A Small Success and a Large Failure

Or maybe that should be a large success and a small failure. Anyhow, I got a LOT done over the Thanksgiving weekend. So much that I'll have to break it up into several posts. First, the master bath. Here are some before-ish photos. Before-ish because these were taken after the faucet was installed, the ceiling painted, the walls sanded, one wall textured and paper put down on the floors. More boring brown.  You may have noticed that I'm not a fan of brown. I like wood and natural brown accents, but I don't really like brown paint, or brown tile, or brown metal.

Teeny tiny brown vanity, at least it's shaker style. Brown, "antique" bronze sconces.

The wall to the right had no texture so it had to be sprayed. Not that you can see that in this photo.

The ugliest tile in the world! But...it's functional and I'm broke.

If you remember, I painted a sample swatch that I didn't like.

Nooooooo.

 Instead, I decided on Benjamin Moore's Wythe Blue, the 2012 color of the year.

Better.

Trim, or "cuts" done.

Before the t.p. holder was installed.

After painting, I went about installing towel rods and t.p. holders. There were already pre-drilled anchor holes in the wall to the left of the sink, so I decided to use them. The problem is that towel rods come in 18" or 24: and these holes were about 21" apart.

Really boring photo of holes.

 So I bought the 24" rod and cut it to the right size with a hack saw.

This makes a yucky noise.

Ta-da!

Then I hung the hand towel ring and toilet paper holder. I had to look up where to place it. (About 9" above your knee when sitting on the toilet). Here is how the towel was hanging before.

Bad.

And after.

Good.

And now about those sconces...I bought some vintage 1920s aluminum ones from ebay. 

Oooh pretty.

I set out to replace the old (but not actually old) bronze ones. First I turned off the power. I flipped all the switches in the breaker since none are labeled. Note to self--label switches. I unscrewed the sconces.

 I disconnected the wire nuts.

THEN I realized that the antique sconces, although newly re-wired did not connect the same way as the bronze ones. The bronze ones screwed into the metal plate on the sides. The antique ones have one center screw. I guess I will have to screw a post into the piece of wood in the center of the electrical box before I can install my new, old sconces. Boo.

Hmmm...

I reattached the bronze sconces and turned the power back on. Everything works and I didn't electrocute myself. Phew! Next step to putty, prime, paint and hang the antique mirror/medicine cabinet I bought from Craig's List.

It's really hard to take a picture of a mirror without showing in the mirror.

Chirp..Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...Chirp...

The hard wired smoke alarm in my bedroom starting chirping at 1:30 in the morning. I replaced the battery with one that was in a non-hard wired smoke alarm taken down from the kitchen ceiling while painting.
It kept chirping. 

I didn't have any 9 volt batteries and wasn't sure where I would be able to get one in the middle of the night.
Besides, I'm paranoid. What if the smoke alarm itself is bad? It has gone off twice in the past couple weeks after I got out of the shower. It's supposed to be a smoke detector, not a moisture detector. Waving a towel in front of it got it to shut off both times. Maybe that should have clued me in that something was wrong. I should have changed the battery then. If the smoke alarm is bad, I'll have to buy a new one. Then I will have to figure out which breaker switch is the correct one so I can change out the alarm. They aren't labeled. I guess I could shut them all off as long as there is enough daylight to see what I am doing, but in the middle of the night? No. Changing a hard wired smoke alarm is supposed to be just like changing a light fixure--something I've read how to do, but never done. Not really something I want to do for the first time with no one around. I'm still have flashbacks to when I electrocuted myself.
I put in ear plugs and tried to go back to sleep.
No luck.

Other than my bed, I have no furniture in my house so it's not like I could go sleep on the couch or in the guest bed. I moved to the hard, dusty floor in the second bedroom. I shut my bedroom door and the door of the second bedroom.
I could still hear the chirping.

I put the ear plugs back in and shoved towels in front of both doors in case the sound was leaking out the bottom.
I could still hear the chirping.

I put the covers over my head. Chirp..chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...

I eventually got to sleep but woke up about every 15 minutes the rest of the night because wood floors with no cushion aren't very comfortable to sleep on.  Have I mentioned that I am tired today? And maybe a bit cranky?

