It’s time to get back on track with my postings here. My whole reason for starting this blog was to keep a “journal”, if you will, of all the projects we complete big or small. Having a record of all the work we’ve done over the past 4 years is incredibly motivating to us… and it helps us realize how grateful we are to have this opportunity and just how far we’ve come. Unfortunately I have NOT been keeping up well with things and that makes it ten times more difficult to get going again. I’m just going to START back with a few posts and try to get back on track. Bare with me over the next week or so as I update every little thing…. boring and WOW!
So Richie and I have been ALL OVER THE PLACE with our projects. I’ll introduce you to MY current project which is the home office space. The image below is how the office space looked when we moved in. Very dark, dated, paneling, lovely avocado green paint and dark stain. Honestly this picture doesn’t look all that bad…. but in real life it was pretty nasty. Not a very inspiring space.
Some may say… what the heck kind of office is that? Well, don’t forget this was once the receptionist desk for the architect who ran his business out of the house. Pretty hip I think and I don’t intend to tear it out because I love the story. I will be the receptionist in this house. But it will be hard for Richie to chase me around the desk. (giggle)
Of course once you start tearing things up to refinish them…. things get even worse and you start to wonder why the hell you tore it up. Luckily the vision I had in my head kept me focused. I was ready for a bright clean space and I’m determined to get there. I spend a fair amount of time at this desk working on my computer not only for the blog but for all the website work I do on the side. Richie and I both use the space throughout the day.
As we began taking down some of the paneling we were delighted to find sheetrock under it. That was NOT the case in the rest of the house so it was like winning the lottery. YAY… no sheetrock to hang.
BUT… there’s always a BUT…… it meant having to FIX, float, and texture the rock that was there. DANG! So I started with the wall directly behind the desk. You can see it above and below.
I have to say that if there’s one skill I’m really proud of it’s that I’ve mastered the taping, floating, and texturing of sheetrock. It’s a tedious, messy, pain in my ass, but when it’s all over it makes a world of difference. Take a look…. world of difference, NO? Hello pretty white walls… lets move on.
Once the wall was done I had to paint the ceiling. Having white ceilings in this house was the right decision. The wood tongue and groove is nice but honestly it’s not high-end wood and it made the house feel dark. You can see where they took out a sky light that was once there. Not pretty… but I could care less. I’m happy it’s gone. It leaked and was in a really stupid place. You can see how much lighter it makes the room.
So I move to the other side where the built in desk is. So much work ahead. I have to admit I was dreading it. Once I get going my attitude always changes. I GET SO WORKED UP! Down came the rest of the paneling.
You can see what the sheetrock looked liked once the paneling comes down. It’s not pretty.
The walls are starting to look so much better all patched and floated. Bye Bye brown paneling!
Once the paneling was down I took off all the slider doors from the cabinets on the wall and on the desk. Those will get a new coat of paint. I TOTALLY love guacamole… but these avocado green shelves needed to go. Painting the insides of cabinets and drawers makes them so pretty to open and look in to. Don’t you agree? Aren’t the little built in compartments fun? I’m trying to decide if I’m going to keep them.
I then moved to the desk itself and scrubbed and sanded and filled nail holes, etc. There was lots of dark stain on the everything and my secret trick to removing some of the stain is using a sanding sponge dipped in water. I dip the sponge into a bucket and begin to scrub the wood. It sands, removes the dirt and grime and also takes out some of the stain. The real plus, especially when you’re living in a house you’re renovating is that wet sanding doesn’t kick up tons of nasty dust. It washes out in the bucket and gets dumped. I love this method and use it on almost all the wood in the house.
Check out how much stain it gets rid of. Also, see how horrible that wood is. Again, the quality of the wood used was not all that great so that’s why I’ve decided to paint the desk instead of refinishing with a stain and clear coat.
I then moved to the other side of the desk to paint the inside of the cabinet. Richie happens to walk through at this point and says “why in the world are you painting the inside”. HA HA! Okay ladies.. you know exactly why. Would you leave this? YUCK. And this is after my wet sanding technique.
