Well, it’s still raining here in Texas, but at least not non-stop. We’re doing our best to work around the down pours. It looks like the upcoming week shows some improvement and we’ll see the return of heat and humidity. Never thought I’d be so excited for the return of both!
I have been taking advantage of the fact that there is always an indoor project to do when the weather doesn’t cooperate. So LUCKY ME, I’ve been working on a portion of our media cabinet. Yes, aren’t you jealous?… I know you are. If dirty, messy, stinky, and sticky are your thing.. then you’ll know how much I loved doing this. (sarcasm!)
I’m sure if you’ve looked at my blog for even one minute during a visit you may have seen a picture of the very large mural we have that spans the den and living area. There are 8 sliding doors that make up this mural and behind them…. a dark hole of filth! It’s not my finest moment to admit that there is a dark hole of filth anywhere in my house… but it’s the internet and you have to tell the truth on the internet (everyone knows that!)
Behind those sliding doors is something that is rather genius and one of the many things we love about this house. This huge storage area hides book shelves, vinyl records and CDs, magazines, the TV and stereo and whatever else one might decide to hide or display in the cabinet. What’s nice is that you don’t have to look at all the “stuff” all the time. Just shut the doors and wah lah… instantly clean and all is hidden. It’s sort of like when your mom told you to clean your room when you were young and you just threw everything in the closet or under the bed and like magic your room was 10 times bigger and instantly sparkled. Same thing!
The inside of the cabinet is wood paneling that had been stained with some sort of grayish/brown stain and not necessarily with the greatest of care. It looked pretty horrible.
The previous owners had a very large TV that was so deep they had to actually go into the wall between the studs and section out a square for the back of the TV to fit in the cabinet. (see above)
They also built some sort of TV stand with drawers to fit inside the cabinet and slapped on some black paint. (equally messy). So we knew that “some day” we would get into this cabinet, clean it up and make it nice to look at. I came home from work on my lunch hour one day and Richie had decided to tear it up! “Some Day” had come!
old TV cabinet removed
The paneling was added to the walls and THEN the cabinet was built around it… so in order to remove the paneling you would have to disassemble the entire cabinet. Ummmm, NO! That definitely wasn’t going to happen so Richie had to literally chisel out the two pieces of paneling required to fix this hole. I’m sure at this point he may have regretted starting this project but there was no going back.
After the panels were down he reinforced the walls with more studs to bring it back where it should be. He insulated with some left over rolls we had and began to cover the hole with two new sheets of paneling. Finally the big weird hole was gone! Richie begins to pound his chest and call himself “the man”… all while walking off knowing he was done, never to return to this mess again. He knows not what hell he causes. Now I have to do something with this…
Since the whole damn cabinet is made of paneling and there was no way we were going to take it all apart to install sheetrock, I knew that I would have to perform some of my “make it look like sheet rock” magic. It’s really easy to make wood paneling appear like textured sheetrock and I’ve had to do it in two closets and on one wall in our bedroom. So I started the messy process by taping the seams with mesh tape and doing all the steps you would normally do when you’re taping and floating sheetrock. It’s no different.
I’m not a “pretty” floater but I get it done. After two coats and sanding all the wood in the cabinet, I mixed up the mud to a somewhat watery consistency (like runny pancake batter) and began stomping a crows foot texture on to the panels.
It’s messy but it goes really fast and once it dried, the next day I applied an oil base primer to everything. Oil base SUCKS! Here’s where the fun ends, but the outcome is the best! It’s better to use oil over paneling so you don’t get any bleed through and it seals everything up so well. It’s a must.
Once the primer dried I FINALLY got my reward… PAINT! Lovely, creamy, fresh and clean WHITE PAINT! I never thought I’d be so happy to paint something boring white. Thank you white for being so bright and clean… my dark hole of filth is starting to look like clouds in heaven. (too dramatic?)
The main electrical box is located in the closet (seen here) and Richie will removed the front cover and spray paint it white for me. So hopefully that will blend in much better.
So now everything has one coat of white paint and I couldn’t be happier with the results. It’s such a big improvement and when we want to watch TV I won’t dread opening those doors and especially won’t when we have visitors. I’m going to apply another coat of paint just to make sure it’s all even and then we’ll work on getting that area of the cabinet all fixed up with new shelves, a new TV and wall mount rack that extends, and other little collectables to display along with LED lighting. It will be a process that we’ll just take our time with, but for now it feels good to have this messy little corner of the house sparkle and shine.
Obviously not the FINAL pictures… but you get the idea. Thankfully this space is no longer “Scary” …. but my TV did enjoy dressing up like a ghost.
Richie has all the new wood slats for our bed planed, biscuit joined and ready to be sanded. He’ll continue to work on that this week.
