Laura's Renovation Adventure

I am dying to get a chance to try chalk paint. I've done some work on one of the bedrooms, and should post pictures, but probably won't.

Anyway, my sister and law gave me the recipe that she uses for chalk paint:
1 cup water based paint
1/4 cup plaster of Pairs with a little HOT water mixed in

We've started working on the house again. It kind of started when the hot water heater started leaking. All under my Pergo flooring in my hallway and carpet in my living room. Of course, it molded. Then I got pneumonia, which, for me, is almost always triggered by allergies. So Todd took up the Pergo and cut out the moldiest part of the carpet. That was wonderful of him. However, there was then a huge swath of cement floor exposed in all its nastiness. The cement had drywall compound on it as well as other surface irregularities. We almost stained it anyway, but ultimately, having to move out of our house for the three days it would take to stain and seal the concrete was more than we felt that we could handle.

We ended up buying light duty commercial flooring from Sam's Club. It is really thick, so it doesn't feel as "clicky" as some laminate. Obviously, it is not hard wood, but we are pretty pleased with it. We still need to finish up the trim and the thresholds, but we're really pleased with how things have turned out.

I've decided that we need to paint a couple of room. Our bedroom, for one. It is a pumpkin orange color, and is depressing. I'd like to paint it something lighter, like Purple Lace.

Also, I want to paint the bedroom that my son had before he moved out. It is a really dark brown with patches in the wall because our son is not exactly careful. But even if the paint were in perfect shape, the dark brown kind of makes it feel like a cave. I am thinking about a light teal or pale green for that room. Maybe one like this? Or I could take the coward's way out and paint it Montgomery White like we did our youngest daughter's room. Regardless of what color I paint it, I'd like to turn it into a craft room. To that end, I've been collecting images on Pinterest to inspire me.

Before
After

We also made her a doll house for her American Girl dolls with an IKEA Pax shelving unit:
Her doll furniture is from a number of sources. The bed was a family project. The pink wardrobe is a Build-a-Bear product that we found at a thrift store. The dresser is a couple of unpainted wood pieces from Hobby Lobby that I stacked. The bench is from Salvation Army, as is the table. The hutch in the "kitchen" began life as a couple of jewelry boxes that I primed and painted white. The horse and the baking set are from Target.

I love American Girl accessories as much as the next mom, but my little darling is not terribly careful about her toys, so I don't want to always spend the kind of money AG requires. So we improvise. :)


Speaking of "improvise" you can see a "during" photo of the jewelry boxs' transformations.

We've hit a bit of a slow spot on the renovation. This summer, I've ended up working, which slows progress. Then there is the dissertation that demands attention.

We are determined, though, to do a few projects before summer is over. All involve a mad desperate trip that we made to IKEA last week. We now how a load of flat-pack shelving sitting around in the way.

Highest priority is painting my daughter's room. Her walls currently have the inexplicable wall treatment that you can see to the right. The lighter green goes about 3/4 of the way up the wall. Part of the wall paper border was gone by the time we bought the house (probably courtesy of the male college-aged renters who occupied the house before we moved in.)

 We'll be painting her room Benjamin Moore's Montgomery White. The color looks pinkish online, but is much more creamy yellow in real life. Miss O is not thrilled about such a plain color, but I am looking for a neutral that I won't need to re-do in a few years as her tastes change. She is, after all, nine years old, which is heading toward that "tween" age, and no matter what she likes now, she won't like it in 3-4 years.

The previous owners were older, and I am sure that contributes to some of the odd color choices. And I remember some of this cottage-y stuff being popular 20 years ago. But I cannot imagine why someone who intended to sell their home in this decade would have such stuff on their walls. Oh, and the border is nasty vinyl wallpaper. I am thinking it was intended for a bathroom originally? It really is awful. The top layer will just peel off, leaving the backing on the wall that has to be carefully scraped off.

After we get her wall painted, we are going to install the Pax wardrobe that we bought at IKEA as a house for her American Girl dolls, similar to this one. When she gets older, if she tires of the doll house, we can buy doors and she can just use it for storage. *IF* we ever finish, I'll post pictures. :)
Edited to add: I found another picture of the color we intend to paint Miss O's room on Apartment Therapy.

