Whitewater's DIY House PICS!!!!!

[Whitewater]

Ok, folks, the long-anticipated pictures are here!

First, I'm going to show you what the house originally looked like, then we're going to go through the changes, step-by-step, and finally, we'll see the end results.

So. Here's the kitchen of the house, in a couple different angles, with the original paint and wall paper and so on. You can see that it's very dirty and obviously hasn't been touched since the early 1970's . . . .

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/10244/2857337130058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/31622/2340802030058348753S500x500Q85.jpg


And this was the floor . . . . .

http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/43054/2606859340058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

[Whitewater]

This is the living room, originally. It was SO DARK in there, and it was all because of the crappy paint color, which was literally everywhere in the house. Ceilings, walls, doors -- everywhere. It was kind of a faded brown/grey/purple and it was awful.

This picture is after we started taking off the mirror and after we'd taken down the horrible circa 1983 blinds. Just taking off the blinds opened up the room, everybody was shocked. But nothing to what happened when we put the primer on!

http://inlinethumb38.webshots.com/40293/2665419010058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

After we started priming, THIS is what happened!

http://inlinethumb62.webshots.com/43837/2966794900058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/29575/2088463850058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

And finally, this is what our furniture looks like in there now. No, we haven't gotten around to painting the walls yet!

http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/42838/2054547510058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

[Whitewater]

This is the result of about an hour and a half of steaming the wall paper off ---

http://inlinethumb29.webshots.com/41372/2663402030058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Then we primed all the walls . . . .

http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/41419/2719419520058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

And started to paint. . . . . .

http://inlinethumb50.webshots.com/4081/2164003970058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

The trim is a warm white. . . . .

http://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/21440/2935255000058348753S500x500Q85.jpg


And the cabinets are on the next page! (Silly image limits!)

[Whitewater]

Ok, when we started out the cabinets were a very warm, orangey color, but after a couple coats of paint, they don't look orange anymore! I know, I know, we didn't take the cabinet doors off their hinges or anything -- and we also didn't prime the cabinets, which we really ought to have done. Latex paint, on this kind of wood, goes on very smoothly, but if you don't sand and prime, it also peels off like a scab, if you accidentally knock or bump it! We spent a lot of time on touch-ups. The next time, I'm sanding and priming!

Anyway.

We begin the process:

http://inlinethumb40.webshots.com/24679/2536633110058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Then, most everything has one coat of the brown on. You can see how it turned mahogany colored . . . . wait until you see what it looks like with the second coat on!

http://inlinethumb09.webshots.com/41736/2007236320058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

And this is what they look like when they're done, with the new pulls and all:

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/41220/2333951890058348753S500x500Q85.jpg


Here's a close-up of the new pulls. $2.39 each at Home Depot, can you believe it?

http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/41294/2998591870058348753S425x425Q85.jpg

[Whitewater]

This is my MoH, I'll call her Susie, busily working away, though I forget what she's doing. I think she might be painting the edges of the cabinets the first time.

http://inlinethumb17.webshots.com/40720/2038946560058348753S500x500Q85.jpgT

This is our friend, I'll call him Billy, who's handy with just about everything, cutting out the cabinets to make way for our used (but new-to-us) dishwasher. He used a hacksaw and an electric jigsaw -- not something I would recommend, the wood on the cabinets was thick and the tiny little jigsaw blade barely made it through.

http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/19345/2462160670058348753S500x500Q85.jpg


And finally, my Deputy MoH, who voluntarily took on the job of scrubbing that nasty floor!

http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/43410/2535582820058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

[WBandMe]

Wow, it looks like a new place! Nice work!

[Dani]

You are really doing a great job! btw, I love your fireplace mantel!

[MrsDM]

Hard work pays off! The house looks GREAT!!!

[Whitewater]

There's still more to come, hopefully in the next 72 hours I'll be able to finish the library. It's about 80% of the way painted right now, but a tiny fraction of the books are out of their boxes :) Trouble is, we can't put the shelves back until the walls get painted, and we can't put the books on the shelves until the shelves are in their positions. It's a vicious circle. *sigh* LOL!

HOWEVER we got all our stuff out of the old apartment and gave them back the keys on the 27th, so at least that's done, finally. And we cleaned and all too, and THAT is finished.

