From House to Home: October 2011

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Always Stirred, Never Shaken

We're still painting. Well, I'm still painting, Jess's moved on to all things electrical.

Why do we seem to be perpetually painting? Two reasons:

Reason One: Overspray

We taped the ceilings 18" into each room, which is supposedly more than enough to virtually eliminate overspray marks on the ceiling:

First spray of color!

This didn't work like it was supposed to. Why? We're not sure, but are definitely suspicious of the rented paint sprayer...

I could go into all of the mechanics of spraying paint here, but I'll save everyone the confusion (and boredom?) and we'll just say the pressure wasn't working right.

And so, we arrived at our house Tuesday morning, excited to tear down the paper and fully witness our handywork. Five seconds into pulling down the paper, and we realized it was going to be a looonnggg day (I seriously am in love with this paint color!):

So yesterday, I re-painted the entire ceiling. And, because my beloved Halcyon Green was so dark, I had to second coat the whole living room/kitchen/dining room ceiling this morning.. Talk about a neck ache!

Reason Two:

Roller lines in the Halcyon Green.

Again, thank you rented sprayer! Another pressure-adjustment problem. So today I applied another coat via roller.

Hopefully tomorrow all we have to do is second coat the Foggy Day in the guest bedroom and do a few minor touch-ups on the walls!

Protect those lungs! Can you see the paint fumes behind us? (Blotchy spots)

Yesterday we purched light fixtures for the living, bed, and bathrooms, and today Jess spent most of his time installing electrical outlet receptacles and face plates, and started wiring up some of the light fixtures! Our tile guy also returned from his trip to OH-IO! and started tiling the master shower!

Here are some more pictures from probably the lowest point of the remodel - post demolition, pre construction (aka - holes everywhere)!

Recessed box for a tv in the master

I finally had to cut through the tire swing...

Guest Bath & new tub!

We had to replace the insulation under the two picture windows as they'd leaked and ruined the old pieces. I seriously hope I NEVER have to handle the awful stuff again!

Our occassional contractor, Jason, helped Jess hang drywall

Master shower, with the kitchen and dining room behind

Monday, October 10, 2011

We Have Color!

We completed (95% of) the painting today! The Halcyon Green on the kitchen/dining room/living room walls is uh-maazing! The Banana Cream in the bathrooms is a very pretty light yellow, which should look just right next to the slate blue tiles in there! The Accessible Beige is.... well, as exciting as beige can get... And the Sagey in our bedroom is... limey? Ugh. We still haven't removed the plastic/tape from the windows, so hopefully the more natural light will bring it back to a calm sage color. We still have to do one more coat of the Foggy Day on the accent wall in the guest bedroom. So far, it's a really nice color, but maybe a tad dark for the small room? We'll see. Overall, we're very happy with the color scheme and can't wait to continue with the rest of the finishes! Next up: Interior doors! We'll most likely go with these ones (stained to match the dark wood floors) from Lowes:

Here are a few pictures from my phone.. I have yet to find the cord for my point&shoot (construction zone-approved) camera:

The First Swing!

Look what we found.... In the kitchen cabinetry!! It was being used as the exterior of the lazy-susan!

My new extension cord!!

Jess drew the cut lines through the tire swing... I couldn't bring myself to do it quite yet...

I couldn't help myself!

New Windows! And a new door behind the paper...

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Perils of Painting with a Ponytail

I'd say it's about time for an update, eh? The house has been making steady progress towards the finish line. We've finally made it through the demolition stage and are beginning to put our house back together! To date, we have replaced all 10 windows, the two entry doors, installed gable vents, and have stripped the entire interior. We had to re-do quite a bit of electrical, and wired the house for television, internet, phone, and, in the main living area, speakers! We also had some of the plumbing updated, and replaced all of the ductwork beneath the house (fresh, clean air!) because the old ducts were full of pet hair, dander, and... kids toys? We have the master shower and guest bath/shower ready for their slate tiles, and have the entire house coated in primer. Of course, we reached the painting stage just as fall really decided to come to town. It's been damp, humid, and chilly for the last week. We started painting on Wednesday. On Wednesday night, with the whole house coated in primer from ceiling to sub-floor, we shut the door for the night with plans to return the next day and spray the ceilings. Thursday morning, we returned to an extremely humid house covered in still-wet primer... So we left the doors wide open all day, and, with the help of a space heater, managed to get the primer coat dry by Friday morning. We spent all day Friday painting the ceilings two coats of Brilliant White and, after giving them more than 24 hours to dry, we spent today taping them and putting some colors on the walls (yayyy!!). Tomorrow all we have left is the second coat in the master, and the Halcyon Green and Foggy Day accent walls! Then it's on to doors, floors, cabinets and trim!

Paint Colors!!