Wainscoting Woes

It seems like with every project in this house that we attempt, there's always some kind of woe involved.

"Woe is me!"

LOL!

Yesterday, I got so super excited when Scott walked in the door at 4:30 p.m. (which is waaaaay early in the day for him to be home) with a caulk gun in his hand and asked, "Are you ready to get to work?"

"YES!"

He didn't have to ask twice, I was off the couch in a jiffy...  House Hunters was ridiculous anyway.  Who in their right mind would pay $500,000 for a 10 week time share???  (Obviously someone with A LOT more money than me!)

So, we got to work...

Love the smell of fresh cut wood!

After getting the first piece of floor trim cut and in place, Scott wanted to check out how the wainscoting would work.

Yeah.  It didn't.

He didn't like the flat side.

And I didn't like the work involved with the bead board side.

Conundrum.

And why is it that we're still married after nearly 14 years?

C-O-M-P-R-O-M-I-S-E.

Well, that and with 5 children, the business, and the house, divorce is simply too much of a headache.  Its just easier to meet in the middle somewhere.  ;) (That's Laura humor right there.  HA!)

So, I dragged him over to the computer and sat him down in the chair and showed him this...

Sawdust and Embryos

and this...

Thrifty Decor Chick

and this.

Hooked on Houses

And that wall color is the almost exact color of our dining room, so that was a GREAT one to show him.

So, that's what we've decided on doing:  Board and Batten

Great compromise.

And I think, will look much better especially with the wood work beside the stairs.

Notice anything different?
Yep.  I primered part of the stairwell.  :)

And for all you white lovers out there, 

that's going to be a WHOLE lotta white!

Unfortunately, doing that means I have to wait.  You know, for Scott to do some jobs and start getting some money rolling in.  Its been a loooooong winter around here.  The temps have been so mild that we haven't sold a quarter as much firewood, as we normally do.  And with only three pushable snows, we haven't had any income from snow removals either.  The only thing that has kept us going this summer is selling hay.  It has NOT been a fun winter!  And then there's those pesky bills that have to be paid...  Business loans and a house payment and telephone and cell phone and electricity and cable...  Did I mention its been a looooong winter?  So wait, I must.  He says two weeks at the most, since he already has work lined up.  I can work with that.

Sooooooo...

In the meantime, I'm going to work on the furniture that's going in the dining room.  Its time to break some paint out.  And with the lovely 70 degree temperatures forecasted for the next week, I can really get the ball rolling.

Goal:  Have all the furniture completed, so that by the time we get the board and batten up and painted, I can just move everything straight in.  And then, it will be D-O-N-E.  Finally.

Oh the joys of doing nothing on credit, 

but only when we can afford it.

And then I can start on the living room.

YAY!

Here's hoping y'all all have a fantastic day...  And if you live in Iowa, open up those windows peeps!  Its going to be gorgeous day, dah-ling.

Progress: Wainscoting

This morning when I woke up, I wasn't feeling very motivated concerning the dining room.  I spent all day yesterday playing catch up on laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and trying to get all the other rooms "manageable".  This is what happens when you have five children and do nothing but paint.  Today I just wanted to veg out.  I dozed on and off on the couch until about noon while having an HGTV marathon.  How I was able to do that for four hours and not get motivated is beyond me.  Usually, that really gets my butt in gear.  Finally, I decided to tackle the pile on wainscoting that's been laying in the dining room floor for 3 weeks or better.

It was a process to say the least - and my arms feel it.

Each piece had 2-4 nails.  Large nails.  That have been there for over a hundred years.

I had to beat them each out with a hammer.

Then pull them out the top side.

Sometimes they were so bent that I had to do this:

What?  You don't wear dress socks when you're doing home improvement?  ;)  And, yes...  I knocked myself in the chin a few times doing this, but they came out!

I've never really given you a good close up of the peeling paint I'm going to be dealing with...

and the lovely nail holes that those ginormous nails left behind.

Here's where your advice comes in.  Again.  I like asking everyone what they think even though I usually have the direction I'm going in my head.  Hearing someone else's opinion sometimes reaffirms what I'm thinking and sometimes even changes my mind.

I have three directions I can go with this stuff.

1)  The obvious:  Strip all the paint and repaint them to match the trim.  The right way.  Will look new and more professional.

2)  Flake off all the chipping paint and go for the really, really distressed look.  Authentic.  Adds texture and character.  A lot less work.  But will it be too much of the chippy look I love?

