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The First Indoor Project

January 21st, 2014

Well, we have finally started working a little on the interior of this place.  Eventually the entire thing will be redone, but for now we at least want to paint and redo a few things to make it easier to clean. It’s not as simple as just throwing a coat of paint on the walls. There’s also a debate going on about whether we just want to paint the floors as well, they’re currently painted subfloor or if we want to put down flooring while we’re at it.
Painting bedroom
There is electric baseboard heat that needs removed, new floor moulding to put in, along with sanding the ceilings & walls because the previous paint job was less than stellar and there are lots of roller nap marks. All the moulding needs a good sanding as well, it wasn’t sanded after the finish was applied so the grain of the wood makes dusting/cleaning impossible. All of this is why we’ve been putting it off, we needed time when we could dedicate a good amount of time to this project, and this is only the beginning…

Do you have any home improvement projects in progress?

21 Comments to “The First Indoor Project”
  1. Ilene on January 21, 2014 at 6:42 am

    Oh, yes.

    We’re a retired couple. Previous owners were young newlyweds. They painted the kitchen John Deere Green, the big room down on the lowest level of the tri-level and one of the bedrooms up on the top floor a nice dark Buick Maroon. One wall and all the woodwork in the dining room was OSU Orange. The master bedroom, three walls were painted Eggplant and one wall and all the woodwork was what we thought was John Deere Green with a little white it in. Plus they got it on the popcorn ceiling in many, many places and on the carpet upstairs. All but the office downstairs are now repainted.

    We took up the carpet that was in both bathrooms upstairs, in the dining room and the kitchen and put down a floating engineered flooring product that looks like wood plank. We took the carpet off the stairs and put new oak treads on. Gradually we are getting the house in shape but it’s slow going since we spend our summers doing stuff outside.

    We still have the ugly brown carpet tile to replace in that big room at the bottom level that is still painted Buick Maroon. And the bathroom down there has vinyl floor tile on it that’s poorly applied and ugly. In the living room on the middle level, it’s that ugly old beige carpeting that was in the dining room. I was thinking about buying new carpeting, but we go in and out the sliding French doors in that room so much that I’m thinking we probably should put down more of that engineered flooring. That will make the whole second level covered with it. I thought maybe the engineered floor on the concrete would make the floors feel cold in winter but we haven’t noticed that at all. Those engineered floors sure are easy to clean. Just a sha-mop or a swiffer and it’s looking great.

    Good luck to you with your projects! –Ilene

    We’ve been here three years, maybe by the 5th anniversary of living here we can have it looking like we want it inside. That’s the goal, anyway.

    Reply to Ilene's comment

    • Donna A. on January 21, 2014 at 8:35 am

      Wow. Just, wow. Those color choices… When I moved into a house where I could finally paint the walls I made sure to make everything at least match! Hehe. And neutral tones. Nothing too contrasting…

      Reply to Donna A.'s comment

      • Misti on January 21, 2014 at 9:25 am

        LOL, y’all wouldn’t like our house! We painted very bright when we moved in, though it was already painted brightly by the previous owners except done very poorly. We replaced their t-sip orange in the family space up stairs with Aggie maroon, changed up their mustard yellow for a lighter yellow in the bedroom, and so on and so on. I’ve lived with enough white and tan walls my whole life that color is a must! Ok, so the stairwell is still the same light brown that was there, but we repainted it with a fresh coat.

        As for other projects, we just finished the laundry room. We need to re-do both spare bedrooms (maybe add a closet in one of them), the downstairs bath, the kitchen (this is probably last on the list).

        Too much to do!

        to Misti's comment

  2. Ilene on January 21, 2014 at 6:43 am

    Oh, and I forgot to say that the living room was done in Hershey Bar Brown. We felt like we were in a cave.

    There’s no accounting for taste.

    Reply to Ilene's comment

  3. kristin @ going country on January 21, 2014 at 7:26 am

    I won’t get started. It’s getting to the point that I feel the best home improvement project might be accomplished via wrecking ball.

    Good luck with all of yours.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

    • Susy on January 21, 2014 at 10:30 am

      We’ve been wondering the same thing, hence the quandary about the flooring.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. Adelina Anderson on January 21, 2014 at 7:35 am

    Just finished repainting my son’s furniture and it looks great! Next up is taking care of my daughter’s room. New color of paint and perhaps a wall of floor to ceiling shelves to hold her books and odd collectibles. Then we will take a break.

    Reply to Adelina Anderson's comment

  5. Lisa on January 21, 2014 at 7:44 am

    We are waiting on spring weather to rip up the carpet in our living room. We have beautiful oak hardwoods throughout the house and were happy to find out that the living room was hardwood as well. Hubby also has a few carpentry projects to work on.

    Reply to Lisa's comment

  6. Adriana on January 21, 2014 at 8:13 am

    Home improvement projects? 6 years and counting… Some day we’ll have paint on all the walls. Someday we’ll have new kitchen cabinets and a proper pantry. Someday…

    Reply to Adriana's comment

  7. Jennifer Fisk on January 21, 2014 at 8:37 am

    While I really need to have some painting done and replacement windows would be really great, I’m concentrating more on getting the barn I’ve always wanted. Hoping to get an Amish barn installed sometime in March. Then I can think about the house’s needs.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

    • Susy on January 21, 2014 at 11:09 am

      That’s part of the debate here, perimeter fences or new flooring….