I also want to thank the many wonderful bloggers who gave out blog awards in the last week or so and included me on their list of “lovely blogs”. It’s such a joy meeting so many wonderful people that share a love of home, food, renovation, design, mid-century modern, thrifting, and the day to day craziness life brings. I think you’re all so awesome.. and THANK YOU!
Meghan at Ratnam Residence
Brandy at MidCentury Modern Love
Cathy at Inspired D+sign
Amber at The Usual Bliss
Alex at North of Seven
and the lovely Dana at Mid2Mod
Wow, it looks soooo good! I just love all of your windows, too.
Thanks Kim. It’s so much better than that yucky brown torn up stuff. I’m happy it’s almost done! The windows are something I appreciate more and more every day that I live here. I never feel closed in.
We have our own portal-to-hell… but you’ll not be seeing any photos of it until there’s an after-picture! That’s what DIY gives you—the ability to own your deepest, darkest, secrets. And then put them on the Internet for other people to admire.
Like all of your projects—that looks utterly amazing. But I will NOT be showing Paul. I do not need him seeing how handy you are with the spackle. Seriously? That is one tedious task that I have resisted learning. Claiming idiocy and confusion has worked so far, and there’s no need to mess up a good thing.
That is a totally genius cabinet and a heck of a lot of storage space. It’s the perfect solution for clutter!! Looks awesome. Plus, you get to put your living room back together which is the best part!!
PORTAL TO HELL… BLAHHHHHH ha ha ha!!! I’m narrowing down my hell portals these days. Last week we moved into this house 3 years ago and thankfully the disgusting parts are getting fewer and fewer. One more down…. but that’s only half the cabinet. (baby steps). I also have a hideous laundry room to do. I’m not sure if I’ll have the guts to even photograph that one. YIKES!
It seems that I am the one who gets stuck with tedious. I am getting too old for tedious and it’s starting to wear on my nerves! We actually got quotes on finishing out the sheetrock work in the house and it made me GASP!!!! Tedious vs poor …. hummmmm, I guess I’ll take it and be happy that I can. The sheetrock guy saw what I had already done and said …. “you don’t really need me”. HA HA! I took that as a compliment but knew that meant I was on my own.
The cabinet is massive and I’m happy for the “tucked away” storage. It’s unique and we love it. Three cheers and a cartwheel for getting my living room back. The worst part about living in a renovation…. living in a renovation!
The artist who did the mural is coming over for a visit soon so I’m hoping to get the full story on those panels. I’m looking forward to it!
Thanks for looking and always being so generous with your words, Victoria!
He is “the man”, but you are “the woman”! Texturizing the wall like that… It’s stunning and I’m pretty sure not as easy as you make it sound. The difference of the entire unit is astounding! Your new TV will look amazing in it.
HELL YEAH!! I’m a WO-MAN… hear me roar! (laughing) He’s the mess maker is what he is. He’ll literally tear it all apart and then walk away like nothing happened. AHHHHHHH! There’s nothing wrong with that except, excuse me dear… this is OUR living room. We live here. HA HA!
Thanks Danielle, I’m looking forward to getting it all “tricked out”.
I think he’s just gunning for a new TV. Ha!
I love that you two take time and effort to make your home exactly how you’ve always dreamed it :) Go you!! Looks awesome!
Oh that is so nice Kristina. Thank you sweet lady! My dream home is one that is finished (ha ha ha!) One project at a time, I guess. My other dream would be to NOT have to work. Imagine all the trouble I could get in to if I didn’t have a full-time job. OH YES!!!! HA HA!
Thanks for the encouragement. Have a great week.
I love the mural! You are so handy. Projects are always so much more satisfying when you complete them yourself, aren’t they? And thanks for the blog mention!
I sort of burst out laughing…. because I think I’d be just as satisfied if someone else did the work right about now. ha ha ha! I left my desk to go to the restroom this afternoon and my glasses have paint speckles all over the lenses and my hair is full of white primer. I’m a total mess. The really funny thing is that nobody notices anymore. (lol) But yes, it’s satisfying… especially when you can share your wins with fun friends. Thanks, Amber.
In my past life, I lived in a fixer-upper from 1906. My ex husband was awesome at DIY stuff but the list NEVER got shorter! THere was always something mid-project. I loved the charm and progress that made it ours, but I remember getting sick of the work. Sometimes a glance back at the “before” photos to help me remember how far we’d come was all I needed!!
I don’t want to sound whiney but I want to get to a point where the only thing I have to do on the weekend is a load of laundry. I’m ready to kick back and just “be”… be a normal person who does normal things. I feel like you did… I’m sick of the work. It seems to come and go in waves, though. I’m learning to surf the waves and hope a shark doesn’t bite my head off. HA! The blog definitely helps me remember how far we’ve come and that definitely helps. Thanks! – hugs.
