Stripping Wood In Den

I mentioned yesterday that the painting project has turned into a bigger project then I had originally anticipated. Now Greg wants to remove all the paint from the woodwork in the room. The paint is probably lead-based. We plan on having children in the house so we would like to take the time to remove as much as the paint as possible. I honestly wasn't that freaked out about the paint. Lead paint's biggest danger is one it crumbles or cracks. Children could eat the chips which could cause permanent brain damage. Many people remove lead based paint from old windows. When you constantly open and close the windows small amounts of the paint gets worn away which could then cause the contaminated substance to enter the air. We have new windows so we don't have to worry about that part, yeah!

So to be super safe we are taking the time now to remove the paint all around the house. Below are some photos of the process. We found a pretty little flower detail hidden on the mantel last night (below). I'll post a little info on how the stripping process works this afternoon.

Stripping Walls in Den

I was hoping I would have my den done by today but the whole painting process ended up being a much bigger project then I thought. Originally, I was just going to paint the walls. Underneath, there was layers of wallpaper, paint, horse hair, and plaster in really bad shape. After my mom investigated the situation she convinced me to just remove the wallpaper and just spackle the walls.

Removing the wallpaper from the walls was actually pretty easy. We basically just scraped it off. (FYI this isn't the way to remove to all wallpaper.) After all the paper was removed I wiped down the walls using a water and bleach solution. After the walls were dry we spackled the holes and imperfections and then sanded. The top photo shows the walls spackled. After sanding the walls we primed the walls so that our new paint has a nice clean surface to stick too. The walls are really old so they will never be perfect. The house is 257 years old!

The photo below shows the walls primed. The bottom three shots are some wallpaper we found. It looks like there was at least two layers of wallpaper with some paint underneath. Crazy! I have a bit more spackling to do on the opposite side of the room today and then I am ready to paint the walls.

Final Paint Choices

Final paint choices.

All of the samples I painted on the wall.

I've been stalling on this paint project for the den because none of the colors felt quite right. I have to get the project done before my Thanksgiving guests arrive. I am having the hardest time picking just one. I can always repaint, right?

The top image shows my favorite of the six paint colors I originally chose. The color on the left felt to blue while the color on the right felt to flat. I mixed the two colors together to get the samples below. I am leaning towards the sample in the middle. The colors definitely change throughout the day. At night the new green samples have a lot more depth then the larger samples. I painted the sample I choose on a piece of white paper so that the paint store can hopefully duplicate it for me.

My mom agreed to come down and help me paint the room this weekend as long as I bought the paint today. So by Sunday I will have a green room! Below is my favorite inspiration shot from Drew Barrymore's kitchen showcasing a mossy green. All the molding in my den will be white and many of the other pieces that fill the space will be black with some gold accents. Wish me luck! Check out more green rooms for inspiration for your next painting project here and here.

Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere!

Fall has definitely fallen here. The leaves seems to be coming down as if it was a rainstorm. Yesterday afternoon I raked up the whole front part of the house. I filled about 3 large leaf bags. Greg helped rake up the backyard while I planted some narcissus bulbs for next Spring. Within five minutes he was back with a the rake in one hand the handle in the other. He complained that my rake sucked and it just broke. Hmmm I didn't have any problems...boys.

Early this morning we had a storm with some pretty high winds. I could hear the trees banging against the house as the sun rose. I popped my head out the front door when I got up to find our whole front walk full of leaves again! Maybe it's time to invest in a leaf blower or maybe just a better rake?

Choosing Paint Colors for Den

I went to the paint store this afternoon to purchase a few paint samples. I just can't decide on a green for the den. In the photo above I painted six large samples. I choose the colors from the 20 paper samples I had up on the wall last week. I'm just not sure which green to choose. I kinda want to ditch the whole green idea and maybe go for pinks? I am dreaming of this room designed by Steven Gambrel featured in domino a few years ago . I remember instanly falling in love with the warm color palette. Maybe I should just save the green for another room like the kitchen?