All of the darker beige paint like is on the center one and part of the right one will be gone, leaving the glossy white, bits of green and wood peeking out. (Obviously I haven't painted the trim yet.  I'm going to do it all at once and depending on what I decide.)  I haven't touched it, except to take the nails out.  They need to be washed and all the flaking paint chipped off.  Fun times!  :P

3)  Flip the boards over, go with the wider, flatter plank, and then paint them the same white as the trim will be.  It achieves the same fresh, new look with less than half the work.  It also gives it more of a farmhouse look.  They'll have be sanded, but that's a heck of a lot better than stripping.

Keep in mind that there will be a wide base trim at the bottom and then it will be topped with a chair rail.

So, what do you think?  1, 2, or 3?

I'm pretty pleased with the progress I made today.  All the wainscoting is neatly stacked in the corner...

And now I have a somewhat organized space to work in.

Not too bad for an afternoon's work.  And the best part of all?  Finding the treasures of history that someone over a hundred years ago left behind...

The name of the very first owner and builder of the house, plus the location to which the boards were being shipped.  Way cool.  I think I'll be setting two of these aside and doing something with them in the dining room.  I love finding stuff like this in this house!

Next up:

Deciding what color to paint the risers of the stairs.  I'm really leaning toward a lighter green than what is on the walls, but I'm questioning whether or not I should go with a more classic white.  I'm afraid I'm getting caught up in the bright colors of spring fever and might regret it through the other months.  Any thoughts on that?

Soooooooooo...

Please let me hear your thoughts on the wainscoting and the riser color.  I always love to hear what you're thinking!!!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Let's Add The Stairs

So, you know how yesterday I said I was going to paint the trim?

Yeah.

Not.

This is how little projects become big projects.

It really is laughable.

How this entire project started.

You know...

With this bookcase...

and it morphed into the entire dining room...

So just for giggles (and because I'm definitely a glutton for punishment), I decided I might as well prime the stairs while I was at it.  You know, because when I do the reveal they'll be in the pictures.

The stairs were supposed to be the NEXT project.

So much for that!  :P

I think Scott has finally gotten used to my whims, because when he got home last night, it didn't even phase him to see me in pajama bottoms covered in primer crouching on the stairs priming the risers.  He doesn't even bother to mutter an "Oh my God." anymore.  And I'm pretty sure that he doesn't even notice the paint and primer in my hair, stuck in my nail beds...  And he definitely didn't notice, didn't care, or at least didn't say anything about the big smear of primer on my chin that I walked around the house with all evening.  BAH HA HA HA HA!  Poor guy.  He went from a high maintenance wife to one that is still in her pajamas covered in whatever particular medium she happens to be working with that day, when he gets home.  I wonder which one he likes better?  LOL!

But, I must draw the line somewhere...  I'm not touching the stairwell until the dining room is done.  I promise.  Really.  I mean, just because I've been eyeballing it for the last two days doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about it...  I think.  ;)

Today, I PROMISE I will commence painting all the trim.  And THEN I will start on that massive pile of wainscoting.  I think I've figured out a way to get around all the stripping.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

Until tomorrow, y'all...

TTFN,

Walls, Paint, Doors, Decisions...

Yesterday I got A LOT accomplished.

Not only is my blog sporting a new fresh look, but the walls are finally painted.

YAY ME!

It was kind of iffy there for a little while with the wall part, but I managed to pull it off.

On Friday when I broke out the paint and started rolling it on the walls, I realized it was drying A LOT darker than what I had wanted.  I mean, it looked like I had smeared ALGAE on the walls.  BLECH!  So, I decided to do what I did with the paint in the office:  Add white.  However, I didn't have any on hand, having depleted my stash during the office makeover.  DARN.  And I didn't have time to go get any.

So, after volunteering all weekend at a two day state wrestling tourney, painting got put off until yesterday.

I added the white, and then added some more... and some more... and some more.  Finally, I got it to a color I could live with - after adding about a quart of white paint.

But you know me, with painting disasters...

I started worrying I wouldn't have enough.  And the more I painted, the more it became clear that I'd REALLY be pushing it.  And the bad thing with adding all that white...  If I needed more, I don't know if I could mix it to the same exact shade again.  ARGH!  I do get myself into some fixes, don't I?

By the time I finished up, I was literally scrapping the inside of the gallon.  I can't believe that room used up an ENTIRE gallon of paint!  I figured with the stairs, windows, doors, and pocket doors taking up so much room, I'd be fine.  Go figure!  :P

Well, all's well that's ends well...  Even if there are a few spots I'd like to have a little better coverage on.

