom. It even had matching roman blinds on the window so not one stitch of light got into the room.

 I did not get a before pic because I didnt get my camera until after I started. This is what I had to deal with Friday morning.

All of the paper is stripped because it came right off the wall. However, the wall is now coverd in brown streaks where the glue residue is. I went to the trusty internet to see about how to remove this glue. That was my first mistake. I tried fabric softner and hot water, vinegar and hot water, and Dawn and hot water. All these products did was make my bathroom smell like fabric softner and vinegar and get the walls wet. I set off for Wal Mart in desperation determined to find something to srub this crap off. I ended up buying something called DIF gel spray and some fine grit sandpaper sponges. THIS WORKS!! Its a ton of elbow grease but there's some white on my walls. This is going to be a painfully slow process.

Underneath the wallpaper and behind the mirror, I found some nice work for my husband to do:

The first picture is where the former resident decided to just cover an old outlet hole with the mirror rather than patch the drywall. And the second pic is where they replaced the drywall after a leak in the shower but they did a TERRIBLE job of it. The brown on the wall is the glue I'm scrubbing off. Note the white spot in the corner and the white wall next to it!! That's what my elbow grease is getting me!!!!!

The closing date is near!!!

Its now official! Our closing date is set for October 8 at 4:00pm. I could not be more excited about finally getting this finished. I've been climbing the walls for weeks wanting to rip down the hideous wallpaper in this house and now the final countdown is here. Four days!!

We purchased our first official piece of furniture for the house last weekend. Of all things, its a patio set but I must say that I'm in LOVE with it. We got a really good deal at the local Sears that is going out of business and could not pass up the 50%! I have used the patio set every day this week, I've eaten every meal outside, drank every glass of wine outside and read out there every afternoon. If its possible to be in love with a patio set, I guess you could say I am. Being outside is one of those simple pleasures in life that I enjoy. If the weather would cooperate, I would live outside. Here's some pictures of said patio set since its cold and rainy today and I wont be able to go out and enjoy the yard.

My new table

I can hear the gasps over the internet as I type this. Yes I FINALLY finished this table that I have been working on for two weeks. Go me!!

You already know the gory details of how I refinished it and how it only cost me 26 bucks so here's the pics. And those fabulous flowers on the table were a suprise from my husband earlier this week (he's awesome). Again, I apologize for picture quality. I'm still using my camera phone until we close on this house, which by the way has been pushed back to Oct 2 because the appraisers have been slow.

My next project is this headboard that I found in my grandparents barn years ago. Previously painted red, I am going to change it to a weathered turquoise for the guest bedroom that will soon be dark brown and turquoise.

Table and Chairs work in progress

I started this project on Tuesday thinking I would be finished by Friday. WRONG. The threat of rain every day has made me bring the project into the house and cease work on it after every little step. Right now, there are rain clouds outside with no actual rain falling but I know as soon as I put another coat of paint on these, it will start to pour. No thanks, I'll patiently wait.

I am however almost done with the chairs. Here is a before picture of what my chairs looked like before I started.

Yes, they were very patriotic looking. My first apartment in college was Texas themed and these matched my Texas flag and star decorations perfectly. However, I'm all grown up now and need a table and chairs to reflect that.



Step 1 of the transformation: Apply a coat of Kilz

 

Step 2: Apply two coats of Vanilla Steam Paint (by Valspar)

Step 3: Remove old blue fabric from seat and staple tan fabric in its place

Two chairs are finished and the other two need another coat of paint. I also need to paint the table legs. I should be done with this project Monday assuming I get a day of sunshine.

Total cost of refinishing:

Kilz:                $  6.50
Quart of Paint: $  7.50
Fabric:             $12.00
Total:               $26.00

This is a lot cheaper than a new table and chairs. Pictures of the final result will be posted as soon as I finish!

Patiently waiting to close on the house

The closing date is set right now for September 18. Let's keep our fingers crossed! I could not be more ready to get my hands on this house and tear it apart. From the avocado green, pheasant covered wallpaper in the kitchen, to the open hole in the living room floor, this house is just waiting to be updated. 

Frankly, I'm a little overwhelmed at what needs to be done to this house once the closing documents are signed. We have never owned a home before and have never had the "luxury" of painting or renovating anything. My husband has informed me that painting will be my job (gee, I feel so honored). Recently, I picked up some paint cards from my local Lowe's and I'm looking forward to getting samples to set up throughout the house. 

My plan of action is to tackle one room at a time. The first room I'm going to tackle will be the guest bathroom with seizure-inducing black, flowery wallpaper (first picture below) followed by the aforementioned kitchen (second picture below). 

Until I can get my hands on the house, I'm working on our furniture which is a hodgepodge of junk we accumulated in college. A mixture of hand me downs, yard sale finds and dumpster treasures, needless to say our furniture is not the best but I'm going to make it work for now. 

Last week my project was a dresser my husband acquired from a yard sale for $2. A little bit of red paint, some crackle paint, and a top coat of white and the dresser is as good as new and ready to match the future red walls in the bedroom. This week I am going to tackle the table and chairs for the breakfast area. This table set was previously painted red, white and blue with stars on the chairs and table top (My mother spent many painstaking hours painting this for my first apartment in college eight years ago but its had a lot of wear and does not match anything). I plan on painting this set a color called Vanilla Steam (off white) and covering the table top with a chocolate colored table cloth. These colors should be a great match for the future Sage green walls and tan cabinets in the kitchen.

Right now the only camera I have is my cell phone but I will try to post the best pictures I can until I have a camera.