This morning someone told me that steam will sometimes set off a smoke detector and that a battery change is probably all it needs. I bought 9 volt batteries at lunch and drove home feeling hopeful, but apprehensive. I put in the battery and closed the door. One chirp, then blessed silence. Ah.

Oil Paint is Stinky

This weekend I painted baseboards and shoe molding. Oil-based paint is stinky. Before I show you more boring pictures of a white room with white baseboards and white shoe molding, I'm going to show you a before photo of the kitchen. Why? To truly appreciate how far the house has come, you need to see just how bad it looked when I bought it.

Gross!

See how disgusting and black the baseboards were? See how the yellow paint is at least 5 different shades? See where the stolen microwave used to be? See how nasty the floors were?

And look at the trim around the door between the kitchen and back hall. Ew!

Both sides of the door trim

Look at the kitchen now--primed and ready for paint with straight, smooth door trim replaced by P.

It's not done but I can already hear the angels singing hallelujah.

Door trim after. No lumps or bumps!

 See what I mean?!? What a difference!

So back to my bedroom. This part of the house is newer, so the baseboards weren't as bad, but they still had streaks and scratches and grime. I washed them, sanded them and painted them with high gloss white, oil-based paint.

After sanding

After painting but before shoe molding was attached

With shoe molding

I still need to caulk the seam and nail holes.

Funny how the exact same color (Benjamin Moore's super white) looks different on the walls (latex with pearl finish) and baseboards (oil with high gloss finish).

I also painted a gazillion feet of shoe molding, which is the same as quarter round, but slightly more narrow. The whole house needs new shoe molding.

P cut the lengths I needed for the bedroom, then I went around with my pneumatic pin nailer and attached it. Pow! Pow! The pin nailed came with the air compressor, but this was the first time I've used it.

The goal was to get the bedroom completely done so I could move in. Yes, the rest of the house is still a construction zone, but I'll be able to go into my clean complete bedroom and shut the door. Stay tuned for the final reveal.

I'll leave you with some evidence that it is always good to buy and test paint samples before committing to a gallon. Here is the paint sample for the master bath on the wall. It looked like a pretty pale green in the store.

Holy fluorescence Batman!

My House is Fancy!

P, the best BF ever!

See this man? This man is amazing! I didn't have to call a plumber. He fixed my hot water heater. He fixed my sink. That's right. I have a working sink--with running water and drains and a garbage disposal and everything! Thanks P! My house is all fancy and shit! But seriously, I didn't realize just how much I took for granted having a kitchen sink until I spent months washing my hands, buckets, paint brushes, etc. while bent over the bath tub.

It's so pretty. Look.

Dear sink, I lurve you. Dear ugly glue stuck to counter, soon you will meet the Grim Reaper. Mwahahaha!

Guess what temperature the water is? You bet! Hot! Woo hoo!

And my dishwasher? It runs. That's right. I feel so blessed. I am doing the Snoopy dance of happiness today. And guess what? The dining room has been primed. Here is the photo from the listing.

I wonder where you live now, oh stolen light fixture?

With the ceiling painted and new chandelier installed.

With the walls primed.

It's going to be a pale yellow, something between cream and butter. While sanding the walls I discovered that before it was cave brown, it had been yellow. My house is coming back to the light. It's not a dump anymore. I am starting to realize that it's actually going to be cute. I am excited!

And remember the Grimace purple dungeon, I mean bathroom?

Photo from the listing.

Everything was purple. Walls, trim, ceiling, door, baseboards. Everything.

 After the walls were retextured.

And primed.

With one coat of pale grey paint. One more to go, then the sink and toilet can go back. Won't I be stylin' then?!?

The tile still sucks, but that's a project for another day. Along with stripping the paint from the trim and doors. The to-do list for the rest of the house is long too--finish painting the walls, sand and paint the baseboards, re-install the shoe moulding, remove glue from kitchen countertops, and so on, and so forth, forever and ever, amen. But I think I might actually be able to move in Sunday. Yippee!

So I Electrocuted Myself Last Night...

