Side Tracked

One thing about doing a major project is that you don't get much instant gratification.  NOTHING is finished and while the to do list gets an item or two knocked off, it seems to continue to grow.

This weekend we took the weekend off and worked on another project.

A few weeks ago, I rescued a table from the trash man.  (Well Troy did the actual rescue).  I really only wanted the base.

When Troy bought the mahogony slab for the mantle, he picked up a piece of walnut for me.  I didn't really know what to do with it at the time but once I got this base, I thought it would make a nice bistro table for the patio.  We don't have anywhere to sit and eat or drink a cup or coffee or do some laptopping.

We started by ripping the board into planks to get as many peices as we could - there were knot and the it was rough sawn. 

Some glue and screws and we had a tabletop!

Next was planing and sanding trying to get it flat and smooth. Easier said than done with just hand tools!

 

 

I painted the base to match the ceiling and the accent color on the storage dresser.

Next came two coats of poly.

My new table - complete with a hole for my laptop cord!! 

My table's new home.  Now I have to move the bench into the garage - it will be my new toolbox and then there will be room for the two brown chairs I picked up at a garage sale for two dollars.  Next time I am at the fabric store, I'll be looking for a remnant to make cushions for the chairs. 

Hitting a wall

The past two weekends have been a study in frustration.  I hit it in every reno but this time it involved my favorite part of the job - painting

Last weekend was priming weekend.  Priming is BORING!!  All you end up with is white walls and a bad paint job at that.  No pictures - that is how boring it is!

On Sunday the FIOS guy was here and after grocery shopping Troy sent me to Home Depot.  The trip had two purposes...

Remember how I said I was going to paint the bathroom.  Well I decided to keep it the same color.  Problem was, I neglected to write down the paint color when I painted it nearly 4 years ago.  We had a sample - from some peeling paint so I took it to Lowes to try and match it.  The guy at the store was great.  The first attempt was too dark so we tried again. 

I came home and figured I could just do a touch up job on the new drywall areas - no such luck.  The new color was slightly lighter and I ended up painting the whole bathroom again!  Note to self - start a spreadsheet with all the paint colors!!

The second reason for the trip was to pick out a new light fixture.  The original got broken.  No great loss.  So now I have the bathroom back.  New light fixture and a few new pictures.

 

 

The pictures add some blue to the bathroom and I'll add more with the new valance and a new shower curtain.

The MAJOR frustration was painting the bedroom.  This is what I've been waiting for.  I could finally put on the Benjamin Moore paint I won.  I now have to confess that I didn't test the colors first.  I picked them from the cards. 

So I painted the ceiling.  The color was so nice and the Aura paint is great!

Then I painted the walls!  EEEEKKK.  The ceiling looked purple gray and the walls looked green/blue and not blue.  What I failed to take into account was two things - the lighting in the room and the effect of one color next to another.  By bedtime, I decided to repaint the ceiling the same color as the walls.

I wasted a whole morning because I took a shortcut.  THAT is a mistake I will never make again!  Funny thing is that Troy always jokes me because I will usually go through 8-10 samples before I settle on a paint color!

 

If you look carefully at the insides of the closet you will see the original ceiling color and see what I mean. 

Before we quit for the weekend, Troy installed the lights in the closets. And all the wiring and structured media set up is done so we are wired!   The ceiling fan is purchased and the sconces are ordered.  Floors are next. 

We may take next weekend off.  I have to work and the yard is starting to look like a jungle. 

they are here!!

This weekend was another weekend of mudding and sanding.  2nd coat of mud - more sanding - more dust and then the skim coat.  Not real exciting but exhausting - especially for Troy as I don't sand. 

On the to do list for this week is dusting - no  matter how hard you try the dust goes everywhere! 

The good news is the messiest part of the job is done and we can begin priming next weekend.

The bestest news is that the closet doors came in!

 

 

They are amazing!!! Just what I wanted.  Hey there is 10 feet of closet doors that take up a whole wall.  No more ugly brown hollow core cheap-ass doors!

 

 

Now if I could only find a bathroom door that matches.

