So, this weekend we had the second worst idea since we made the decision to buy the house (any idea what the first worst one was ;-) Remember the paneling in the laundry room? Here it was on Saturday:
Here it is now:
Notice that the plaster crumbled and exposed the brick
Alex wondering what the heck we're doing
Check out this massive gap between the top of the paneling and the ceiling
Yes, we decided to pull off the paneling (or Alok says that I decided, although he's the one who did the pulling). Let's just say there is a reason there was paneling on the wall. Oops. Too late now! The good news is that Alok says he'll turn the paneling in a bar. We may need that bar sooner rather than later.
While Alok worked on dismantling that room, I worked on scrapping the wallpaper in the apartment. Here it is when I started:
And when I finished:
What is weird here is that some of these walls are painted and some of them are wallpapered. Others are half painted/half wallpaper. It's hard to tell until you try to steam off the paint.
BTW, the ceiling in here is all wallpaper. We're debating just tearing it down and starting over or stripping the wallpaper off the ceiling and then repairing the ceiling. The issue with tearing it down is that plaster is fatter than drywall, so there will then be a gap between the new ceiling/old walls. Nothing a little molding can't fix. Right? Hmmm.....
My mom did some yard work and continued to tear down some of the weeds. My dad worked on wheelbarrowing the yard waste to the curb.
Area in the middle of the yard
Our koi pond that we are getting rid of. Notice that stone in the foreground?
This says Prince 1932-1941..... the gravestone for the Brown's dog. Pet Cemetery anyone?
Mom work working on this area and Alex supervising
More flagstone was found after getting rid of some of the weeds in the middle
More flagstone
Random tie-dyed thing in the yard that was discovered by a visitor.
We also picked up the massive stained glass window from the antique store. Phases 1-3 were successful (1- getting it out of the store to the van; 2- getting it to the actual house; 3- getting it upstairs), let's hope phases 4-? are just as smooth (i.e., hanging it in the window, sealing it, not breaking it, etc). Here is the window again:
It's now now laying down. It was standing up, which caused the blue area around the bottom to buckle
And here is where it will go:
We're waiting until this whole wall/landing/area is finished before putting in our very fragile window.
Alok and I also measured the bathrooms so that we can decide how we want to arrange them. Like our sketch:
2 bathroom blueprints... one is on the back. So professional!
That was about it for the weekend!
Jessica
We had cracked and badly textured ceilings at our old place, so Josh and I had a guy come in and hang drywall over them. The guy just cut and screwed in the drywall, and Josh did the finish work with the seams. We did it over the winter, when business was slow, so he gave us a good deal. Maybe you could do something like that for your apartment ceiling. Scraping wallpaper off it sounds like a nightmare!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are amazing! I just discovered your blog when looking up the home tours for this month on Quincy Preserves. I always love to see an old home being restored, I wish my husband would agree to tackle such a thing!! I wanted to write to you because we actually 'won' a gift certificate for a night at Kaufman House. We stayed there probably 6 years ago. We stayed in the room that is facing south (front of the house). Thankfully, there was no mold. It was cold, maybe spring - they showed us how to use the radiators - we still didn't get it figured out. It was fun, but different, we'd never stayed in a BB before and thought we were having a romantic evening...not so much. :-) I remember saying to my husband then - this needs a lot of work! The Kaufman's were fun to visit with and we had a great breakfast in the morning.
ReplyDeleteAnd, we know Nick and Dianne!! I am not surprise that Nick had good advice and helped Alok move the radiators - he's a great guy!
I will keep watching your progress. Your house is a beautiful home, warts and all. I am sure when you are finished it will be AMAZING. You guys have great energy and a great sense of humor!! Best wishes!!
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! I'm glad to hear you like it and we'll be happy when we have at least something completed to show off :-)
Emily,
I think that's a good idea for the apartment, especially since we don't have molding or anything around the top to match it to. Is there anyone you would suggest?
We used a guy named Kim Spangler. He did it in January about 5 years ago. I remember that he gave us a very good deal (though I can't remember the cost exactly). Maybe he's in the telephone book?
ReplyDeleteHey, maybe when our dog Prince passes on, we can bury him in your yard, and add some new dates to the stone! Just a thought. Do like the idea of a knotty pine bar somewhere in your house. Maybe in the front room that I like to call "the Stage."
ReplyDelete