The Kitchen

The kitchen just after Dustin bought the house

The dining room just after Dustin bought the house

Dustin painted over the blue color and the border and

changed out the lacy curtains

After Dustin painted

After Dustin painted and his new curtains

After we removed the popcorn texture from the ceiling

 

 The walls orignially had wallpaper in the kitchen which had been painted over

with the blue and then the yellow Dustin painted - so we had to remove the

paper and prep the walls to receive spray on texture to match the rest of the house

 

A suprise we found when we removed the wallpaper - 

plywood!  We put several coats of mud over it rather than

removing it and then doing new Sheetrock work

Once all the wallpaper was removed the walls were a little torn up, since the wallpaper ripped up much of the Sheetrock paper.  Since we had bubbling problems when we just applied mud to the paper in the living room we decided to see if we could avoid that problem.  Dustin bought some 3M spray adhesive which we sprayed over all the paper that was exposed.  As the spray cured it formed little balls with the lose paper.  So we waited about 10 minutes for it to dry some and then using a Sheetrock sander we went over the little balls which knocked them off.  This proved to be a genius idea, because when we then did the skim coat of mud over all the exposed paper we did NOT have a bubbling problem!

Once all the wallpaper was removed this is what it looked like- you can see

how the Sheetrock paper is torn up

In the kitchen we also had some corners we had to re-tape.  Between removing the wallpaper and maybe air getting behind the old tape, much of the tape in the corners no longer laid flat like it was supposed to.  We also had to add tape in the corner between the ceiling and the plywood soffit over the cabinets.

This photo documents a big moment.  At this point the walls and ceiling were

preped and primed - ready for texture.  This was Christmas day and the first

time I used the kitchen since we moved to Brownwood.  Because of Dustin's

work schedule we were not able to make our usual trip to see family over the

holidays, so we made our own mini feast of ham, potatoes, veggies and cookies.

(I kept the plastic on the cabinets to protect them when we did the spray texture.)

After the walls were textured the plastic came down

 

After the walls were textured the plastic came down

 

Then it was time to paint - we used the same color that we used in the 

livingroom and hallways

The paint is up

 

 Once the paint was up I used the Minwax to shine up the 

cabinets in the kitchen - this shows the difference (the left

is before and the right side is with the Minwax)

We installed all new light fixtures in the kitchen and

dinning room

Another angle...

 You might notice that we did decide to leave the paneling in the kitchen there were two reasons for that.  One was that removing the paneling as we found with the entry hall and the living room left ALOT of sheetrock work behind.  The other reason was it does act as a wall protector for chairs banging against the wall which is bound to happen when we get a real dinning room table that seats more than two.  However since the paneling is really dark and our goal has been to lighten up the house since it has so many dark finishes I decided to paint the paneling white to match the base boards throughout the house.  First I primed the wall with Kilz and then I just painted over it - it only took one coat of Kilz and two coats of paint.

I then made some new curtains for the kitchen.  This was my cheap attempt to

make roman shades on a budget - for less than $20 I made the curtains for

the bay window and the curtain by the sink window

This shows the other new light fixtures in the kitchen

It feels good to have a fully functioning kitchen.  However the kitchen is not yet completely done.  I have some laminate that looks like granite that we will use for new counter tops.  When we do the counter top this will probably also mean a new sink and new faucet.  We will also be removing the laminate from the wall between the cabinets and current counter top and replacing it with tile (at least that is the plan right now). 

Bathroom - The Main Bathroom

The bathroom...  This was a relatively simple room.  There might be more in the works once everything else is complete with the house, but for now the bathroom is considered done. When we started we had popcorn ceiling, a vent that hardly worked but sounded like a jet plane taking off, a vanity cabinet painted light blue (kind of odd if you ask me), and a cool mirror but one that lost much of the reflectivity around the edges.

The vanity and mirror before we started work

 So the main tasks included scrapping down the popcorn, shooting up new texture on the ceiling, painting the walls, painting the trim and the vanity cabinets, replace the mirror, and replace the vent.  The vent was quite the ordeal to install.  It required Dustin climbing into the attic and discovering a 6" vent pipe of some kind that ran directly over the bathroom vent leaving no space to remove the bathroom vent.  So Dustin took a saws-all to the 6" pipe and discovered water!  No flowing water, but water that was collected in the pipe.  It was at that point we discovered it was a vent for the sewage - no more needs to be said there.  Thankfully, with lots of towels and several buckets we were able to get the water under control without any permanent damage to all our work.  And then Dustin was able to install the new fan and light combo.

The bathroom vent and light combo after successfully being installed

The mirror is temorary for now till I find s frame for the

mirror and can then hang it up.  Once all other projects

are complete I do hope to install a new counter top and

sink - possibly a new cabinet if we can find a deal on one

This was another cool thing, the paint I ended up chosing

(another can of $10 clearance paint) matched my beach

photo perfectly

Bedrooms - Part I

So for the bedrooms - probably the rooms with the least amount of to-do work, but not without their share of challenges.  The primary tasks included: scrapping down the popcorn texture, re-texture the ceiling, patching stress cracks on the walls around the windows, re-paint the walls and trim, and install new ceiling fans.

Master bedroom before we touched it
 

Bedtoom 2: Somehow we didn't get any before photos of
this room, but if you can imagine the same dark blue on the
walls was also painted on the heavy popcorn texture - with
glow stars
 

 

Ceiling texture down (master bedroom on the left and bedroom 1 on the right)

 

ceiling primed with Kilz (bedroom 2 on the left and bedroom1 on the right)

Once the ceiling was primed it was time to texture.  All you need is a large air compressor, Sheetrock mud, a hose and what they call a "hopper" attached to the spray gun.

