A Few Before and After Photos

My parents came to visit a few weeks back. I got a ton of work done in preparation for their visit and a ton done while they were here. First let's look at what the guest bedroom looked like on the day I got the keys.

The walls were light blue and filthy. The wall opposite of what you see here was dark brown--so dark it was almost black. And, of course, the ceiling was blue as well and there was no light fixture.

Here is a photo with the ceiling painted and brown walled primed during the phase when I was using the room for storage.

I really love that light.

 All that stuff had to come out so the room could be painted and so my parents could use it during their stay. Here is the room now.

I think maybe I need to get a second comforter...

The walls are Benjamin Moore Wyeth Blue. The velvet headboard and bench (Craigslist!) will go into my room once I reupholster them.  The baseboards have been scraped, sanded, primed and the shoe molding attached. I still need to throw a coat of paint on them.

Speaking of baseboards, let's take a look at just how bad they were. Here are some close ups from the kitchen.

Original

Scraped

Sanded

Primed

 It's a lot of work. After priming, the shoe molding was attached and then they were painted with oil paint. Here's a photo with the finished baseboards and a full-sized fridge I'm borrowing from P.

Up to now, I've been using this.

 P also got my stove top working and fixed the broken door! Remember this?

Behold!

The oven still doesn't work, but the burners do. Yippee! Now I need to order replacement knobs and a manual. New parts can still be purchased since these stoves have so many fans. Hopefully the manual will help me figure out how to fix the oven.

One of the things my dad did while he was here was get all the grout and glue off the kitchen counters. This is what they looked like before.

And now.

And finally I'll leave you with the living room. Here's the photo from when I took possession.

And now.

Next steps are to do the baseboards and then strip the paint from the two windows next to the fireplace. If anyone has suggestions for what I could use instead of the ugly brass fireplace screen, let me know.