I just mumble something sweet and sarcastic as he walks out of the room. Men!
One coat of primer was all it took. Yes, good decision! NIGHT — DAY!
And here’s where I am today. The walls are DONE, the cabinets painted, the desk frame painted.
The next step is painting the drawers and slider doors, cutting cord grommets for all the messy cords, adding new knobs to everything, and I’ll paint the desk top trim last so I don’t mess it up while all this happens. And of course all the fun decorating and hanging of new lights, a new desk chair and more.
The area above the cabinets is still undone because we were trying to decide whether or not to rip them out. We’ve decided to keep them so they go all the way up to the ceiling. Those will get sealed with sheetrock in the next week.
But it’s going good. Progress!!! More updates as I move along.
Again, I know it’s time for me to get back on track with the blog so hang in there with me over the next week as I catch up with all the small accomplishments. Thanks for reading!!
i love how you’re like, i need to keep you posted on my projects! and it’s like this TOTAL demo/make-over intense project. holy cow! it looks amazing. you totally should have kept the cado green, sister! ha! but it’s such a great facelift in progress!!! i wish i had an office like that. hell, i wish i had an office!! i can’t wait to see the final project. i’m sure it’ll be amazing and make me drool like the rest of your house.
welcome back, lovely friend. your posts make my day. xo
HEY Tamara! Thanks for looking and for your enthusiasm (which always makes me feel like I can keep going!). It seems several people like the green insides of those cabinets… but I’ve become old and cranky and white keeps my calm. HA HA! I’ve been working like a dog this weekend and have gotten to the point where I’m shopping online. Richie is having a spaz. “Can’t you just wait until it’s finished”. HA HA! NO, I CANT! I’m excited for the reveal but it’ll probably be another couple of weeks. Good to be back. I’ve missed this. Thanks for sharing it with me. Love ya!
Welcome back! I will be out of town for a few weeks, but I look forward to seeing all the progress when I get back.
Thanks Jess. Have fun on your trip!
Welcome back to blogsville! I’ve missed you.
Had to laugh when your “before” colors reminded me of a dress I wore in seventh grade … until I realized that was about the same era as your house, and I quit laughing. I, too, would have kept the avocado green (or maybe another color?), but the office is looking great! How did people function in such darkness? Love the wall phone … again, from my childhood. Fun to see a computer sitting in a MCM office! Looking forward to more posts! :)
Hi D’Arcy! I bet that dress was as cute as can be! I actually love the color but honestly I think I’m so exhausted that I can’t even think about what color to paint anything anymore so I just do white.
At least it’s clean and calming. THe green was pretty perfect for that time, wasn’t it? As for the darkness… again… I have no idea how people live like that. Which might explain my obsession with white. The house is slowly lightening up and .. well… so am I, HOPEFULLY. HA HA! Thanks for visiting. Your kitchen cabinets are so gorgeous. Looking forward to more on that. Take care!
That’s no “small accomplishment” in my book! The office is looking great – oh the beautiful blogs that will be posted from that space…
Yes, love the cabinets and the cubbies!
So funny that was a receptionist’s desk. The attached apartment at our house was originally a dentists office – you can see that the living room was once the lobby, the kitchen was once the receptionist’s area, and the bedroom was where the dentist did his work. Our neighbor had a tooth pulled there back in the 60’s, ha! :)
Thanks, Jocelyn! I hope it turns out okay. At least it will be fresh and clean and bright. In the end that’s all a girl can ask for! And maybe a new Eames office chair. (I’ve almost talked myself into getting one. I’m so bad.) So cool that your attached apt was a dentist office. Then you know exactly how cool it is to see it as it was intended. I bet it was nice for both the architect and the dentist to have a space they could work from and still be “at home”. It’s the MAIN reason we wanted this crazy house. It’s in the back… we can close the hallway door and nobody has to see our stuff. Thank you for being here. I can’t wait to make/share more progress.