Apparently face plates on light switches are there for a reason. Who knew that if you touch the metal part between the two screws you can get a jolt? And if you do it with wet hands? ZING! Note to self--never, ever, ever fling hand in general direction of light switch in an attempt to flip it when the faceplate is off. ESPECIALLY with wet hands. Instead, thoroughly dry hands, then oh so carefully touch just the plastic switch and flip it.

It was just the ending I needed to the day I was having yesterday. (Where's the sarcasm font?) Apparently electrocuting yourself not only hurts like a bitch and makes your hand and arm tingle and cramp for a couple hours, but it reduces you to a crying pile of goo who blurts things like "I'm so tired of painting." and "My house is never going to get done." while sobbing onto the chest of sympathetic BF who came over to install your sink.

As far as the sink goes, it's in, and I have cold water but not hot. The pressure valve in the hot water line isn't working and the line will have to be replaced.

I love the faucet. Now I need to remove the ugly tile backsplash and figure out how to get the glue off the countertops.

Not that it matters right now because I can't turn on the hot water heater. In an attempt to light the pilot, I discovered that although gas is flowing, the pilot won't light, which means the controller is probably not working.

And elsewhere in the land of not working there's my 1950s O'Keefe and Merritt stove that I bought via Craig's List. The seller promised me it worked. Once I got it home, I can see several issues that make me afraid to connect it to the gas line [burners aren't connected, gas tubes going to burners not secured, the burner (where the flames come out) in the oven is no longer secured to top of oven, the hinge on the over door is broken, etc.]. The seller won't return my emails, natch.

So much potential...

So now I get to call some repairmen and spend some more money or wait until extremely helpful (but extremely busy) BF (who happens to be a contractor) has time to look at the non-working items. And then, I may still need to call repairmen and spend money. Can you see why electrocuting myself set off a crying jag? I was Grumpy McGrumpster yesterday.

On the positive side, my bedroom has been painted (except for the baseboards). Yeah! And I've started priming the hall bath.

Cool, clean, white.

I Must, I Must, I Must Reduce the Dust.

Did anyone ever actually do the "I must increase my bust" exercise as a pre-teen, other than to make fun of it? Anyway, here is a lesson for all you renovators out there. There is a reason the floors always get done last. And that was my plan too, but it didn't quite work out that way.

I sanded and washed most of the walls in preparation for painting, which I planned to do before the floors were refinished. But as the timeline dragged on and on, I decided I could paint after I moved in--but there was no way I could have the floors refinished after I moved in. So I had the floors done while I was away  camping a few weeks back. Refinishing floors kicks up a wee bit o' dust. The good folks at Delago Grundl Hardwood Floors cleaned up as best as they could, but stopped short of washing all the walls down. They even vacummed all the wooden blinds which were filthy when I bought the place (Thanks guys!).

So now that I am painting, I have the extra step of washing down all the walls...again. You are probably thinking, just how much dust could there be? Do you really need to clean again? See exhibit one below.

It's not a wall, but it's easier to see just how much dust there is. Thank goodness the closet is the only place with shelves right now. On a happier note, the closet is now done and I have started to move in some stuff.

Buh bye brown!

Ah, turquoise, you make me happy.

Remember the formerly forest green front bedroom? It is also done. Everything from my storage unit has been moved in so it's pretty full at the moment, but you can see the pretty white walls. And, yes, I am aware the doors and trim are not as white as the walls. That will be remedied at some point.

Hello stuff! I missed you.

Next up is the master bedroom. It was also brown, with one peach wall. The darker of the blue squares in the second photo is the color I painted the closet. I decided it would be too much for the bedroom. I am going to go with white. I may do a turquoise accent wall. I haven't decided.

Master "before" with the old dark stain on the floors.

Benjamin Moore's Passion Blue on the left (and in the closet).

With one coat of primer.

The problem is that all the walls I've painted so far, even the peach one, have required two coats of Killz primer, which makes the finish line just that much further away. I wrote "Killz" on the walls that needed primer. See how well one coat covers?

Not so well.

I hope to finish the master bedroom and bathroom this weekend so the sink and toilet can be re-installed. I should be able to move my bed in next week and start actually living at the house. OMG!