 

 

With painting beginning soon - here are the color choices

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Moore Nimbus Gray for the bedroom ceiling and the bathroom

 

 

Benjamin Moore Van Courtland Blue for the Bedroom walls

 

 

White trim of course! 

 

 

 

Playing in the mud

After a grueling weekend of hanging drywall, this weekend's task seemed like a piece of cake (or mud pie!).  Taping and mudding was on the list this weekend.

First a little side trip.  Four years ago we did the bathroom.  It was our first project together and when our relationship first stated.  I had a better feel of how the bathroom was going to go than I did about our relationship at that stage of the game.  Well there was one piece of drywall that didn't sit so well with Troy.  It has been bugging him for years now soooo

now it is repaired.  Since we were drywalling anyway - why not fix it?  What this means of course is that the bathroom has to be repainted. (Diana - remember the evening phone calls to the decorator who was painting the bathroom while the guys were in Vermont?)  While I'm at it, why not a new shower curtain and new window treatments.  I think he was counting that to bring me on board!! - sneaky guy!

I was out at Calico Corner doing research for an assignment and drooling over the new Nate Berkus fabric line when I spotted this on the remnant pile

Instant love affair!  It has all the colors I want in the room but a mid-century modern feel to it.  There was only one yard but it would be enough for this

Source: cre8tivedesignsinc.com

Back on the main road.  The first round of taping and mudding is done!

 

 

I usually do all the screw holes while Troy does the corners and seams.  I tried a little seam work in the closet - where no one will ever see it! 

We celebrated with dinner at Panera.  Starting tomorrow I'll be eating drywall dust with my dinner as we - I should say Troy - begins sanding. 

The closet doors should be in next week and it won't be long before I can start painting! 

Dry Wall DONE!!!

We finished the drywall today!! Two days of back-breaking work.  Troy insists on fire-rated drywall on interior walls and that stuff is HEAVY!!

I usually share pictures when everything is all cleaned up and nice and neat.  Today you will see what drywall is REALLY like.  No holds barred.

This is what the process looks like.  There is drywall dust everywhere.  And scrap pieces and tools.  Yes that is a circular saw there.  If you remember how freaked out I was about cutting cement board inside while we did the kitchen, you probably wondered why that is in the house again.  I caved.  Some of the cuts were done with a circular saw.  Even worse than caving, it was my idea! 

One of the most challenging parts of the job was the front wall.  It has two doorways, two sconce boxes, three switches - one a bank of three, an outlet box and several more boxes for cable and sound.  Each of these boxes had to be measured and cut by hand. 

 

Measure twice,cut once is the #1 rule!!!

 

 

Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention.  We could not find the compass - it's in the garage - need I say more?  So to mark our circles we took the tape measure to the kitchen.

 

 



 

An oatmeal container is the same size as the sconce boxes!

 



 

Sadly we had to say goodbye to an old friend this weekend.  The old red level was so marred, you could not see the bubbles.  So we retired our old friend and hired a new kid.

 



So next comes taping, mudding and sanding - time consuming and messy work.  But then the fun stuff begins!!

Closet doors revealed

The closet doors have been ordered.  These are exactly what I wanted! 

If you recall we have a whole wall of closets

We had UGLY brown hollow core doors which looked like cheap garage doors!   Now my closet doors will blend in!

Now to find a door for the bathroom.  I'm looking for something similar.  That is proving tougher than I thought.

Dry wall begins

We began drywalling this weekend.  We didn't accomplish as much as we wanted. 

We got smart and rented a drywall lift from Home Depot.  For $36 for a day, it was well worth the money.  We only used it on the ceiling but you can also use it for walls. 

Another key tool is a decent keyhole saw.  My task was cutting the openings for outlets and other electrical boxes.  I learned to let the saw do the work!

Troy's gift to me - more useful than flowers!

And we could do without these - we both have one now!

We call them Charles and Di - aka the royal couple. 

Our progress was slowed by minor illness, other errands and a power outage on Saturday but we should be able to finish this weekend.  then we get to play in the mud and sand for a few weeks.