On the other hand, when using the stove for the first time last night, we had a grease fire. Apparently the people who used to live in this house preferred to live in filth and dirt, for under the bottom of the stove, where the gas ignites to heat everything up, there was grease literally 1" thick. No wonder! There's Oven-Off on there now, and tonight I'll be cleaning the oven out. Yuck. Not looking forward to that! I should have anticipated, though, given the amount of crud and grease and so on *under* the stove on the floor . . . .

More pics to come, probably tomorrow night. Stay Tuned!


Whitewater

[PGDesigns]

The house is coming along GREAT! I'm glad no one was hurt by the fire! I can't wait to see more pictures, Whitewater!

[val24]

wow you are doing an awesome job!
glad you had friends that can help you out!!!

[Nekochanpurr]

You are doing a great job!! Great color choices in the kitchen! *^^*

[Whitewater]

Thanks! Yeah, it's amazing what a little paint and some elbow grease can do! :) The library is almost done, going to take some pictures. With luck, by tomorrow, all the books will be in place!

Whitewater (it's about time, I hate tripping over liquor boxes filled with books!)

[Rainbow Brite]

Wow!! I'm impressed!!

[Whitewater]

YEA!!! I *finally* have more pictures to add to my pictures journal of all the DIY we're doing on the house.

First up, our library room. Now, this is a room that's only about 12x10 and was very obviously a bedroom in a former life! It started off life with really nasty old blinds and a very light shade of blue/teal on the walls. We took out the blinds and primed the walls, then painted them this color:

http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/41631/2667832890058348753S425x425Q85.jpg

It's kind of a leather, oxblood, chestnut color, and it looks fantastic. Changed the whole feel of the room!

I painted as much as I could before the movers got there, but after the movers, this is what the room looked like:

http://inlinethumb49.webshots.com/31408/2344569220058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

And . . .

http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/26443/2717589180058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

My, what a surprise when I FINALLY got all the books put away and got the room squared away!!!

THIS is what the room looks like now that it's really a room! (Forgive the boxes, they're not books, but clothes that I have to hang up in the closet!)

http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/41826/2252359500058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

More finished pics on the next page!

[Whitewater]

http://inlinethumb11.webshots.com/43786/2586320370058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

And one more, just for comparison's sake:

http://inlinethumb06.webshots.com/42309/2462499740058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Yep, that's our cat, Fish. He seems to like his new cat tree. We didn't buy it new, a friend of a friend had it for her cat but he was getting older and wasn't using it, so she gave it to my Deputy MoH, who gave it to me, knowing that we needed one. Fish likes to be up high, and he likes being able to get away from the dog, and look out the window, so, a perfect place for it. The library is quiet (we only read in there) and he likes the peace and serenity in the library room, so it seemed fitting to put his new furniture in there.

Next up: Pictures of the guest bedroom, still in progress!


Whitewater

[Whitewater]

Ok, now for the guest bedroom.

Originally this room was about 13x15 and it's the biggest bedroom on the main floor of the house. The bathroom is between the library and the guest bedroom, and then you walk down a hallway to the kitchen and living room. Behind the kitchen is a room that was probably a bedroom in another life, but I suspect it was originally designed as an office, and that's what we're using it as.

The guest bedroom was originally a very pale yellowish-tan color and it made the entire room look dingy and kind of sickly! We put the primer on and oh, my, the white made the room look HUGE. I took down the curtains (and eventually the rods will come too -- I have different curtains and different rods) but left the shades, the room is fronted by the road and the side window looks directly onto the neighbor's deck, so the shades have to stay for privacy reasons.

Here it is originally:

http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/41048/2452461200058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Then, we primed it, took down the curtains and added some furniture:

http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/34874/2896386880058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Even in the bad lighting, you can see the difference! The bed and the bedding come from my fantastic mother-in-law, who just up and gave us their spare bed -- and sheets!!!! I had no idea of what kind of bed or what color the bedding would be when I picked the paint for this room . . . wait till you see what I chose! It's more than mere coincidence, I'm sure.

This is a better shot of the guest room before I started painting it, but after it got all primed. Excuse the teal pillow, that belongs to my MoH!

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/25060/2449775990058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

In the next page, shots of the room with the paint on the walls!

