The Study

 

The process of cleaning out the study has been...dusty to say the least. I am most excited about finding some amazing old books and uncovering all of the scrapbooks and photo albums that my Grandfather had stashed away in various spots and making them once again accessible for the family to look at and enjoy.

 

 

Here we have a Men's Choir book from 1888.

 

Book of Concord circa 1940

 

A pamphlet on the evils of dancing.

 

LIFE Magazine Issue circa 1971.

 

Right now, the study has a desk in it--I'm going to be changing the feel of it and turning it into a library complete with sofa and ambient lighting.

 

Here is the current situation-- A lot of books and a lot of dust. What you're seeing is after I've packed up 7 boxes worth of books!

 

 

After a weeks worth of sorting, packing, and tossing the office is cleaned out, ready for painting and carpet removal.

 

 

 

Even after the things being given away were taken care of, it took a long time to get every book sorted and arranged.

 

 

Behold, one final discovery... "Celebrating the Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church". A six CD collection.

Last bit of carpet that this built-in is sitting on top of... cut most of it out, now to figure out how to cover the remainder up.

 

We've gone from completely full shelves, two desks and two filing cabinets in this tiny space to this- one desk and an appropriate amount of books and knick knacks!

Progress, or Lack Thereof.

Alright Friends,

I know, I know--it's taking me forever to get up any new posts. Let me explain, not only did the holidays kind of bring a halt to a lot of home improvements, you know with parties and family gatherings but also as a musician and music teacher Christmas is a crazy busy time with concerts and church services! Around Thanksgiving, my Gramps fell and broke his leg. After weeks of prep for surgery, surgery, attempts and rehabilitation, it was time for him to be called home to heaven. As you can imagine, it's hard enough working on a house that is technically not yours. Even harder when that house is attached to so many memories of someone you just lost. Gramp's study is the last part of the house that I have yet to clean out and I'll be honest, the first time I was in the house after the funeral, I sat in the office and cried. I've also made the decision to cut my work load a bit and have a contractor come

 in and do some of the bigger projects that I have been absolutely dreading, such as the den full of beautiful 60s paneling and the living room/study. So you may look forward to those changes happening much more quickly than I could ever get to them working on rooms one by one.

I will still be putting up before and after pictures and will still be doing all of the décor myself.

Anyways, I hope this will be then end of the radio silence on the progress of the house and that things will start to move quickly from now on! If you are interested (I know they are not the highest quality) you can read through the obituary from the funeral if you want to know more about the super amazing person that my Grandpa was!

 

 

The Peach Bathroom

Peach Bathroom...Yeah, lets change that.

 

The bathrooms in this house...while functional, leave much to be desired.

 

 

PEACH. While, not my least favorite color-- It does not necessarily complement the neutral chic, calm aesthetic I am aiming for throughout the house.

 

 

While most of the house will be the color on the left, I decided to be bold in my color choice for the bathrooms- Sherwin Williams "Backdrop" (7025)

 

Dark? Yes, but the key is balance, the dark color will not feel overwhelming when the wainscot, cabinets, and shelving is all white.

 

 

Here we are, Peachy Pie.

One of the things that I have always loved about this house is the hexagon floor tile in this bathroom.

It would break my heart if some dummy were to ruin it.

 

Plan: The wainscot, cabinets, built ins will all be stripped, sanded, primed and painted white.

Above the wainscot will be the dark "Backdrop" color.

Edit:

Coat of primer on the built-ins, and wainscot! It already looks so different!
I know it's partially the angle but I think it looks bigger and more open with the white paint.

 

First coat of color! My contractor says -- "Dang this paint is dark, are you sure about this?"

Absolutely.

 

 

 Here it is! All zen and clean. I love that the old hex tiles really stand out now!

Eventually ,the tub will be getting refinished as well (you can't see it right now). So glad this one's done and I had to do none of it! Money gets things done, haha!

The Middle Bedroom

 

Grandma loved her cards and newspaper clippings! I filled two whole storage containers with those items and photos alone...holy cow.

 

 

As I update this post, you'll see the progress of the middle bedroom  that I'll be turning into the guest room.

 

Gotta get some before  pictures...we're talking baby blue walls and forest green commercial carpeting. Yum.
 



 

Before.

Starting to take out the carpet.

 

This is the dirt that was under just one section of carpet. Nasty.

 

 

This room became the 'catch-all' for a while -- thus progress was halted for about 4 months!

 

 

I don't think there were enough knick- knacks ;)

 

 

 After! -- I will get a few more pictures in here. As you can see, a guest room someone would actually want to be a guest in. (SW7021) Simple White wall color and Extra White trim and ceilings.

 

 

 

 

The Pink Bathroom

This was one of my least favorite parts of the house. I never liked the pink bathroom. Maybe, I am weird, but I like my bathrooms to be relaxing. Spa-Like, if you will. I don't think it's quite the place for trendy things. So this is a journey out of the 60s...Pink walls, floral wall paper, pink tile, all that fun stuff.  

 

Here we are, Pinky Pink. This room has less paint to be stripped but there is some wallpaper border to be taken care of.

 

Now...What to do about this pink shower? I purchased Rustoleum Tub and Tile Restoration kit to basically paint this shower, I'll let ya'll know more about the process and how it goes when I get to it.

 

Here are some before pictures!  

 

 

 

 



 

Side Wall- Before

 

Diamonds are a girls best friend? I beg to differ! This scraper here is awesome. Also, pry bars, yes.

 

Sticky Wallpaper Mess

 



Patching holes in cabinets and walls 

 

 

Sanded vanity ready for priming.

 

 

 Scraped Window and a new family of friends!

 



 

NO MORE PINK!

 

Wall Color - SW Backdrop (7025)

 

This is a little better, don't you think?

 

 

I painted the shower! Almost finished with this bathroom.

 

Gross!

 

Everywhere I have lived, I have replaced the showerheads. Still need to caulk along the edge of the tile... but hey...minor details.

New vinyl baseboard. One day I will replace them with wooden baseboards. One day.

 

I could not resist the slight homage to the face that the bathroom used to be pink.

 

Now...Finally! Here is a before for a little perspective.

 

 

 

 

After!

 

The Kitchen

In an effort to get moved in to this house sooner rather than later I called in the big guns... i.e. a contractor to come take care of the kitchen. Sanding, painting, and priming cabinets is not something I want to spend months doing.

 

Here is what the kitchen looked like before...

Cabinets are getting painted and new hardware.

There will be new countertops, sink, and faucet.

The kitchen will no longer be yellow.

 

Should be done in the next couple of weeks!

EDIT: The cabinets are painted!

Now before any of you wood purists out there start to freak out that I painted over wood, these were not in good shape and much better off painted. Also, in restoring a house I chose to go with a look that would have been common in the 1940s when the house was built.

Countertops will be a dark mahogany color, porcelain sink, and bronze faucet.

I'm loving this backsplash choice!



EDIT: Here it is in all of its glory! A finished kitchen. There is still a little finishing that I have to do on the backsplash but you get the idea!

 

 

Eric would be an excellent "Price is Right" showgirl.


You know you're an adult when you buy a $300 kitchen sink with no regrets!