Dustin and myself in action with the spray gun - he was the hero on the job.  Turns out he has the better
arm strength and the height advantage - my arms gave out after about 5 minutes!

When finished spraying up the texture we waited for the mud to become partially dry and then we drug a large "knock-down" trowel across the ceiling.  Dustin found the best technique was to hardly apply any pressure and be sure to keep the angle between the blade and the ceiling as small as possible.

 

Here are the results of the knock down ceiling texture

 

Bedrooms all textured (bedroom 1 on the left and bedroom 2 on the right)

Master bedroom

Once the ceiling was done we tackled the walls - primarily around the windows - probably stress cracks from the house settling.

 

Master Bedroom: filled in cracks around the window

Bedroom 2: The patched cracks around the window - we filled them in with mud, sanded them down and    

then with an aerosol can of spray texture we sprayed over it to match the wall - note the new wall color,   

bringing the down the blue room one wall at a time

When the cracks were filled in and textured over and the walls were painted we decided to take the plunge and buy crown moulding for the bedrooms.  This is not a cheap undertaking, but we decided since the tape along the edges were not perfect this was a way to cover it up.  As we discovered cutting crown moulding is not a simple as it may seem, the angles can really boggle your mind between the blade angle and the blade tilt.  So to keep it short we were pulling out our hair and second guessing our decision with the crown moulding.

 

All the many scraps cut to try to figure out how the trim needed to be oriented

for the corners to be mitered 

However we pushed through the challenge.  We had to make a trip back to Home Depot to return the lengths we bought since we widdled them down to lengths that were too short for the lengths of the walls; but thankfully it was no big deal to return them and purchase lengths that would fit and allow for some error.  We did bedrooms 1 and 2 with much stress, but by the time we got to the master bedroom we confidently took the measurements made the cuts and put up the trim all in one fluid motion.  Dustin was VERY excited.

Ready to install the crown moulding in the master bedroom

Dustin did most of the installation, but this is the only proof of installation

that exists...  so who is to say I didn't do it all

Once the moulding was up, we put up the ceiling fans for the final touch.

 

Bedroom 1 on the left (formerly painted yellow) and bedroom 2 on the right

(formerly painted blue - ceiling and all)

Master Bedroom (formerly painted

white)

No furniture photos yet, as we need to tackle the master bathroom before we can get everything officially situated.  But those photos will come as progress continues.

Tearing into the Entry Hall

 The front hall was a long narrow hall with not much light entering it and dark paneling, dark paint, and heavy popcorn texture on the ceiling. 

 

 Looking into the front entry hall

The front door faces the east, thus receives much sun and so the solid wood door had been cooked in the sun - all the finish was worn off.

 

 The front door

 

  

 Another view of the front door

So to start the hall we removed the popcorn ceiling (the same process we used for the living room).  Next we had to remove the layers of wall paper.  Yes it was layers - three to be exact, and yes it had been painted over (the green color seen in the photo).  The bottom layer was silver (silver like aluminum foil) with splatters of green, pink, yellow, and orange - straight from the 70's more than likely.  To remove it we used a wall paper score tool (a round puck with rotating blades) along with a wall paper removal concentrate - when mixed with water it definitely helped to loosen the paper.  But unfortunately the paper came off in small pieces rather than large strips - which would have been ideal.

Dustin using the scoring tool to let the water soak through

to loosen the paper

 

Once the wallpaper was removed - looking towards the front door

 

 

 entry hall looking towards the living room

Next we decided to remove the paneling to help brighten the long hall.

 Hall after the paneling was removed, the remaining glue was

removed, and several skim coats were applied over the

exposed paper

Once the walls were mudded and sanded down we applied Kilz to the walls in preparation for texturing.  Dustin and I decided at this point to open up the game room to the entry hall - this would be two fold: it would let more light into the hall and it would open up the game room to the rest of the house, an entry point besides through the laundry room. First we located the studs.  Then we marked off where we needed to cut; taking into consideration how we would need to frame out the opening since we would need to add a header, since the wall we were cutting through was a load bearing wall.  Dustin used a saws-all to cut through the wall.  Once the opening was made we removed the middle stud to create a 48" opening.  Dustin then added 2 2x6's for the header above, secured them with nails, and supported the load with a 2x4 on either side of the opening (attaching it to the existing studs).

A fresh cut opening

 Added Sheetrock over the studs and nailed up metal corners

for added durability on the corners

Once the mud was applied over the metal corners and the

screws and floated to blend with the rest of the wall I put

a layer of Kilz over it

This completed the preparation, next came the texturing (which Dustin's friend did the same time he textured the living room).  Once the texturing (orange peel on the walls and knock down on the ceiling) was complete we rolled on the paint (waves of grain - the same color we used in the living room).

 Fresh paint...

 Then I painted to doors to match all the other interior doors

in the house and added a new light fixture (this one with

two bulbs to add more light)

Once the hall was in tact I tackled the sprucing up the front door.  We will probably still try to replace the front door with one that has a window to let more light in the space, but in the mean time the door needed some attention.  I learned that a product that comes in a little quart size can - Minwax - both stains and shines all in one application.  Sells for around $8 a can.  

Half way through (the can is on the ground next to the door)

WEAR GLOVES - this is a must when applying the stain (so not to stain your

skin - if it gets on your skin it takes lots of soap, lots of scrubbing, to remove)

 Finished door

The house was also missing the house number so I found some new numbers

at a Habitat Re-Store for $0.25 a number (another steel of a deal)