[Whitewater]

Here's the guest room as it stands now, about half-done with the painting.

http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/42847/2414277100058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

The blue color is actually a couple shades darker in person, but you get the idea. Isn't that wild!? I am still in awe that the bedding and paint should complement each other so well -- and all without me planning it!

http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/42526/2409772890058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Anyhow, that's where things are right now. We bought a large (76"x30"x13") curio cabinet today for the living room, so that we can put our collectibles in there without the cat knocking them over, and I have high hopes of finishing the guest bedroom this week (At least, paint-wise!) and starting in on the living room.

The library needs a rug and some better lighting, but that will suffice for now. And I still need to put a bulb in the bed-lamp in the guest bedroom, but those are little things.

It's coming together! Slowly but surely. Watch this space for periodic updates, as soon as I get them done enough to take pictures of.


Whitewater

[Ninedays9]

I hadn't seen this before, and ... wow! You have put a lot of work into it, and it's definitely something to be proud of. I especially like the library.

[Thalia_themuse]

I hadn't seen any of this before either, but I'm very impressed! The way you've 'opened' the rooms up is incredible!! I love the colours in the library and the guest bed - turned out splendidly!

Nice work, but I can see why you can get tired of doing all the house work all the time! Can be very tiring. But still, when it's all done I imagine it will be sooooo much nicer and more comfy!

[Whitewater]

Thanks, everybody, for your kind words, I appreciate it!

Yes, I am proud of the transformation. Before my parents left for the summer I told them and my agent (at closing) that when they all came by again, they wouldn't recognize the place as the dingy, sad little house that they remembered from before we bought it -- and I think I'm going to be VERY right.

And yes, it's a TON of work and after this, I get to drag all the pictures and so on in from the garage and frame them and put *them* up. First the painting, then the decorating!

People who see my house in process inevitably say 'I can't wait to see it when it's all done' and I always reply, 'Neither can I!'. I can't *wait* to see my finished house! The goal is to get everything done (and I do mean EVERYTHING) by Halloween, so that I can have a big ol' Halloween party and let everybody see the finished results.

It is a LOT of work, but I find I am taking pride in being able to say that I did it all myself, from planning the design to helping install the new disposal to priming and painting -- I did this! Tangible results that look great, and that I can be proud of. It's a big deal, I really have never done anything 'crafty' that I've been willing to own up to in the past, but this is working well, and I love that feeling, of being able to look around me and see that it's good.

And we have what I hope will be strawberries in the garden! So the little gardening we've been doing is also going well. This year we're mostly clearing out the weeds and prepping the soil again, but next year . . . oh, nellie! Fruit and veggies up to our eyebrows, I hope! Right now our strawberry plant is in a pot, but there are a lot of flowers on it and I hope that at least some of those will grow berries. Next spring we'll be planting it in the ground.

Whitewater

[Ninedays9]

Ooh, a Halloween party would be really cool to have, as would strawberry plants. Fresh strawberries would be very tasty, and I was actually just thinking that earlier... 'cause I was remembering these raspberry plants that grew in the wild by our house and how good those were (and I don't even like raspberries normally). That is so cool that you've done everything yourself... most of that stuff is stuff that I could never do... or wouldn't have the patience to do (like painting, I hate painting).

[Thalia_themuse]

It is a LOT of work, but I find I am taking pride in being able to say that I did it all myself, from planning the design to helping install the new disposal to priming and painting -- I did this! Tangible results that look great, and that I can be proud of. It's a big deal, I really have never done anything 'crafty' that I've been willing to own up to in the past, but this is working well, and I love that feeling, of being able to look around me and see that it's good.

That's awesome! The best part is the pride... what you're doing is huge and it will be a massive achievement when it is finished!!! I reckon you've already made a massive achievement getting everything done thus far, and as I said earlier, it's definitely looking great!! I know that for houses near me it is far cheaper to buy something a bit run-down and do it up yourself than to buy something pre-done up, so I reckon you've saved yourself a bit of dough along the way!

Anyways, keep it up and show us more pics when you have them :D
Good luck, have fun!!

[Thalia_themuse]

Ooh, a Halloween party would be really cool to have, as would strawberry plants. Fresh strawberries would be very tasty

Fresh strawberries out of the garden are de-lish! My dad used to grow them, and they were lovely. So were the peas, beans, tomatoes, corn, broccoli... ahhh I wish I still had a veggie garden :(

[Whitewater]

Here is our new curio cabinet, for our collectable stuff. Fiance collects goblets from our local Renaissance Festival (they have new, different ones every year) and has about 15 year's worth, I have a couple very expensive crystal candlesticks (gifts from my first marriage, which I couldn't send back, I'd used them!) and an older terra-cotta set of Chinese horses which represent the 12 Stages of Life . . . . and we don't want our cat knocking these things over if we put them on the mantle or a bookshelf!!!