Choosing Paint Colors for the Den

This is the Den/Living Room on the second floor of the house. We only need to paint and decorate the space. We seem to spend the most amount of time in this room so it would be nice to get it fixed up before the holidays. I was pondering painting the walls a green shade and the modeling white which will be consistent throughout the house. Check out some of my green wall inspiration here. The room is kinda dark and doesn't get much sunlight till late in the day. So many choices! You can see my ugly brown sofa in the photo below. The sofa has to stay until our money tree starts growing again next Spring! I guess its fine. Super cozy but I hate that the shape is so heavy looking.

Blown In Insulation

We had a contractor stop by this morning for an estimate on blown in cellulose insulation. Our house has absolutely no insulation in the walls. With a projected record cold winter right around the corner we need to act fast to come up with some type of solution. A neighbor told us that the town that offers a 50% rebate on the cost of an insulation upgrade. The estimate came in at $4,000 so hopefully we can recoup half of that costs with the rebate. The contractor is booked for the next 3 weeks. I guess everyone has the same idea as us! I'll keep you updated on the whole process.

The Stove is in!

Getting the stove up the stairs and into the kitchen turned out to be quite a project. We had to remove a number of the pieces to clear our 27 inch doorways. The door, front panel, knobs, grates, burners, all had to come off. Lifting it up the stairs was incredibly hard because the stove was still pretty heavy at about 150 pounds. We made it up the stairs and through two doorways with a lot of sweat and patience.

The last door into the kitchen prove to be the hardest. The door was the smallest measuring at 25 inches wide. We had to remove the back panel to make it fit. Getting it though the door required us to pretty much bench press the stove up and over the sink. I can't believe I actually did it. I guess I really wanted the stove. My arms are still pretty sore today. We got the stove back together on Friday night at around midnight. The whole process took us 4 hours. Crazy! I love the stove but it does look pretty silly in our ghetto kitchen. I'm just glad I can finally cook again.

Blue Star In The House!

My new Blue Star range just arrived! Our next problem: getting the stove up the stairs. We have to take off the door and knobs to make it fit. We have super tiny doorways that are only about 27" wide. The delivery guys didn't seem to want to help even when Greg offered a big tip. I couldn't sleep all night because I was so worried. I guess the worse case scenario is that a wall will have to come down. Yikes! I'll keep everyone updated.

Happy Anniversary: Homeowner Style

Last night was our anniversary of 6 years. To celebrate we went to Home Depot and bought a new garbage disposal. What can I say, I'm a lucky girl. We found out the sink was majorly leaking the night before and the drain needed to be replaced. We decided to just go ahead and install a garbage disposal while we were at it.

Below is a photo of our sofa that we can't believe we actually got into the house. Two tries up two very small staircases and a night's sleep (because Katy chickened out) we got the sofa in. Getting it in involved a circus act of propping the sofa up on top of the moving van with the help of a neighbor, driving around the corner to the front of the house, and sliding the sofa in through the 2nd floor window. Honestly, I was kinda bummed it did fit! I was sick of the sofa and had my eye on something new that was less bulky and dark.

This weekend's to do list involves finishing the garbage disposal installation, putting in a water spigot out front, and working on unpacking the rest of the boxes. The forecast is predicating rain all weekend so maybe we will be able to set up the projector and get in some new movies too! Have a nice weekend!

Renovation Update: First Floor Bathroom

Total gut of the bathroom. It looks pretty in the dark?

A few updates on the progress of the house renovation. It seems everyday we find a new problem or should I say, "project". These images are from the first floor bathroom. We had to complete gut the bathroom because of water damage coming from three different places. The first problem was the giant root in the pipes that caused the water in toilet to back up. The floor all around the toilet was rot. The second was the tub was not properly sealed and the wall containing the faucets was completely rotted. The third was the roof was badly leaking and had leaked all the way down to the first floor. The bathroom was wet and gross. We had no choice but to pull out everything to the studs and start again.

