Operation "House to Home" - stage 1

Sunday C & I went over to the house for the first time as home owners and primed the living room walls. We knew they'd need at least another coat, so today I painted a second coat over all of the living room walls, and a third over the two formerly red walls. That's right, it took three coats of primer to cover the red paint. I easily polished off the 2-gallon bucket of primer on that project, so we'll definitely be buying more to cover the other walls and the ceiling. 


After I finished painting, the air duct cleaner guy came, and then the carpet steamer guy. While they were working on that, I started ripping down wallpaper in the kitchen and discovered that the previous owners wallpapered over old wallpaper! So, it's almost double the work... *sigh*

Here are some photos to document the process, sorry they're so blurry! I'll do better next time.

1st coat of primer

1st coat of primer under the stairs

a blurry spot where some of the paint ran b/c it didn't stick to the semi-gloss

another yucky spot, same problem

just another shot of the kitchen - love the potential for that open shelf! Not sure if I'll put plates or cookbooks there yet....

the most photogenic room of the house - ha!

off the right side of the great room through those French doors is a covered brick patio

just another shot of the kitchen looking through to the living room

the downstairs bath - probably going to paint that oak, and definitely removing the wallpaper, although not any time soon

most of the brass in this house will soon become oil rubbed bronze... just wait :)

the small bedroom that will become my craft room

the view through the future craft room window into the backyard

view up the stairs - that door is the bathroom

after more primer (2nd coat)

first coat on the left, after second coat on the right

painted tile backsplash --- gonna go when we get new countertops! I'm pretty sure there's old wall paper under it, too.

I finally figured out that the fridge should go where those cabinets are on the left - it's way too cramped where it is now. It'll really open up the space, and be more functional. This change also won't happen until it's time for new countertops.

see how it sticks out into that narrow hallway? that's why we're going to move it. When you open the right door, there is about 6 inches of clearance between it and those cabinets you see across from it.

after 3rd coat on the red - much better! the room is so much brighter now!

3rd coat on the red here too

blue bedroom - downstairs - guest bedroom. Planning to knock down that wood on the walls and reuse it for shelving later. 

master bedroom - bed will go on the right

the little [sitting/reading] nook in the master next to the closet

Carlyle's closet - ha! and the master entry to the bathroom on the right, hall in the center

master shower.... with a sliding glass door and transom at about 5 feet... what were they thinking....

not fond of those lights above the sink, and they aren't really necessary.... might try to find some sconces in the future

looking down the stairs

the OLD wallpaper underneath the newer paper. I totally remember this pattern - weren't there dishes to match?? So late 80's / early 90s! 

here's the matching border that went around the soffit

wallpaper ripped off

more progress ripping off the newer paper

if you take a beagle to a house when you're painting....
they're gonna get some paint on 'em.
Luckily, Daisy got more paint on her than I think I did on myself - yay for a neat paint job!
She just brushed up against a wall I think. 

Sorry to jump all around the place, I didn't feel like rearranging all of the pictures.

Here are the plans for the living room:
-paint the trim white
-install white chair rail
-paint between the chair rail and the baseboards white
-paint above the chair rail the color we've purchased - "frosted lemon" - a very very pale yellow
-install picture frame moulding or some other wainscoting detail below chair rail
-rip off the carpet from the stairs, strip, and paint & stain

Hopefully we can install chair rail this summer so things won't look silly when I paint yellow up top and leave the bottom primed white.

That's all for now - probably won't do too much more to the place until the weekend.