The curio cabinet is vintage Broyhill and it lights up! And boy, is it heavy. Fiance and I managed to get it from the car into our living room last night (and I managed to get it out of the prior owner's living room, down a flight of stairs and into my car, with the previous owner's help) but just barely -- it must weigh 125 pounds!!! (I estimate this because I can lift 70-80 pounds if I HAVE to, though it's only easy for me to lift 50 pounds or less).

We got it from Craigslist and again, got a steal!

Anyway, here it is:

(Full length)
http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/14067/2145324480058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

And a close-up:

http://inlinethumb49.webshots.com/42544/2450376020058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

[Thalia_themuse]

Here is our new curio cabinet, for our collectable stuff.

Oooh, that's gorgeous! Wow, that's gonna look great! :D

[Brian's Bride]

I am simply amazed by how everything is turning out. You really have an eye for renovations! I'm really jealous of that, because I have problems envisioning how things will look when all I see is dark and dingy!! Everything looks great. You should be extremely proud of what you've accomplished so far! I know what a pain it is to remove wallpaper... ugh. Even with a steamer!

[Whitewater]

Ok, as I mentioned in my non-pics journal, I have been procrastinating doing the living room because it's going to be a pain in the rump to do, as part of the decor plan involves a chair rail (for those of you who don't know, a chair rail is the wood thing that goes around a room . . . it's NOT wainscoting, which is something else altogether and I WISH designers on television would figure that out! Anyway, sorry, rant over!) . . . .

Yeah. Decor calls for a chair rail AND two separate paint colors and so I was kind of dreading the whole thing. Lots of math involved, and a level, and all kinds of icky stuff.

But we finally got the tape up and the painting started!

Here's a couple shots of just the tape .. . .

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/43524/2428260780058348753S500x500Q85.jpg


http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/2678/2300882570058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Yes, that's my dog Roxie in the hallway! Beyond her you can see into the kitchen. See all these boxes in the foreground? Once this wall gets totally painted and done, all these boxes will go away, because 99% of them are the collectables that go in the curio cabinet!

Then, I started painting. Man, what a job. The bottom paint had to be hand-painted with a brush because there wasn't enough room for a roller, and it took FOREVER to do. The top wasn't as bad, I could use a roller there and I got most of it done. The cove and the ceiling we're going to leave white, at least for now, it helps keep the room looking spacious.

Here's a shot of the room with the paint and the tape:

http://inlinethumb09.webshots.com/42824/2532997280058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

You can hardly see the tape because of the paint! But on the next page, I have pictures of what it looks like with the tape off! You won't believe your eyes!

[Whitewater]

When the paint dried enough for me to take the tape off, WOW, was I surprised. I am almost tempted to keep it this way, except that it kind of looks like a tennis court . . . .

http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/41902/2477004170058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Here's a close-up of the corner nearest the door:

http://inlinethumb39.webshots.com/18342/2049071200058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

I know painter's tape is expensive, but it's worth every penny! Even on my textured, psuedo-stucco living room wall I was able to get crisp, clean lines, because I put the tape down first.

The wooden chair rail will go where the white line is now, so that there won't be this big white gap in between the colors. I know it might be cool to keep it, but that white stripe looks more modern than I'm going for -- I want our living room to have a warm, classic look to it that doesn't look like any one particular style.

The next thing to do is to tape the cove (the curved part of the ceiling, where the ceiling meets the wall) and then hand-paint the lighter green right up to the line.

No, wait, I lie. The next thing to do is to get the bulk of the rest of the room painted!


Whitewater

[Whitewater]

I am simply amazed by how everything is turning out. You really have an eye for renovations! I'm really jealous of that, because I have problems envisioning how things will look when all I see is dark and dingy!! Everything looks great. You should be extremely proud of what you've accomplished so far! I know what a pain it is to remove wallpaper... ugh. Even with a steamer!


Thank you! But to be honest, it's my background in technical theatre that's responsible for most of this. While it's true that I have always been able to see what will be (ie, something or somebody's potential) instead of what's really there, the plain facts of the matter are that I've been painting since I was old enough to hold a brush. I've done set pieces and backdrops and so on for 26 years. Is my math right? Started when I was 9 and I'm 34 in a month.