Greg is now busy shoring up the house in the basement. It seems all that rot could have contributed to some major sagging floors. He is busy installing Lolly columns in the basement to try to aleavate this problem. Once that is done we can work on putting up new walls, floors, and tile the floor. We are thinking about switching the position of the tub and toilet. As of now the tub sits right next to a large window. The large window has some privacy issues and large amounts of water tends to build up on the sill every time someone takes a shower. If we flip flop the tub to to the other side of the room we'll kill two problems. We just need to figure out if it is possible to do. Check out some photos of the progress above and below.

Pre-complete demolition

Tub from bathroom with old bee's nest attached.

All the junk that came out of the bathroom.

Old newspaper from 1969 found below the floorboards in the bathroom.

Greg fixing the roof above the bathrooms.

Weekend Warriors: Tackling Floors and Clogged Drain

Greg chilling at the local bar after a long day of hard work.

We just back from a weekend of working hard on our house. I managed to pull up the old tile from the bathroom and kitchen floor. What a pain in the ass. I got blisters on both fingers!

On Sunday, we tackled one of our nastiest jobs yet. We been having a problem with a backed up drain that causes water to back up in the toilet every time we take a shower. We tried the standard issue snake to get the clog out with no luck. Turns out we needed to rent the "Electric Eel" which is a motor powered large snake with a cutting bit. Friends suggested that the clog was due to roots growing into the pipes.

The electric eel proved to work but not without a lot of mess. We pulled up 4 large root systems that resembled small animals. Seriously gross! The situation got ugly once the electric snake started flinging excess poo up from the drain. I had to make a poop gaurd so that we didn't get soaked. (I know doesn't it make you want to throw-up!). We eventually got it all cleaned out and feel pretty good that the problem is solved. I would have never done the job without Greg. It was way so messy and stinky! Thankfully he's tougher then me. See more images on my flickr page.

Kitchen with tiles down

Katy pulling up the tiles

Greg using the standard issue snake

Rental sign for Electric Eel at Home Depot

First big root

Front Garden

Over the weekend we were up in Marblehead working a few small projects. We finally got majority of the garden dug up. We just need to patch the basement window and add more cobblestones. I can't believe how long that took. I dug down about 2 feet to remove all the roots and add new healthy top soil. The roots were seriously out of control! We put in some cobblestones my Mom brought down from Maine along the border and planted three Endless Summer Hydrangeas.

We were trying to decide if we wanted the cobblestones to be flush or a little bit raised? A neighbor walked by and said they look better vertical and raised up. I hate them that way! They look like teeth.

Eventually we will add in more flowers and bark. We tried to space the hydrangeas as far apart as possible since they get so big. The placement feels strange. I want one under each window but the space doesn't really work out that way. I guess they will grow in? Greg promised to make me window boxes for all the front windows for next Spring. We don't have a yard but we will have plenty of flowers.

Old Bricks and Cobblestones

My second stop on Friday was at some place that had bricks and cobble stones. I don't even know what to call it. There was nobody there so we were out of luck. My mom told me you can pay the town to take the bricks. The bricks and cobblestones are from old wreck buildings in the town of Portland. You would have no idea this place was here unless someone told you. The bricks are 4 cents each and the cobblestones are $2 each. The bricks are a deal. The cobblestones seem a bit steep. I wanted them to put as a border in my front garden and eventually bordering my driveway. I guess I need to investigate some other sources. The place was interesting though!

ReStore Portland, Maine

We have to buy everything new for the house from sinks to molding. Since neither one of us are millionaires we need to find cost effective resources for the renovation. We don't have the money to just hire an architect and come back in a few months to a gorgeous home. We are excited about doing all the work ourselves. I love the hunting part. You never know what you'll find.

