Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
I love Farrow and Ball. And, there is no other paint quite like it. I questioned it before, but now I know that it does stand apart from other brands, in a class of its own. It’s not just the color – although that’s pretty damn good too, but the quality – the looks and feels of it on a wall. And I am not the only one who noticed the difference – Sergey did too, which means it really does exist!… Read the rest
As we play the waiting game – currently on order: front door, front door paint, hallway lights, paint for kitchen and bathroom – I decided that there was no better time to address an issue that I had planned to leave for later. Bedroom doors. Those three (not counting the closets) doors are the last hollow core, very ugly doors we have left to replace.
We purchased salvaged, solid wood replacements oh about three years ago.… Read the rest
We have missed out on the weekend of work since we were in NYC for fun. It was fabulous, as always. New York has a lot to offer, including the fact that if you are visiting, you don’t have a to do list to get to. Just relax, sleep-in, see friends. But I digress. In the three days of painting, we have made a small dent in the must get done list.… Read the rest
Finishing up and crossing items off the list. The staircase treads and baseboards are done. Two coats of fresh Cloud White by Benjamin Moore.Notice the newel post – I am making progress here too!
Here are some up close and personal on the damaged stairs – its not terrible but definitely not safe. Not sure what can be done to fix this situation besides the stair-runner.
And Sergey finished with a second coat of paint in the small bedroom.… Read the rest
Can I just say that I am really, really tired of renovating? How do I know? Even new paint on the walls doesn’t bring me any happiness. But a plan is a plan, so we are sticking to it and powering through. We made a good dent in our to painting to do list this weekend. First up, the stairs. Before any painting and priming, there was a whole lot of prep work – removing the carpet, taking out the nails and staples (a total time consuming pain).… Read the rest
Merry Christmas! We got a fir tree this weekend, and its all decorated and such. We decided to go the smaller 4.5″ route this year, so its up on a console in the living room, and right by the window too. Its funny, DC has this thing, where everyone puts their tree by the window. I guess to pass along the holiday spirit, and show off their tree decorating skills. Otto has been quite enthused about not loosing his window perch and getting the tree.… Read the rest
I have been doing a lot of painting. A lot. Doors, moldings, sashes, walls, ceilings, touch ups, here and there and everywhere. So I thought I would share some of my researched knowledge, trial by error, and never would have thought of that tips.
1) Painting almost never stands on its own. Particularly for any woodworking projects or touchups. In the first case, wood filler is your friend. Our contractors introduced me to Elmer’s carpenters exterior/interior wood filler, and it is great for filling in nail holes.… Read the rest
There’s been a whole lotta white in this renovation so far, so I decided to switch it up a bit. Time for some black. on the ceiling. in our main bathroom.
It looks awesome. at least twice as good as the picture above.Its hard to capture in pictures – part of the problem the bathroom is small – its only about 7′ by 5.5′ – good camera angles are difficult to find!… Read the rest
Ah, if only stripping away part I was the one and only part. But no, in addition to the bathtub, there are also countless (or 21) tin ceiling panels and salvaged real wood doors – the ones we currently have are hollow core uglies.
This pretty much sums up how I feel about this stripping project:
But at least we are nearing the end of suffering. Here’s what we have got so far:
Just a few more to go.… Read the rest
We are in a serious stripping phase – out with the old paint, in with the new paint. In between – a whole lotta effort with every stripping paint method known to man (well, almost).
First up we have the old/new bathtub, which had to make it upstairs before it could begin its rejuvenation process (thanks neighbors!):
I was worried for a bit that it wasn’t cast iron because it only took three men to get it up the stairs.… Read the rest