And I went to university and was in the Theatre BA program for non-actors, and got stuffed full of color theory and the differences between Edwardian and Regency furniture and costume design and set design and lighting design and so on, and after six years of that kind of training, well, it's kind of inevitable that some of it would rub off on my own home. :)

I know how to make small spaces look bigger, I know which colors complement each other and which are contrasting, I know the theory of room design (1-2-3 . . . ONE focus point, TWO main colors, no more than THREE accent colors), and thanks to my costume design classes I know more about fabrics than any sane person would want to . . . and I was taught all of this in college. Granted, I picked up some of it in the School of Life, but 6 years of concentrated learning really developed whatever I picked up here and there backstage.

By the way, always seeing the potential and never the actual has gotten me into some pretty hot water over the years. It's not as big a blessing as some make it out to be!

Whitewater

[Whitewater]

Well, it's been about a month since I've written any updates, and the fact that it's only been four weeks amazes and astounds me. We have managed to finish all the painting in the guest room and even have the knick-knacks up on the dresser, as well as a fountain on one of the occasional tables. We haven't put any art up yet anywhere in the house because it all has to be framed and that costs $$$$ which we just haven't had. Hopefully once I start getting paychecks from my new job we can frame and hang the art!

In addition to doing everything in the guest bedroom except changing out the curtains and hanging the art on the walls, we have also:

Taken down the butt-ugly mirror that hung over the fireplace in the living room (you can see pictures of it earlier in this thread, if you need a reminder)

and

FINISHED PAINTING THE LIVING ROOM. All the painting is done. The only two things left are to stain and hang the chair rail, and put up the new curtains. (oh, and make Fiance drag his electronic equipment downstairs, that's what's in all the boxes!) Of course, we also have to hang the photos and the art, but again, we have to frame most of it still, and again, $$$$!!!!!

Here's some pics of Fiance taking down the mirror. Yes, those peach colored circles are where the Gorilla glue came off the wall and took some of the wall off with it.

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/43212/2800787170058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Here's the wall without the mirror at all:

http://inlinethumb35.webshots.com/14562/2774472300058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

Kinda gross looking, ain't it? The peach colored stuff is the previous paint, the black stuff is the glue the people put the mirror up with, the silver things are the track that the glass was in, and the black lines are tape of some kind that also helped keep the mirror in place. We removed all the tape and all the tracking, got rid of the worst of the glue with an Xacto knife and sanded down everything else as best as we could.

Here is the final result:

http://inlinethumb57.webshots.com/32824/2946083610058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

I took this picture when the paint was still wet, and you can still kind of see the circles that were left over. BUT -- we were amazed and surprised when we discovered, after the paint dried, that we couldn't see the left-behind circles at all!!! Our wall looks like it has texture, but that's it. What a relief! The white strip on top is the 'cove' of our coved ceiling. We decided to leave our ceiling white. Once we took off the mirror we also discovered that removing the mirror and keeping the ceiling white makes the entire room look HUGE and wide and makes the proportions correct again. When the mirror was in there and it was all one color paint, it looked a little like a room in a funhouse --- all long and narrow, and the walls fell in towards each other at the end of the tunnel! Now the room looks correct, both wide and long, although we had to correct for the fact that the floor apparently isn't level in one corner.

As Fiance says, "It looks like a real room now" and yes, it does indeed. Here are a few more pictures of the finished paint:

http://inlinethumb64.webshots.com/42111/2386885980058348753S500x500Q85.jpg


One more picture on the next page!


Whitewater

[Whitewater]

And here:

http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/40995/2381243370058348753S500x500Q85.jpg

You can't really tell in this pics, but the cove has 3 dimensions and the line separating the green wall from the white ceiling actually juts out a little. It gives the room some nice visual interest, besides the textured walls and the chair rail -- if we ever get it in!

Oh, and you can also see just a few of the RenFest mugs Fiance has in his collection, plus my gold fire-lizard, Tequila.


Whitewater

[NOTKT]

Everything looks great! I love the colors in the living room, it totally brightens it up! I really like the color of your guest bedroom also! Keep up the great work!

[shopmysongs]

It's amazing how much a room can change. I watch HGTV a lot & love to see the after pictures when they re-hab.