On Friday, I headed up to my mom's house in Portland, Maine to check out some local resources for building materials. We checked out the Restore run by Habitat for Humanity first to see what they had. I saw lots of doors, windows, moldings, sinks, and spare wood. A great resources for anyone working on a renovation. Greg and I really want to use as many recycled materials that seem appropriate not only because it is cost effective but it's just logical to use old buildings supplies for a home. We don't want to add to the waste in landfills and junkyards. I took a few shots of the store so that you could get idea of what you can get at these store. Get more info about Restores in your area: habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx

Leaky Bathroom Roof

We got to Marblehead late Thursday night. As we turn down the corner to the house I think both of expected that the house could have burned down. "Someone would have called us, right?" The house was standing to our relief. I ran inside to the second floor bathroom and tried to turn on the overhead light. I pulled the cord once. Nothing. And then a second and third time and I got small sparks. I shouted to Greg to come and check it out. Greg came upstairs and tried and he yelled, "We've got sparks!" I screamed back "No shit, I told you that already." (You can feel the love?)

After a little investigating we realized the light was full of water. Thanks god we didn't get electrocuted! Seems the floor above the bathroom was filled with water because of leaky roof and the water slowly leaked down into the light. Aah the fun! The image above is our leaky bathroom. The image below is a view from outside the house. The second smaller bump out on the back of the house is where all the bathrooms are. The roof at the top is our demon.

Marblehead Weekend: NOOD 2008

We just got back from our second weekend in our new house. We didn't get a whole lot done on the house but we did have fun relaxing. I was recovering from a week of being sick and greg spent the weekend racing in the NOOD: Marblehead (National Offshore One Design). Check out his video of their awesome start on a Sonar named Crusher from Noroton Yacht Club. They just made it in between another boat and the committee boat for a perfect start. I'll share more of our projects we have in the works later this week. Night.

Pulling Up Old Carpet

We ripped out all the old carpet from the third floor last weekend. Thankfully that was the only place that the stinky cat carpet lived. We were hoping that the wide plank wood floors lived underneath the carpet. Unfortunately, all we found was painted stinky cat piss plywood. Yuck. Maybe there are wood floors under the plywood? Check out our brief video of my mom helping pile up the old carpet out on the lawn below.

Digging Up The Front Garden

I have some more photos to share of the renovation from last weekend. In these photos were are digging up the front garden. I pulled out about 6 huge garbage bags of roots from the tree. I just keep digging and digging and finding more roots! It was like a coral reef of roots.

I was digging for two reasons. The dirt came up too close to clapboards on the house. I had to dig down to expose the foundation. If the soil too high the clapboards have the possibility of rotting or could causing bug problems. The second reason was we are preparing to put Endless Summer Hydrangeas all across the front. I have to dig down far enough so that I can bring in a nice healthy layer of top soil. The bright blue color of the hydrangeas in an effect of the ph in the soil. I've heard rumors people use to put old nails in the soil to achieve super blue flowers.

The old toolbox (below) we found stuck between the old window and the basement. I'm sure the house will be filled with all kinds of treasures.

Found Objects: Book for Brides Newspaper

We found old newspapers underneath an old floorboard in a closet on the first floor or the house. We seem to have about 3 newspapers dating around May 11, 1956. I fell in love with section from the Daily Evening called, "Book for Brides and The Young Homemaker." There are all kinds of funny articles on etiquette, bras, singer sewing machines, and pretty much ways to please your husband. Scary! Fun to poke through and read. To check out more shots I took check out my flickr page here.

Old Postcard

We found this postcard of the house in an old baseball card shop over the weekend. We assume the postcard is from around the early 1900's. I love the fence around the side of the house and the shutters on all the windows. The original door is shown in this photo. We learned that a drunk driver hit the house in the 80's and completely took out the corner of the house. Total bummer because the windows above the door look like old bull's eye windows.

Finding Old Wallpaper

O.k. bear with me while I learn how to edit movies. This is a total hack job but everyone is e-mailing asking what we did with the (new) house over the weekend. We did some unglamorous things like pull out stinky cat carpet and clean the place. We got bored and started chipping away at a wall in a small room on the second floor. We found this beautiful floral wallpaper under layers of plaster and another layer of wallpaper. Were not sure if the paper is original. The house dates to 1750. The paper has a whimsical Liberty of London style. I have to do some research. I will share more fun things we found over the weekend once I get some rest. Night!