Room (?) Number Three – DONE

It has taken a good two weeks of work, but the under-the-stairs coat closet is finally finished. In fact, it was taken so much work we have re-named it the “Coat Pavilion.” Before, it had one rod that stretched from just inside the door to the back of the closet, a little shelf above the rod, and two hooks on the back wall. Storage was awkward because the front part of the clothes rod was only a few inches from the wall, so coats hung at a funny angle, and hats, gloves, and scarves were always falling off of the too-narrow shelf.

The plaster walls were crisscrossed with big and little cracks. Patching the small cracks in the plaster was a many-step process of applying joint compound (mud) to the cracks, waiting for it to dry, sanding it, applying more mud, letting it dry, and sanding again. Medium cracks required and application of plaster repair fabric (Fiba tape), drying, sanding, and then more mud, etc., etc. The big cracks and the places where the plaster had pulled away from the wall required a patch system called “Big Wally’s” which was yet another multi-stage process and messy, but it worked well. The walls were very unevenly textured and the goal was to make the patched areas look like the rest of the wall.

Sami designed the new lay out, and Don built the new shelves and rods. Everything was primed and then painted. Don added new quarter round at the bottom edge and we gave the floor a coat of urethane. We also added an IKEA storage system with four pull-out mesh drawers.

Our favorite touch is the three owls who have taken up residence; Bubobubo, Hedwig and Pigwidgeon.

We suppose a closet can not be called a “room.” But whatever it is, it is DONE!

Trim trim

We chug along, each of us working through the list of tasks. As part of our project, we have both put in considerable amounts of time getting layers of old paint off of existing wood trim. Often there were four and five layers of paint and you had to know some of it had lead in it. We took a vote, and it was unanimous – we decided to have all the trim left to be done “dip-stripped.” :Last weekend Sami hauled the lot to “Timby’s” in North Portland, and today we picked up the cleaned-of-paint trim. We saved weeks of work, and enjoyed doing business with locals; Tim and Debby. Their shop is filled with interesting furniture projects, Tim’s collection of vintage tin cans (Which held at one time, everything from coffee to calves livers.), and one very friendly little black and white doggie.

There is a lot of trim in our house!

WHAT A DAY!

We made a list of all of the tasks left to be done, and its very daunting - 206 items long! But we continue to plow ahead. Besides making the list, we got three big items that have been long in the planning stages; the counter tops were installed,

It took the workers less than an hour to install the counters, but they did a great job.

Sami picked up the back splash tile from Pratt & Larson,

Here are most of the figurative tiles that will form the mosaic behind the range.

and we chose and purchased ceiling lights for the kitchen, and Don installed them.

The lowered ceiling is gone, so there is room for "school house" lights.

We checked 4 items off of our list. How about that!?

And the Beat Goes On

Upon completing the study to our satisfaction, we have turned our efforts back to other areas of the house remodel.

Don is focusing on the main floor bathroom. He put two layers of cement backerboard down on the subfloor (needed, to get the final floor high enough to work with the toilet mounting flange). The old tile floor was installed over tongue and groove fir, which was removed in the demolition, and which was not a good surface for tile. The backerboard layers were installed with mortar and lots of screws.  Then ceramic porcelain tile was installed, also using mortar. It’s the same tile that we used in our upstairs bathroom, but a blue color instead of greenish. We are quite happy with how it turned out. The job was finished with grouting. Don forgot how messy grouting is. And to make the challenge bigger, that was done during icy weather. The garden hoses were frozen, making the frequent cleaning of buckets and tools more of a challenge. Don thinks he should be featured in a Ryobi ad...his tile saw has done two bathrooms, and our extended brick walkway, without missing a beat.

The color is "sapphire blue."

Don also reworked the door that used to be at the end of our funny angled hallway by the dining room, and installed it as the bathroom door. The old 24-in wide bi-fold door made most people uncomfortable in the old bathroom, as it wouldn’t close all the way. He installed the last of the trim for the door today, and will move on to the window trim and wainscoting in the bathroom.

Finally! a real door to our main floor bathroom.

Sami has continued her role as the color planner and painter. We have a hallway filled with paint cans. It’s been a challenge of sorts, but Sami has painted as details become complete enough to do so. Her next big project is to become a plaster repair expert, repairing cracks, which are all over the house. She did research and found a system (Big Wally’s) that enables re-bonding loose plaster to lathe, so that crack repairs are durable. She’s going to hone her skills by doing repairs in the main floor coat closet, which has big cracks in the plaster, and big sections that are loose. She is also reconfiguring the closet to make it more functional (moving the closet rod and adding organized storage).

Sami hopes to become the plaster repair Queen.

Room Number Two - DONE

We didn't take any good "before" photos, but here are some "after" photos of the second room completed; our study. Don finished the last detail today; hanging the Venetian blinds. Twenty-four years ago, when we moved into the house, the room was paneled in dark knotty wood, had brown fabric shades, and a brown shag carpet and a built-in rough wood dresser. It served as Carl's bedroom. After Carl moved out, we pulled up the carpet and Don refinished the oak floor. We took out the built-in dresser and added bookcases. We painted over the wood paneling with a bright blue of Emily's choosing and exchanged the bed for a futon/couch. The room evolved over the years into our study, with the addition of an oak desk from Don's work that we rescued from being dumped (now Sami's desk), and the little roll top desk that was Don's father's desk (now Don's desk). Of course computers and printers and the tables that hold them have evolved. However, we both still prefer a desktop computer to a notebook or tablet. When we got serious about the remodel we switched out the futon for a large wardrobe, to make up for the lost closet space on the main floor that was being turned into part of the kitchen. Don ripped out the north wall, added insulation, and rebuilt it. Sami refinished some of the wood trim and Don rebuilt some. Sami gave everything fresh paint; "owl gray" for the walls, and a warm white for the trim. We are especially fond of the Venetian blinds because their horizontal lines contrast with the vertical lines of the now gray paneling.

It is a room where we spend a lot of time, and we are happy with its quiet, peaceful qualities. We may still hang a picture or two, but we are officially checking it off as COMPLETE!

Looking north to Sami's side.

Looking south-west to Don's area.