Home Improvement Whore-dom

[saffronhare]

Most of you saw the photos of the dining room (a link to which will not be posted here, since I can't seem to ever remember how to code one, despite being kindly and competently instructed at least a dozen times). That means we're nearly ready to move on to other rooms and projects.



In the dining room, there's a bit of touch-up needed to some of the glaze coat. I need to finish seaming and hanging the curtains on actual hooks (right now, the unfinished fabric is draped over the rod). And agrnmn and zylch will use their super-tool powers to put the doors and trim back on the corner cabinets. After that, we paint the doors and then seal all the brown paint and call the room mostly done for now.

Depending on how that works with the timing of zylch moving, we'll either move on to finishing the hallway/entryway or work in the girls' rooms before Princess Boredom moves upstairs again. First, we need to get some information about blowing in insulation up there. Then, there will be a frenzy of painting just about everything. The upstairs bathroom will get fresh paint and some nifty dolphin trim wallpaper, new plumbing fixtures and a new floor (love those peel & stick tiles!). The girls' rooms will get fresh paint and perhaps some new carpeting. None of this should be real expensive -- just requiring a few uninterrupted hours at a time to work on things (ha!) and about $30-$100 at a shot...

In the hallways/entryway, we need to paint trim and add the border in copper/blue. Then, we need to attack the ceiling and lighting (yes, we know we're doing that part backwards). Going to start browsing through some lighting stores on Date Night to get more ideas/options. Additionally, we'll be putting tile down on the floor in the entryway since the floorboards are disintegrating. Need to clear wallpaper off the walls in the front closet so it can be painted, too.

Once Princess Boredom is upstairs, we'll move our bed and the computer into the reclaimed "office" so we can get the Double-Layered Carpets of Nastiness out of our room. Yes, the floor will be icky, but at least it won't stink anymore. Perhaps during Poppy Camp, we'll be able to rent a floor sander and refinish the downstairs hardwood floors. Whee! A power tool bigger than me! That I can ride on!

In the living room, we've settled on a texturing technique that probably won't require us to strip the wallpaper after all. We'll see. We also need to figure out how to get better lighting and air circulation into that room. Hmm. Other than that, we just need new furniture in there....Ha.

Comments

[kittenpants.livejournal.com]

In the living room...

For some reason I assume when you say "texturing technique", you mean flat-on-flat, like the glazing in the living room? After seeing how easily marker was removed from the polyurethane-sealed wall the other day, I can't imagine doing anything else. That was some neat trick.

My parents would have loved that. I learned paint mixing and color theory in my Montessouri preschool. I learned about the ways surface texture affects pigment retention at home.

This could be an electrical nightmare, but... can you do wall sconces in the living room? That could just be me, though. I'm like a wall-sconce fetishist. I have yet to figure out where I can put them in my house.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

In the LR, the technique we were thinking was more of a knock-down plaster sort of thing...but you raise a good point about washability. Will have to give that some thought.

As for the lighting -- after nearly three years of sub-zero lighting, I want everything. Sconces, up-lights, overhead, pot lights...

::sigh::

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Two cheat techniques I offer you: you might try a color wash on the walls. Mix 1 quart of paint to 2-3 quarts of water. It's very runny. Then you just roll one coat on primed walls every which way, sort of willy-nilly. I did it in the basement in Kodiak with a golden apricot, and it looked just like stucco, swear to whatever god is in charge of the color spectrum this week. The color is translucent and appears textured. Very cool, very fast, very easy.

Wall sconces: you can get the look with the hangy-on votive candle kind. Get your "real" lighting from more conventional means (read no expensive electrician needed), but use the sconces for effect.

Just depends on the plan and purpose for what you're hoping to accomplish, but if cheating works, I'm all for it.