Entrance and Powder Room Paint

When Erica's mom was down, we decided to paint the entrance and powder room.  The powder room used to glow with the green paint and the entrance was beige (do not like beige) and purple.  Patched the holes and sanded, then did a coat of primer and two coats of paint.  Much cleaner looking now and no more purple.

Old green powder room after patching some holes.

Old purple wall vs. new white primer

New color of powder room and foyer.

Got a new light but still on the search for new mirror.

Entrance Drywall Replacement

When we moved in, the small 4' wall in the entrance was a deep purple color that needed to go.  Before repairing the holes left by the shelf, I wanted to scrape down the holes a bit.  That's when the wallpaper underneath (that we weren't aware was there) began to peel.  Long story short, the entire sheet was ripped out and replaced with a new one.

Original entrance setup.

Fresh drywall.

Mudding in progress.

Bye Bye Brass Fireplace

Shortly after we moved in, we knew that the brass surround and trim on the fireplace had to go.  After a bit of Googling we determined that a bit of sanding and some Rustoleum flat black heat paint would easily fix our problem.

It is always daunting to paint something that wouldn't normally be painted but it turned out good and looks much better.

Picture of mantle from for sale ad.

Rustoleum High Heat paint

Starting on the insert.

Decided to paint in dining room; not sure why.

Finished product (got a good cleaning at some point after this picture :)).

Built A New Shed Door

Although the chipboard door on the shed was a thing of beauty (not so much), it was rotted all along the bottom and if the door was taken off the hinges, I am almost sure it would fold in half.  Built a new one out of some good-one-side 1/2 plywood leftover from shelving project.  Got the screw holes and seams wood filled but the weather was too cold to get it sealed and finished before winter.  I'm sure it will be fine for now and will get it sealed/stained/painted in the spring. 

Old shed door (placed it there for comparison picture).

New shed door, will see stain or paint in the spring.

Moving Day

In all the rush and chaos, we didn't take too many photos.  Perhaps because we were working on the Coors light 60 pack from Costco that Nick picked up the week before on his motorbike.  Picked up the moving truck at 8 am, got help from 4 friends, packed up, unloaded, and truck returned by 1 pm.  Thanks to everyone for the help.

The pictures below show just about how far everything got that day.  After lunch, we set up the Internet and the TV, watched the matinee hockey game followed shortly after by double header on CBC.  Productive indeed.

Bad cell picture but you get the idea.

Entrance is a bit cluttered.

Living room.

Stipple Needs to be Gone

One thing we noticed when we first looked at the house, was the overwhelming use of stipple ceiling throughout the entire house minus bathrooms and kitchen.  Even the basement and cathedral stairway ceiling received this royal treatment.

Stipple ceiling in the dining room.

Stipple up close.  Basically paint with sand blasting beads mixed in.

After watching a few videos and reading a few how-to's, we figured we could get the main floor done on the weekend after we received possession of the house before we moved everything in.  It would be easier with nothing in the way and the mess it would surely create, could be cleaned up much easier.

We started by wetting the ceiling down, letting it sit, and then taking 8" and 12" drywall knives to it to try and scrape it off.  After this, we would skim coat with drywall mud, let it dry, sand, repeat, paint.

3 more hours of scraping ensued,

After the 3 hours of scraping and 3 hours of not-so-great skim coating, we decided we needed to call a pro to finish up.  We knew that any rough drywall areas or uneven spots would be clearly visible on the ceiling and we didn't want that, especially in our living room.  After some practice, perhaps we would be able to do this ourselves, but with little-to-no drywalling experience, we would let someone else handle it this time.

After contractor sanded and skimmed.

What a mess.

All done after final sanding.

The night before we were moving into the house was a late one at the house.  Wiped down entire ceiling in living room and dining room, primed 1 coat, painted 2 coats, washed down floors and walls and cleaned up the rest of the main floor.

CIL ceiling paint - tinted pink but dries white so you can see where you have painted.

All done, 2 rooms out of 10!

Tour Of Our House - For Sale Ad Photos

Now, we did take pictures of the entire house (more or less) when we moved in but instead of showing a big mess, sparse decor, and general lack of organization, we'll just put use the pictures taken by the realtor used in the for sale ad.

Foyer

Foyer

Living Room

Living Room

Dining Room

Dining Room

Living Room

Living Room Doors

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

2nd Bedroom

3rd Bedroom

4th Bedroom

Main Bathroom

Basement Rec Room

Powder Room

Backyard