(This is NOT a sponsored post. Any and all products used were of our own choice, resulting in our own experiences and opinions.)
Let’s tear the roof off this joint! Keeping our hands in one direction with demo is the most difficult thing. Our heads are always spinning – thinking of the next project we have to tackle. Bit by bit we are getting things done, staying on track however is a bit harder than we had ever intended. Let’s be honest here. Our house is disgusting. A few weeks later, and it still amazes me that a house can get SO gross and SO dirty. Then again, maybe I am way up on the OCD cleaning spectrum that any house, in any state would feel filthy to me. Problem number ONE… The cat pee soaked carpets definitely took us over the edge. Ripping them out was a quick – nose plugging experience. We ripped, we gagged, we rolled and taped up every last chunk and tossed them into a dumpster. Instantly, the cat pee smell was intensified. As if the carpet was masking the smell. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?! A few minutes googling away and we stumbled across a product by Zinsser – a base and primer all in one that you can paint onto sub flooring to help cover up stains/smells. Using a paint brush, we applied the sealant around all of the edges of the rooms affected by the cats with bladder control issues. It goes on much like a thinner paint, and dries within 15 minutes, perfect time frame for us!
Bada-bing! Just like that, we painted around the edges of all of the rooms affected by those darn felines, and the smell was covered up and our nostrils could finally breath without resulting in a gag reflux. The next phase of carpet demo, was removing all of the staples/nails throughout the subflooring. So, we had 4 bedrooms, a hall way and a living room to tackle, and it was tedious. At that point, we were not sure as to what we were putting in, in replacement of the carpet. Carpet seems like the cozier/cheaper option for the rooms. And then we jump to thinking about Owen, and his allergies, so we know that hardwood/laminate would be the best way to swing. Keeping the house healthier, and easier to clean… laminate (for now) is the way we are leaning. We dislike the fact that we’ll have so much different flooring through the house (hardwood/tile/laminate), but until we have the cash money to make it uniform, it’ll have to do. And, to be frank, who really cares at this point. So long as those disgusting threads are out the door – we are much better off!
Trim Trim Trim. We have loads of woodwork. Bloody rusted red wood work to cover up. We knew from our old house that painting trim can take forever. Not just any old trim either, trim that is coated in oil based paint (lucky us!) Both of our houses had trim work with oil based paint, and it is a mother to cover properly. Doing it all by hand like we did in the last house was not an option. Why? Well this house is 2x the size. Our old house had white oil based trim, this house red. And we do not have 4 months to renovate. So, with a ticking red bomb in our face we knew we had to make the investment on a paint sprayer. Dan was stoked about buying this new “tool” for his collection. All men like to add gadgets to their bench, and this one is the mack daddy of all paint sprayers for us. Priced at $299 it was a mid-range sprayer that would help Dan do the prep work in 3/4 of the time. We taped off all of the bedroom entry ways, including the living room. Covered all of the windows and got to work. It was MESSY – for sure. But Dan was able to do 3 coats of primer on the red in a matter of days. It was fantastic.
We took off any closet doors we could get our hands on, making the painting process move even quicker. Anything we could prime in 3/4 of the time, we were all over it.
Goodbye red, hello white doves singing in my face.
I painted the dining room trim with primer by hand, along with the stairs …
The pictures are so dark above, taken after a LONG LONG day of painting. But as you can see, the white trim is making a huge impact on the overall “look” of our spaces. The rooms that have had the trim primed 3x are now being painted with a semi – gloss, making them extra pretty, which results in more squealing coming from me. Dan just shakes his head.
Next on the list, pick a color… any color for goodness sake Abby. Dan is always a little annoyed with my color choice process. I tend to over think … over analyze… and spend far more time than we have to spend trying to pick that perfect shade.
I always have “ideas”. Who doesn’t? Lighter colors are what I tend to lean towards. Neutral – giving us the ability to flip and flop decor and keep our house feeling light and bright. The problem with our house is the obvious. Front of the house gets a ton more sun, there for showing the colors in their purest forms. The great room – and kitchen make the colors look totally different in every time of day. Gray’s look blue. Whites look pink. Sometimes, a girl just can’t win. Until you stumble across the most genius idea. Find the shade you like, and if you want it lighter, GET IT LIGHTER. My word. Seems like the simplest concept, but it really changed my color choosing experience. We ended up choosing Revere Pewter (by Benajmin Moore) and cheated – matched the color to Behr at Home Depot and made it at 50% concentration, resulting in a lighter shade then the sample shows. In the picture above, Revere Pewter is the far right on the bottom, half concentrated is the color right next to it in the middle. So far, we have the bedrooms and hall way painted. LOTS more to go. But we are SO happy with the color choice. It is the perfect balance between gray and beige. (Pictures to come Wednesday!)
We are pushing ourselves to the limit, in the best way possible. We know this house will not paint itself (I wish). Were going to the house in any free time we can find. It’s no simple task since the house is a bit further away than where we are at now. Dan has been a super star, going after work to pick up where we left off. Painting trim (4x) – ceilings (2x) and walls over and over again can take up time like we anticipated. Patience is the key with this… but we’re already super anxious to move in and enjoy our home. Our goal? To have all of the rooms painted prior to moving in. We have new flooring to be put into the entire upstairs – and the downstairs living room. Otherwise, the rest of the rooms will be our projects to be done while living there.
An extra Thank You to all the grandparents, aunts and uncles that watched and played with the kids this weekend! The boys had a blast and are still chatting about all that they did with everyone!