BIG Project - Continuing Saga

Aside from the long drive home (12+ hours)...it's been hard to get back into the re-do groove. Time away was a very relaxing time with my sister. On the way home we stopped off in New Orleans and had beignets and coffee Au Lait (Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar.)

I took a picture of the floor of the place...it's pretty well covered with powered sugar.

Oh well...I don't have to clean that floor!

While I was gone "my crew" (HA! Love the sound of that!) got the quarter round put down. We used a regular size quarter round for the bedroom, but built up a more substantial one in the bath room to give "weight" to the tile and create more "drama". I think it turned out great.

The guys also brought in the new vanity...it weighs a TON! I think once it's all in place, it will look wonderful. I found this at one of the local "warehouse/antique" sales in our area...so Miss Janice came for a look/see and bought it on the spot. We're still waiting on the plumber to come and hook it all up, so a little bit of a stand still in the bathroom.

However, we've been moving ever forward in the bedroom. Miss Janice's brother-in-law created this headboard from an old 5 panel door. Her nephew drove up from Houston a few weeks ago to deliver it so we'd have it when we were ready to put the bedroom together.

First, it needed a white coat of paint. The girls got it covered in no time...but still something was lacking.

Next came a coat of wax tinted with a mahogany stain. We rubbed it on then polished it up to give it just a hint of color and distress.

We still felt it needed a little bit more, so we added some metal architectural elements.

We added just enough to dress up the headboard.

Next we brought in the bed pieces and made the bed. The headboard is slightly large, but when Miss Janice finally upgrades to a queen size bed it will be a perfect size.

We also got the closet put back together and the new curtains hung. I made these from some of my fabric stash that my friend gave me. I don't usually has such large pieces, but I had several complimentary pieces in the brown and blue pallet. A pretty trim was added between the two and instant closet door. (Almost.) I made the curtains before we began this project and they were the deciding factor on the colors we went with in the two rooms.

The top curtains on the bedroom windows are of the same complimentary fabric as the closet fabrics, however the drapery panels were purchased at Target. I think they look great together. We only found two panels at the Target we were at, so we need to look for another one to fill out the larger window. I'll try to take a close up of the curtains tomorrow so you can see the detail on the panels.

We brought in some of Miss Janice's other furniture today. We still have the mantel to finish and place on the wall between the bathroom and bedroom.

As promised here's a picture of the new mantel I will use with the insert I've had FOREVER!

There are still many, many boxes to empty and more furniture to bring in, and the bathroom to complete, but we are on target to finish by the end of the month! Miss Janice is planning a large open house to show off her new digs (minus all the carpet in the 4 rooms we've completed!) Look for more pictures to come.

Till next time....

debi

BIG Project - Weekend

We're still working on Miss Janice's bedroom and bathroom. The last couple of days we've pulled the carpet and padding out to reveal a floor in pretty bad shape.

Today was the big day to rent the sander from Home Depot and get it all cleaned up.

On Thursday we got the second coat of paint on the walls and the first coat of paint on the trim work in the bedroom.

We wanted to allow one full day for it to dry before we began with the sanding...and all the dust it makes!

The guys arrived with the sander and moved the large piece of furniture out of the room we'd been working around. Miss Janice finally found a consignment store that would take it to sell for her. They won't be able to pick it up until Tuesday, so it's been pushed into the hallway.

Here's one last look at the unfinished floor.

Here is it after a full morning (and into the afternoon) of sanding.

We are all thrilled with how well it cleaned up! Of course, the dust was EVERYWHERE!

But...the floor is beautiful. A few deep scratches, but once the color is laid down no one will notice.

There is also a mantel "project" to complete on this one wall...and of course the bathroom tile yet to be laid....but it will all come together shortly!

A great deal was accomplished today...clean up of the major dust happened before we all left, but we will wipe down the walls, trim and windows before we paint the baseboards next week!

Now...Miss Janice has to decide on the color for the floor. I think she's leaning toward Jacobean...which is the same color of all the other floors in her house. I think some decorative painting is in order! Maybe we can decided on a compromise!

Till next week...more to come.

The BIG Project - Day 2

Day two begins with finishing the wood work. We completed the ceiling and the first coat of the woodwork on Day one...so today we started with all the woodwork and the doors. The doors were my greatest pleasure to paint. They were cream with a peach inset...they are now ALL off white. Clean and neat. We began the upper wall with blue, then came back with the first coat of the white on the bottom.

Tomorrow we'll do a second coat of the blue and a third coat of white on the doors. We won't finish painting the baseboard until the carpet been pulled out so we can paint the whole piece. (Can hardly wait for the carpet to be gone. ) A new pine floor will be laid and finished to complete the room.

I really like how fresh and new the paint makes the room look. There is more "work" to be done on the lower portion before we can move forward with more paint. I think the guys are going to work on Saturday pulling the carpet, installing the board and batten and putting in the sink in the bathroom. Hopefully by Monday we can move into the bathroom area.

My daughter has finished the painting of the outdoor furniture. It looks really good...so I guess we can test out the new cushions!

I have more pillows I'm working on, but with all the painting, that will have to wait. I also have the cushions for the chairs to complete...

More sewing to come...after painting!

Well, that's it for today...see ya' tomorrow!

debi

The BIG Project Begins

Well, no time like the present to begin the "big" bedroom/bathroom project at Miss Janice's house.

I tried to take some before pictures so you'll get a feel for the two rooms. The current plan is to paint, remove the carpets, lay flooring and finish. Sounds simple enough!

Here is the bedroom looking into the bathroom area. Miss Janice has settled on the darker of the two blues...so decision one down. The current color is a pale peach color...so this will be a drastic change. This same peach color carries into the bathroom and we'll be coordinating the two rooms together with the blue and white theme.

We also had to decide on the height of the board and batten area and settled on 54.5 inches from the baseboards. Easy enough...

This is the bathroom area which is adjacent to the bedroom. This picture shows the mirror and pictures already removed. The carpet in this area will be torn out and the small black and white tile (you can see them in the picture) will be laid. There is a beadboard on the bottom and a board and batten treatment on the top. In this room we'll have white on top and the blue on bottom.

Miss Janice has purchased a new vanity that will go in where the current one is located. It's wider and a lot prettier (she picked it up at a warehouse sale for almost 70% off what they are selling for in local stores!) I can't wait for you to see it...it's beautiful! It will really set the tone for a whole new look in this room.

SO....out came the vanity (and not without a LOT of elbow grease). We were hoping to see nice hardwoods underneath the carpet, but not to be. This area of the house was once a kitchen. (After WWII the house was used as a boarding house, so it was split up into several apartments.) I'll try to take a close up of the old linoleum that's under the carpet. It's "real" pretty. HA!

(The door you see here leads to the laundry room at the back of the house.)

This morning began our work in earnest. We cleaned all the woodwork real good before we began painting. We patched the holes and cracks yesterday so we'd be ready to begin painting today.

We decided to start from the top down...so ceiling first. Miss Janice picked an off white for all the wood work, and we went with the same color for the ceiling. It's just a shade darker than what the ceiling was before.

Our helpers enjoyed lunch while we worked....

They were happy for a break from all the hard work (HA!)

Ashley and I decided on wonderful head wear so as not to have a new "color job" for our hair.

However, when we began clean up...our crew decided to try them on for size!

So...stay tuned...we'll finish the rest of the woodwork tomorrow and begin the upper color (which is the blue.) I'll see if I can't find my other pictures of the room filled with furniture.

Till tomorrow.... debi