We decided to replace the ceilings that have sagging tiles, rather than fix them and wait for more of them to sag (3 rooms.) So all of that will be regular wallboard (that project is starting today) as well as the redo of the sun porch-to-be-utility room.) We have professionals working on this as I speak, so I'm hoping it will be done by week's end. In my bedroom, where there was mold on the ceiling tiles, my generous neighbor is donating (!) some "plastic bead board" strips that he has leftover and his time to help put them up. I love bead board and these will go up fast, as they are one foot wide and 12 feet long. Once they're up, they're done...no painting. That will really look nice and be a little more interesting to look at in my very light room with shiny white modern furniture.
Just in case you are not on my private FB chat list for this topic, we decided to go with new prefinished hardwood floors that will start at the front door and run straight through the dining room and bonus room. We are running this opposite of the way the current floor runs, so it will have a really long look and make the entry way more impressive, I think. I do not have a photo of the exact floor we bought, but it's called Walnut Oak. It really isn't dark, though; the darkest parts are about medium and it has a lot of much lighter variations, so the overall look will be medium-to-light. We are putting carpet in my bedroom and the sewing room floor will be painted white. That's a new adventure for me, so we'll see how it goes.
We decided to replace the ceilings that have sagging tiles, rather than fix them and wait for more of them to sag (3 rooms.) So all of that will be regular wallboard (that project is starting today) as well as the redo of the sun porch-to-be-utility room.) We have professionals working on this as I speak, so I'm hoping it will be done by week's end. In my bedroom, where there was mold on the ceiling tiles, my generous neighbor is donating (!) some "plastic bead board" strips that he has leftover and his time to help put them up. I love bead board and these will go up fast, as they are one foot wide and 12 feet long. Once they're up, they're done...no painting. That will really look nice and be a little more interesting to look at in my very light room with shiny white modern furniture.
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I have finished all the chair painting and totally completed two "barrel chairs." The other chairs still need cushions replaced with new fabric before I photo them, so maybe next week?? Anyway, these two chairs were found while dumpster diving. They were not literally IN the dumpster, but they were beside it. A local motel was replacing a bunch of their stuff and set a slew of furniture out by their dumpster for free picking. I took these two chairs and a desk I will show you a bit later on (it's in the process of being repainted, also.) The first two photos show the chair with only some sanding done and a test patch of paint that is primer and paint all in one. Love this stuff! If you don't need to block a stain on your wood, feel confident that Behr's Primer and Paint works fantastically well for this! This is semi-gloss, of course. The next photo shows a coat of paint on the wood and how I had to use tape to block off the fabric. I think it took longer to tape it than to paint it with one coat. This paint is a soft, pale grey. Hard to tell it's not white unless you put it next to a real white. Two coats gave total coverage. Final photos show the finished project. I painted the fabric (I had to tape off the wood this time.) This fabric was stiff and very textured, so the paint made it even stiffer and rather scratchy, but I sanded the finished paint (two coats) before putting on the wax coating that will help soften and protect it. I didn't get any sheen because the texture was so rough, but I still think the wax is necessary with "chalk paint," which is the type I used for the fabric. I'm not going to share all the details of the technique here because they are available dozens of places online. Nothing difficult here, but the taping was time consuming. The color on the cushions is Deco Art's Chalk Paint "Retro Vintage," which is a soft grey/blue/green. Very similar to Annie Sloan's "Duck Egg." I can't afford A.S. paint and there is no retailer for it locally. So, with that project finished, and only the fabric to staple on to four chair cushions, a desk I've almost finished painting and a bench seat that is also painted and needs to be reassembled....whew!.....I'm making great progress. I still have a lot to do here, and will soon have a ton of painting to do at the house. Busy, busy, busy. I have a coffee table to redo, a headboard and a huge table with ornate base. I try not to look at the whole list too often ;) It's overwhelming. One thing at a time and look at what I've already done!
We uncovered the hardwood floors last weekend and they are a mess. Here's a sampling for your viewing displeasure. So we have received an estimate to sand and refinish the floors (5 rooms) with a breakdown per room. We will be mulling it over for a few days and checking out some prices on carpet and/or pre-finished hardwoods, which Jim would install himself. The problem with refinishing is that we have no guarantees he can get all the stains sanded out, and we pay the fee no matter what, which means that even if the floor doesn't look as nice as we want it to, we've paid for it. Plus, we have to wait for it to cure before moving in. We might be able to get the hardwoods at about the same price (with Jim installing) and they would look wonderful and be done and read to move in. But that is a lot of work for hubby, who works hard all week already. We might find a deal on some carpet, as well, so we may do a combination of things. A lot to think about. My head is spinning!
At least I can update you on some of the furniture projects I've completed, though I still have plenty more to go. The first thing we did was my mother's bedroom furniture. Originally, these mid-century modern pieces were deeply stained mahogany and my mom kept them highly polished. Sometime in the 60's my dad "antiqued" them using a kit with paint and glaze. I was not impressed, but as they aged, they really got ugly. My daughter's dresser we stripped and just polyurethaned some years back. My son is using the small dresser and I doubt he's done anything with it. The pieces I still have are now sanded, primed and painted with a high gloss white, trying to take these into the realm of 1930's Hollywood glam.......close, anyway. I have a vanity, bench, mirror and nightstand. They are pictured here sanded and ready to paint. I hand painted the primer, but the high gloss enamel paint for the top coat was extremely thick and just too hard to use during the high heat weather we were having so we resorted to canned spray paint. I should say my husband resorted to it, because he is SO much better with a spray can than I am! He did a great job! Sorry for the poor quality of these photos. Lighting was awful and then there is the awful photographer (wink). These came out smooth and shiny, which is what I wanted. I will post the bench photo a bit later on. The legs were painted, but it needs a new fabric cover. I'm still debating with myself on the fabric. The next project was a tall, but small table. Wooden legs and a square top covered with denim, of all things! And badly stained! I sanded the legs and used a grey chalk paint followed by a clear poly. It took several coats of everything, including white chalk paint on the fabric top. The chalk paint worked very well for the top (rolled on) and I really covered it with about 6 coats of poly. It was my first use of chalk paint and I'm not impressed. I don't care for the brush marks and I'm not one that wants to have to re-wax furniture every few months, so poly is my only other choice for top coating and my skill with that is sketchy. Or maybe it was just the weather???? Anyhow, I love the little table! I found this little "t.v. tray table" in the thrift store. It is a lot thicker and more substantial than the ones I usually see in Walmart, so I bought it for $5. I could have left it like it was, but I wanted some grey in it so I worked on it. Sanded the legs and top and sprayed the legs with grey chalk paint in a can. It took all of one can to cover these legs well, so not very economical, but certainly easy. Then I brushed on poly over that. I wanted to accent the grain lines of the top because it's so pretty, so after sanding it down to the raw wood, I rubbed on a "driftwood" stain and put several clear coats of poly over that. I love it! The first photo shows it sanded and ready to paint/stain. The next is the finished piece. MUCH more to come! I have nearly finished six chairs and will post those as soon as they are done. Well, I've had a gentle reminder that I haven't updated this blog since I got my house! So sorry. We did finally go to settlement just a few weeks ago (3, I think) and have gotten off to a slow start. We had to pull out a ceiling, take out all the first floor carpets, replace the roof, along with some rotten rafters. The roof was just done today. I have been continuing to work slowly on furniture and I painted all the window sashes in the new house.
I promise some photo updates within the next day or two, and will let you know where things stand. Thanks for your patience! |
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