      Reply to Susy's comment

  8. Nebraska Dave on January 21, 2014 at 9:38 am

    Susy, after living in a house nearly 30 years, the house projects have gone though many generations and still there are projects on the list. For the last 10 years or so, the inside has been neglected as that was my wife’s domain. Since she has been gone for 12 years, the inside of the house has pretty much staid the same and needs work in almost every room. Mainly just a good cleaning and sorting through stuff would be a good place to start. My wife was some what of a hoarder towards the end of her life and I just stuffed every thing in the basement after her demise.

    I am determined, with the encouragement of my nine year old grandson, to reclaim that basement this winter. So with trash bags, boxes, brooms, and perhaps shovels, the task of basement cleanup begins today. Ok, ok, right after coffee break …. and lunch …. and a nap …. and etc. Nah, really, I’ll get to it …. tomorrow. :-)

    Have a great winter project day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

    • whit on January 21, 2014 at 11:08 am

      Good luck with your project, Dave! May there be more sweet memories than hassles you find in your wife’s belongings.

      Reply to whit's comment

  9. Natasha on January 21, 2014 at 9:48 am

    We are finally having someone come in and finish laying the laminate flooring that my husband started 4 years ago. DH started right after we met and a marriage and two kids later, he does not have the time to finish it, nor the motivation. Next week, the floors will finally be finished!

    Reply to Natasha's comment

  10. Lorna on January 21, 2014 at 10:35 am

    Two years ago we bought an 1846 farmhouse that was listed as a fixer-upper! So yes, many things need to be re-done. It’s a bit sad, knowing the previous owners lived here since the 1950’s and took very good care of the house for many decades. But in the last 10 years they were quite elderly and unable to maintain the home; after the father died and the mother went into nursing home care, the children slapped a coat of paint on every surface (except the wallpaper) and rented the house to people who couldn’t care less about it’s condition for three years. So that’s what we inherited–filthy carpet (I hate carpet), badly painted ceilings/trim/cabinets, and appliances and fixtures that were falling apart. And a different garish wallpaper pattern in every single room!
    We ripped out ALL the carpet before we moved in and found the original wide-plank pine floors underneath. Unfortunately, they were painted and slopped on with more paint. We had the lower level sanded and finished, but the expense to do the upstairs was just too much; just this week we’ve finished painting two of the rooms and they look and feel so much better. We’ve also started painting the walls, but they are several different surfaces–some are the old horse hair plaster, but some interior walls are a funky paper-board that no one can identify (not a modern drywall). And the paperboard peels when you try to paint it! We can’t afford to rip down to studs, so hopefully shellac will do the trick. Otherwise, it’s back to wallpaper!

    Wishing you luck in your projects. They never seem to end, but we’ve come to accept that our house will be a life-long labor of love. Emphasis on labor!

    Reply to Lorna's comment

  11. Trish on January 21, 2014 at 10:57 am

    Glad to hear everyone else has projects waiting them! I sometimes feel overwhelmed at how much work there is to do in my house, and i am seriously lacking in motivation. Wallpaper to strip, peeling lead based paint to strip, things to paint, flooring to install. we are trying to decide what type of flooring to put down in the upstairs. I want something we can install ourselves. The logistics of having someone come in and do it is just too much to contemplate, and we will save money by doing it ourselves. But it has to be easy, as we are not very handy. My latest consideration is cork flooring that advertises itself as being dog friendly.

    Reply to Trish's comment

    • Ms. Tweetley on January 21, 2014 at 11:52 am

      Check out cork carefully. Friends have had trouble with it being too soft for dogs.

      Reply to Ms. Tweetley's comment

  12. whit on January 21, 2014 at 11:18 am

    Unfortunately, there is a lot to do in our new home…even though when we purchased it, it didn’t seems so. I will never by another staged home ever again! Parque flooring is chunking out, drywall tape is cracking everywhere. It seems electric heat thermostats were put in, but no electric heaters were added. ??? And every room has those annoying shutter-like closet doors that can never be dusted properly. Hoping to meet a handyman we can have tear down some closets, move electrical around, then get to the fun stuff like paint, moulding, and flooring. Since itis a 1940’s home suffering from a crumby 1990’s remodel, it would be really nice to give the old lady some of her original character. Especially because I am pretty sure the eastern European settlers in our part of Seattle didn’t decorate things in French Country style. :)

    Reply to whit's comment

  13. Megan on January 21, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    We bought a pre 1900 farm house (no records of exact date) 12 years ago. Tore some of it down and added on new kitchen. Currently tearing out lath board in the last bedroom so we can put in insulation, re wire and put in new floors. Then only one more room to tear out and the whole house will be re done!

    Reply to Megan's comment

  14. sarah on January 21, 2014 at 6:18 pm

    Oh, the projects. We gutted our (thankfully tiny) 1938 home before moving in so we mostly love it but it still needs 8 windows replaced, tile in the kitchen, shelves in the office, floor boards fixed, etc, etc, etc. It could all be done in a few months of weekends if we hadn’t had a baby 4 days after moving in!

    Reply to sarah's comment

  15. Mich on January 23, 2014 at 6:09 am

    Had a new replacement 7ft wide window made & installed last year, now I need to decorate, add new flooring and curtains. Keep putting it off as I’m not a lover of decorating and it’s the conundrum of where to put ALL the stuff from the room whilst I do this! Lol.

    Reply to Mich's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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