And what's funnier yet???

I realized AFTER painting the entire room, that I had mixed the paint to pretty much the EXACT same shade as the kitchen.  What are the odds of THAT?  But, its great because now I have a great excuse to paint the kitchen!  HA!

So, today I'm going to finish painting all the trim.

Tomorrow...  The dreaded wainscoting.  But, its coming along and its amazing how much a fresh coat of paint has freshened things up!

But here's where I need some advice.  I decided to paint the pocket doors (just ignore the half-primered one).  What color should I do? Black OR White?  Before I got the paint on and started looking at it with the top of the bookcase, I was leaning toward painting the spindles on the stairs black and doing the pocket doors black.  Now, I'm thinking it will clash.

Weigh in and let me know what you think...

Here's a wider angle, so you can see the top of the bookcase with half of the pocket doors....

Keep in mind that there will be white wainscoting, as well.

Seriously...  I'm stuck on where I want to go with it.  What's your opinion?

White doors and spindles?  

Black doors and spindles?  

White doors and black spindles?   

Make my own decision?  

I need to learn to make my own decisions?  

I'm making it harder than it has to be?  

Its not rocket science?   

 Get a life?

LOL!!!!  

Let me know what you think.

Until then...

Guess, its time to get my paint on.

TTFN y'all!

Dining Room Update

I'm a bad blogger...  I really am.

Even worse, I'm a procrastinator.

What's it been?  Three weeks now?  

I knocked the office out in 12 days.  

The dining room?  

Not even close.  

Ugh.

Maybe its because I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed with the wainscoting, the holes in the walls, and figuring out that the hideous border at the top of the walls has to be painted over because when you try to remove it, it pulls pieces of plaster out with it.  ARGH!

I've walked away from it...  

A LOT.

Silver lining?

This is the worst room in the house, so once I get this out of the way, its smooth sailing.  But I have to actually do it first.

DARN IT!

Here are a few pics that I took yesterday.  I've since finished the primer on the trim and walls, I just have to do a second coat on the wood work.

Welcome to my chaos...

The bookcase is coming along...

The rest?

Eh.  Not so much...

This is the northeast corner and the front door...  On top of this window is where I figured out that the border pulls off the plaster.  Fortunately, I know paint WILL cover it up and you won't even be able to tell.  I painted over the border in office for the same reason and you can't even tell its there.  The white stuff all over the floor is the paint and plaster that I had to pick off yesterday.  FUN!  Not.  I can't tell you how unbelievably frustrated I was.  I walked away from it for a solid week after a huge chunk of plaster fell out.  LOL!

The replacement for the hideous 1950s front door is bought.  I'll save the description for the reveal.  I can tell you this, it is SWEET!

The gaping holes in the plaster occurred when we removed the cheap, pieced together trim that didn't match the rest of the house.  And look!  There's the hideous border in all its glory.  Hello, 1980s!  :P

My first thought when the plaster came off with the trim: 

Shoot.  Me.  Now.

(I'm definitely not one of those bloggers that tackles big, obnoxious jobs and makes it seem like its oh, so easy.  I wanted to puke when the plaster came off.  LOL!!!!)

This is why I decided to use the wainscoting.  It will add visual interest, is technically original to the house (just not this room), and will cover up pretty much all of the issues with the plaster.  It was either that or bust out all the plaster and hang sheet rock.  Nope.  Wasn't going there.  ;)

Speaking of the wainscoting...

It lays where I left it.  Some still has nails to remove.  Needless to say, the kids are banned from this side of the dining room.  I can just see someone puncturing a foot on a nail.  I'm still trying to figure out an easier way to scrape the paint.  Yes, I know.  There isn't one.  I can dream, can't I?

Ahhhh...  The wall beneath the stairs:

Like my mermaid?  A leftover from me trying to pull off beach decor in Iowa...  
And memories from a great night out with my mom on a trip back home.

Initially I thought about leaving the door for a little contrast, but whoever made the door...  Well, its not square and you can REALLY tell.  This is a small full bath under the stairs.  Gotta give 'em props for the layout and smart use of space.  Hanging the door?  Yeah.  Not so much.  So, it got a coat of primer too.