Great job! I say keep the cubbies :-) I also loved the green but it looks so much brighter (and I am sure cleaner) for you. I look forward to more updates! Thanks for sharing.
Hey Lady! So great to hear from you. Thanks for the nice comment. The cubbies are pretty darn cute. I’m still debating. I do love all the little built-in features in this house.
Wow, looking great! Sometimes I have mixed feelings painting over wood but it’s easier when the wood is in bad condition or cheap, like you say. The white makes such a difference in the light- looks nice and crisp.
Glad to see you back. Looking forward to seeing the space when you’re done.
CINDY! HEY! I know what you mean about the wood. I cringe when I think about painting over it but it’s just cheap ply-wood so I’m getting over it. I still have that bit of trim around the edge and honestly I think I’m just going to re-stain the edge piece and call it a day. I think I’ll feel better. Hope things are good with you and your family. Thank you for saying hello!
The office is looking great – so light and bright. I love all the built-ins that make your house so unique. Can’t wait to see what you pick for flooring in there too . . . Cheers – CT
Oh CT… the flooring… (sigh) I really wanted to install wood floors in the back of the house but I’m in a small but polite battle with the husband as he wants the sealed and waxed concrete like the rest of the house. I’m sure I’ll give in but I miss having wood floors (had them in my last house). Light and bright is exactly what I needed to hear. And it’s exactly what I need in my life. Thanks, girl. I’m painting a few of the cabinet sliders a dark blue and I thought of you and your bathroom. Can’t wait to share the finished space. THANKS!
Welcome back!! :)
You go girl. It is so much brighter now!!! and I totally envy your sheet rock skills.
Hello Brittney! I’m just LOVING all your house updates. You guys are totally rockin’ it. It always inspires me. I think we’re alike ….we love that bright white painted wood.
As for sheetrock. YUCK! I hate it!… but I’m happy I know how to do it. It has saved us so much money in the end. And I can do everything at my own pace. Thanks for looking.
Oh you know me and my painting wood phobia so I definitely agree that there are times where painting is the only way to go.
How much do I love the simple solution of sanding with a damp sponge? That is genius for keeping it all in check!
I can’t do sheetrock or drywall or anything that involves that length of line perfection. It’s a lot trickier than people assume. You go girl!
Hi Alex! That sanding sponge has saved my life… no lie. I have used it everywhere in this house and it has kept me from having a nervous break down. I’m a freak about dust in the house which seems ridiculous since I’m living in a big ‘ole mess 24/7. HA HA! Thanks for being here, friend!
That was a LOT of work, and it’s looking fantastic. What color are you painting the slider doors? I can’t wait to find out!!!
Oh Dana… I have lost my excitement for color in my old age. I guess I’m just too tired to try to pick something. HA HA! So unfortunately I’m sticking with whites, grays of different shades and gold.
It seems to be a theme in this house and in general it goes with everything. Easy and not much to think about. So the color is not that exciting but hopefully the end result will be. Thanks for sharing it with me. As someone who’s finished a fabulous space you know how anxious I am to get there. :-)
I think whites, grays and golds sound beautiful!
Wow… I’m still trying to pick my jaw up off the laptop.
Girl, you’ve got SKILLS!! I think we need to fly you out to tape, float and texture our sheetrock. You’re seriously incredible! The whole space is really outstanding and although I kinda like the groovy green you had going on, the white is like a breath of fresh air. It’s going to be such a fun space to work out of when it’s finished. Congrats!
PS. So glad you’re posting again. You were missed. :)
You’re too kind, Danielle. You know I don’t ever think I have any sort of skills at all. But I pretend. And that’s so much better than doing nothing at all.
I have to laugh because I have no idea why I can’t take a compliment. It’s hilarious and it reminds me of that Amy Schumer video about women receiving compliments.
Have you seen it? I laugh EVERY TIME! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hzlvDV3mpZw#at=127
THANKS DANIELLE!