Our kitchen is next on my project list. My budget, though, is tight. I need to spend less than $1000.

The floors are in good shape. They are an attractive ceramic tile, which is nice. I don't think I want to do anything to/with those. Also, the appliances are updated. We bought a stainless stove and dishwasher in 2009.

The cabinets, on the other hand, are in need of help. They are decent quality and in good shape for the most part. They are not, however, attractive. They have oddly shaped inset panels. The pulls are in the center of the doors, which I understand is standard for fine cabinetry, but they are hard to use. The kids generally just grab the corner, which is wearing away the paint. (I'll post pictures later, but I have to clean off the cabinets first. Right now, I wouldn't let anyone see my kitchen in the state its in.)

At the moment, my plan is this:

• Paint the cabinets. I think an antique glaze might be a nice finish. 
• New hardware. I've picked out some iron hardware that looks nice. 
• Tear out the soffits and build shelves near the ceiling. 
• Add crown molding.
• Replace the countertops. I would love a granite tile, but ceramic is certainly an option. 
• Tile the backsplash.
• Possibly replace the sink.
• Paint the dining nook, which means that I need to do something with the wall and the wainscot.
• Replace the range hood.
• Build in the microwave, somewhere. 
• Revamp storage for my pans and lids.
• Update the lighting.

I've found some nice examples of painted cabinets:
(The following are from Emily Smith's Faux Painting site)




These are white with antique glaze...

I can't say that I am a fan of the wallpaper, though.



Kraftmaid has a finish that looks a lot like these. The question is whether or not my cabinets would look like this if I were to paint and glaze them.


The picture below is from Apartment Therapy. I love the fact that the cabinets are painted, but are a light colored neutral rather than white. And, of course, I love the green walls.
I'll probably end up posting lots of inspiration. Posting pictures of what other people have done is way easier than actually starting anything.

We finally hired someone to help us work on one of our projects. He was an acquaintance of ours, as he used to be our neighbor and his wife works where I work, but in another department. They seemed like nice people and he had been in business a long time, so we hired him to do some drywall work for us and help us round up other trades people to do a bit of wiring and plumbing.

The trades people were fine. We were able to move our washer and dryer out to what was before an unusable sun room. We removed all but three windows, and replaced those. We also put in a new door that actually seals.

Our first indication of a problem was when we came home one day and realized that he had drywalled over a board that had a rotted place in it.

Then, another day, we smelled cigarette smoke in the house, and none of us smoke.

He wanted paid in advance for the work, and, stupidly, I did. There was no final walk through, so that we could complain about the lousy job he did on the drywall. There is tape pulling up. He made joints by the windows. The corners have odd patchy bits. In short, it looks like I did it myself. Actually, my drywall is better than that, and I do not consider myself competent to do drywall.

We've spent most of the month of September cleaning up his mess and trying to patch up the work to make it look right. I am not happy.

People have asked us time and again why we've done all our renovation work ourselves, with the help of my dad and kids. With the exception of skilled trades, every time we've hired someone to do carpentry work, we have been disappointed to the point of feeling cheated.

Every renovation that I have undertaken has included some sort of fabric. There are curtains or slipcovers or something.

Today, Labor Day, I thought would be a good day to go sewing machine shopping. Turns out, not really. None of the dealers are open on Labor Day-- one of the big sale days of the year. So I did a little poking around online and came up with the names of a few, even if they aren't open.

Sewing Machine Express

9101 W Markham St, # 20 Little Rock AR 72205

Stitchin Post

1520 Macon Dr Little Rock AR 72211

Sew Much More

100 E 13th St North Little Rock AR 72114

To be fair, these are open, but are not selling the kinds of machines that I am looking at: 

Michaels
11400 W Markham St
Little Rock, AR 72211-2806
(501) 312-1482

AND

4126 E McCain Blvd
North Little Rock, AR 72117-2523 
(501) 945-7787