Trying to squeeze my ample booty in between here to prime is like...  Well, you can figure out a simile.  ;)  I have to paint the left side with my right hand, which is fine since I'm right handed, but I have to paint the right side with my left hand, which stinks.  Hopefully, no one will squeeze in there to inspect my painting job!  LOL!  I still have to figure out a way to get on my hands and knees to do the trim at the bottom.  Something tells me I'm going to wind up laying flat out on my stomach.  Fun times!  A perk?  A ginormous vent that dries the primer lickety-split!  :)

Advice time...  What do you think about painting the spindles on the stairs black?  Just for some contrast?  Sort of to make it look like wrought iron.  Plus, those things ALWAYS get filthy from lots of little hands and they are a pain in the HINEY to clean.  I'm considering it, but I figured I would wait until I got the whole room done, before I make a decision.  Since I'm going to paint the risers, I'm afraid there might be just a little too much white.  What do you think????

And the pocket doors...

I'm thinking about painting them too.  Maybe.  Not sure.  Little fingers smeared some primer on them (I love my 4 year old!), but I think I might be able to get it off.  What do you think about painting these a color?  I don't know.  Might be too much.  Although I have seen interior doors painted colors and it actually looks pretty good - although Scott might just have a heart attack.  He wasn't really happy that I was painting the trim in the dining room, but like I told him - it was either that or have to stain the replacement floor trim.  I'd rather paint.  :D

So, that's where I'm at.  Sad, ain't it?  Honestly, I'm just so overwhelmed with it, that I've had a hard time getting going.  Now that it's primed, I'm feeling much better.  Well, that and I'm getting sick of the living room looking like an episode of hoarders.  LOL!!!  Today, my goal is to paint the walls and finish painting the book case.  Then, I can start on the wainscoting with a vengeance and nag Scott to buy the rest of the trim we need for the floors and the book case.  So much for doing it with what I have on hand, huh?  Does it ever work out like you plan it?  ;)

I can say one thing for it...  The living room is going to seem like a SNAP after I finish this!  :)

Its Almost Always Bigger Than You Think...

A project, that is.  ;)

I don't know about you, but whenever I start out on a project, I always think how simple its going to be.  It never quite works out that way.  LOL!

But y'all are going to be happy because not only will I be doing the  bookcase reveal next week, I'll be doing the dining room reveal next week, as well.  YIPPEE! (Not. LOL)

These things happen when your husband gets in on the fun.  :P

Yesterday morning, when Scott came down stairs, I had already drug everything away from that corner of the dining room and started stashing it in the back half of the living room, to give myself more room to work.  And I was just staring at it.

I won't bore you with the ensuing conversation, but it entailed Scott taking a closer look at what I was working with, shaking his head, and breaking out the power tools.  He had a VERY happy wife.

Who knew the top was merely tongue and groove?  PERFECT for my idea!

I could have done without knowing about all the mice poop that is inside our walls.
EWWWWWWWWWW!

Discovered that the side wall is sheet rock.  Well, that's good to know.

All the mice poop, dirt, and plaster chunks that was inside the wall on the floor.
GROSS.

Remember how the bottom stuck out further than the top shelves?
Scott cut them down to size.  LOVE IT!

Scott complaining that nothing in this house is square or level.
I told him, "Might as well get over it, because you can't change it.  Work with what you got."  He looked at me like I had sprouted horns and proceeded to make it level and square.  LOL!

Taking down the tongue and groove.

And lest you think I did nothing but hold boards and sweep up the mess, this was my little part of the beginning of the project.

My job was to take out all the trim nails and prepare the boards for painting.

Considered using chalk paint, but decided I better take the time
now to prime it or I'd be kicking myself later.  :)

Sorry its blurry.  My battery was going dead.
Scott is bringing the top out so that its square with the shelves, instead of being recessed.

And here's the sneak peak I promised last night on Facebook...

So, of course, after looking at what we finished yesterday, it was decided that I would go ahead and paint the room.  Lucky, me!  And of course painting the room entails painting the trim.  And counting the wall beside the stairs, this room has a WHOLE lot of trim!  Goal day:  Thursday night, before we go to Kids' State on Friday.  I'm not necessarily going to hold myself to it, but that's what I'm shooting for.

The biggest challenge?

Doing the entire room with what we already have.  Its actually kind of fun and Scott thinks I'm nuts, but I told him that was the deal.  Luckily, we had bought some trim years ago, that I had forgotten about.  And I've got the original wainscoting that we found hidden behind the kitchen cabinets when we put new ones in in 2009.  I'm pretty excited about it.  Maybe we'll actually get the new front door put in, that we bought 4 years ago.  HA!

So, here's a quick way before, before:

Seriously, the current state is not fit for viewers.  LOL!

So, that's what I'll be up to this weekend...  and next week.  Hopefully, it goes as quickly as I hope it will.  And you know I'll keep you posted!!!  :D