Plaster Perfect

As you know, several of the rooms needed a lot of plaster repair before we could move forward. The walls were full of cracks due to the extreme temperature fluctuations from the house sitting empty for years with no heat. In addition to cracks, there were also a number of pretty major holes in the walls and ceilings that needed patched. Happily, most of that is under way if not complete.

This is a terrifying staircase to put a ladder on! Best left to the pros.

Kitchen Floor

We have taken up I believe 5 layers of flooring in this kitchen. I will detail all those in a forthcoming post. What we are left with is the original wood flooring, loaded up with staples, nails, glue and paper left over from the tile backing. We have literally removed hundreds of staples by hand. The glue and paper came up fairly well with a vinegar/water solution and putty knives. But this is still a rough floor in need of some serious work.

Note the paint line on the baseboard in the background. That's how much floor has come up!

 An industrial sander is on tap for next weekend. Pics to come!

The Dining Room

The dining room now has a couple fresh coats of paint. The color is Pier by Behr. The woodwork is Falling Snow by Behr. We were also fortunate enough to get that terrible carpet up this weekend. And by the grace of God it looks like a really decent, handsome wood floor.

(The pup can't stand to be left at home while we're over here working! But he is sad we took up the carpet.)

Everything Plus The Kitchen Sink

Funny how one little design decision leads to hours and hours of extra work. The kitchen sink is off center, which has been bothersome to a few. But it would have worked. However, the current sink is being replaced with a big white ceramic sink that just so happens to be several inches larger than the present sink, which would have thrown the center line way off. Because of course the dishwasher is to the immediate right of the sink. So we're taking out the dishwasher, moving a chunk of cabinet over and lining up the sink directly under the window. It's a bit of a process.

My Big Backyard

Now that the weather has warmed up and the backyard has started greening up we're finding plants and flowers everywhere! Honeysuckle and ivy are trying to take over but it's really a lovely, big, shady yard that has loads of potential.

The Great Outdoors

Spent last weekend freeing the back porch from a whole lot of overgrown mess in an effort to put up more fencing and secure the grounds a bit more. Also it was way too nice to be inside painting! As always, some before and afters for your viewing pleasure.

This is from back in March, before the plants really started growing.

The porch viewed from the back yard.

The bushes were growing in through the screened porch.

And now the "afters":

From the front of the house to the back yard.

In total we removed 3-4 huge bushes that lined the side of the screen porch, 2-3 small trees that had grown up in the middle of everything and untold amounts of ivy.

We also discovered the absolute cutest tree hidden back in the bushes that we've fallen in love with. It's a snowball hydrangea.

Bathroom Ceiling

I am happy to report that the plaster work is now under way and that the upstairs bathroom ceiling is now an actual ceiling rather than a big molding hole. Looking better every day! 

Before

New Old Floors

Not only did the closet get a nice coat of paint, but the hideous blue carpet is now long gone! The floors aren't in terrible shape so we're hoping some Murphy's Oil Soap and some boiled linseed oil will do the trick. The water stain under the window has already disappeared after 1 treatment of Murphy's. It's really very pretty wood and we're hopeful that most of the floors in the house can be restored. 

We've Been Violated

Unfortunately someone thought it'd be cute to, in some way shape or form, launch a marble through the master bedroom window today. Also the hose in the back yard has been busted, leaving the yard flooded and someone has been repeatedly unlocking the screen doors on the back porch. So...a police report has been filed but sadly that does little to replace a 200 year old window. One can only hope that taking up permanent residence will put a stop to this in the near future. The occasional patrol check has been requested in the meantime.