Foyer Progress

The entryway is coming along slowly but surely. Dustin is in Atlanta this whole next week so I thought I would work on some "detail" stuff like caulking and painting in this room.

Here's some pictures of our progress. This first picture shows the big plaster bump in the far right wall. If you magnify it I think you can get an idea of how rough and uneven the wall texture was....

Here's Papa and Dustin that first week we moved in, fixing the bump....

If you magnify this next picture you can see the uneven plaster job and the ugly opening to the attic. The big gray thing on the wall is a school bell. It's super loud. I think we'll keep it for the fun of it....or maybe to wake the kids up when they become teenagers.....

Here's Dustin checking out the attic. Notice the light coming in? There are windows up in the attic where the old bell tower was. It could make a really cool room some day...maybe Ethan's. You'll also notice the start of the re-texturing to the left. We closed up this hole since we can access the attic from the room upstairs....it wasn't necessary.

So now, this is the latest....all nice even texture on the walls and ceiling, Dustin put up beadboard, new molding, and experimented with leftover paint from our other house. I think I'm actually going to change it (he said that was okay). :-) Dustin also hung the chandelier....

Stay tuned for the final paint job.....

Final Ceiling Reveal

Ta-Da!

Well, I'm sorry, but these pictures really don't do the ceiling justice. Not only was it hard to get the whole ceiling in the picture, the angle kind of distorts the pictures and makes them look funky. Hopefully you get the gist of it.

The wires hanging down are where we'll put two ceiling fans and a chandelier in the middle....

Dustin and I joked after we finished.....

Wood beams...$100
Used Crown molding...$200
Advice from an interior designer to do this ceiling...$50
Value added to the home?..........

$350

Ha ha, okay, no, it better be WAAAAAAY more than that!!! :-)

Stephanie Becomes A Stripper

Ha, I thought the title would catch some attention!

We're desperate to pay for this remodel but not that desperate.

So, Dustin found this great USED crown molding on craigslist awhile back that was painted this light brown color. It's real poplar wood and I was dying to know what it would look like if I took the paint off and stained it.

I got a small board to try some paint stripper but still ended up doing a whole lot of sanding too. It looked beautiful with dark stain but the only problem was it would take FOREVER to do ALL the boards! Not to mention dust everywhere! But is that the price you pay for beautiful crown molding?

I decided to try another technique...a wood graining technique that uses a light wood color basecoat. Then with a darker wood color, use brush strokes to make it look like wood grain. I really thought it would look too fake. I mean people pay big bucks to pay painters for this very technique. Wouldn't it take years of experience and many classes to perfect this art?

Dustin encouraged me to just try it.....especially since the base coat was already there and ALREADY had the perfect color of light wood undertones!

This was really weird....I went into Sherwin Williams and asked what all I needed to do this wood graining technique. The guy there showed me a tool but said I'd need a whole lot of practice with it because it's difficult to master. And, as long as I was practicing, he said, "You could practice with this returned gallon of paint....I'll sell it to you for ten bucks". He hands me this gallon of dark brown paint and I thought great, that just might work! (Turns out it was the perfect color and finish to match with the beams!!!)

So, I went home and practiced and I thought for my first try, it was pretty darn good! I didn't even have to use the tool the Sherwin Williams guy sold me.....I just used paint brushes. I got a whole piece of crown molding and it seriously took me about 5 minutes to get a nice looking wood grain look.

What would you do? If you wanted a dark wood look, would you spend hours stripping, sanding, and then staining to get the real wood look? Or would you spend 10 minutes painting for a faux wood look?

So, here's the crown molding the way we bought it......

Now, I beg the question.....FAUX.......OR NO????

Can you tell which one is the real wood or the painted one? Okay, you probably can. But, now that it is going up on the ceiling, you really can't tell from 12 feet down.

The one on the bottom (or left) is the one I painted and the one on top is sanded and stained.


These two below are also painted......

Should I be revealing all my secrets? You must promise not to look too closely when you come to see!

Little Spot Of Beauty

Turning weed infested dirt patches into a spot of beauty was a fun Family Night. The quote from Ellie was, "This was the best family night ever"!! And Ethan said, "That was awesome"!!

The finished product.....small and piddly petunias now but we hope they grow nice and full soon!....

As long as we're taking pictures of our new spot of beauty here's a close up of our sign. Click on it to magnify.....

This Week We Got Wider

First, a little recap of the last couple of days. We finished up the beams.....

Me and my expert staining abilities.........

Today, Dustin got more ants in his pants and took out the ol' sawsall to make the doorway into the kitchen wider. I knew it was going to be a dusty job so I followed an inch away from the saw with the shopvac so the plaster dust wouldn't get into every crevice of the kitchen. Worked pretty well!

We discovered some kind of painted mural.....on the plaster but under the drywall. Maybe a turkey?.....

Then a painted chalkboard......

So, remember, the BEFORE picture of the little puny doorway.....

Now, the big doorway with a shot of our new beams....

Dustin casing it up.....

Now, just visualize a clean, gorgeous kitchen. Maybe next year!