Thanks for the shout out, Stacey! We need a TV center like this to lock Avery away from all the buttons! Come over any time to install one for us :)
HA HA! Yes, something like this would be VERY helpful to a busy parent with a little one who’s starting to get into everything. The only problem I’ve had is our cats will go in when the doors are open and then I’ll accidentally lock them in it. I’ll hear this little mew mew coming from “somewhere” and sure enough they’re trapped inside. I always feel so bad. Although I’m a bad “mom” and you’re a good one… so that would never happen to you. (lol)
Hey, If I had the time, I’d much rather work on your house than my own. It’s so much more fun. :-)
Thanks, Meghan… I’m always happy when you include me. I’m grateful we found each other so many months ago. I love watching Avery grow and your fun vacation posts are the closest I’ve come to having one…so thanks for letting me live vicariously through you.
Awe, always so sweet, Stacey :) You lock your cats in the TV cabinet hahaha I couldn’t keep from laughing. Too funny! I don’t think I’d forget Avery in there but I can see Avery locking himself inside! He has this odd obsession with closing doors in the house… weird kid haha…
So glad to have found you too! I love home renovating, and don’t get much time to because Avery gets all my attention. It’s a nice outlet though and love seeing what you’re up to… I’m always envious of your creative ideas and that you actually have time to do them!! :)
Your media cabinet looks amazing! I’d give anything for something with doors like that. Don’t get me wrong…I love my built-ins, but I want a “magic room cleaner” too. :)
I can’t believe you guys are still getting all that rain. It was 107 here Saturday. I’ll trade you all the heat you want for some of that wet stuff.
Thanks for the mention. I’m so glad we’ve found each other’s blogs and have gotten to know each other. BTW, I ordered some air plants from AirPlants4U, and they sent me a huge bonus plant in bloom. (I’m including it in tomorrow’s post.) I’m hoping to get some pups from it before long.
Magic Room Cleaner!!! Love that. So funny! It could get me in trouble so I’ll have to make sure and not throw my dirty laundry in when the door bell rings. HA!
Luckily Dana, it’s only down pours here and there… nothing all day long like it was, but yes, every single day! It’s really getting old.
MORE air plants. YAY! I noticed you mentioned your new and “growing” love for them in your blog love post. It made me smile because I can totally relate to that!
I haven’t been able to play with my new clay but it’s on my craft table staring at me every day. Can’t wait to see what you got. I want a bonus plant!!!! A HUGE one too. HA HA! I may have to order from them soon.
Wah..lah is right! Of course, as a fan of WHITE paint, I am a big fan of this transformation. Looks excellent and I love your plan for LED lights and knicky knacks. I’m impressed with the care you take with things (even the INSIDE of things) – I did paint the inside of a closet in college (a lovely shade of lavender) because it didn’t have a door, and well, let’s just say the results were nice but nothing like this!
Mostly, I’m just glad/jealous that your TV knows what it’s wearing for Halloween already. We haven’t even THOUGHT about what to dress up ours as yet, so we best get cracking… :)
WAHHHHH – BURST OF LAUGHER!!!!
I’ve already injured myself from your book… so now you’ve completely done me in! My back hurts…. stop! stop!. Oh crap that’s funny. I was wondering if anyone would notice that sentence. Every time I glanced over at the TV I would laugh because It looked like it was hiding from me… ready to leap out and say BOO at any moment. I have no trouble living in my own little world of mushrooms and ghost television… it keeps me insanely sane. I even wanted to photoshop eyes and a mouth on the sheet but thought maybe I had inhaled a few too many paint fumes and decided to sit outside for a while. HA!
Thanks for the laugh and thumbs up. I’m looking forward to the de-sigh-n part of this project complete with twinkle lights and fancy shelving that will no doubt cause some fit throwing. :-)
I bet your lavender closet was divine!
Love it – taking something and making it your own! Such great light!
AMEN! I have to do my thing …. even if it’s a pain in the rear. Ha Ha! Oh I love all the light we get in the house… and painting it white just makes it look even brighter. Thank you for looking! I’m glad the messy part is over.
Ummm, can you come over and re-do our closet? Please? I have about that are in dire need of an overhaul. Have you done a post about that absolutely sexy red couch of yours? If so I need to find it. LIke yesterday.
Hey Alex! I told someone else that I would love to just house hop and work on other people’s houses. That always sounds more fun than doing my own!
I do love having pretty closets, cabinets, and drawers. Silly, but when you do eventually open them I like them to be easy on the eyes. I think this new texture and paint will definitely improve the view.
Thank you so much for mentioning the couch. There are two red ones but I’m assuming you’re talking about the one closest in the first picture. I have not done a post on that but would love to (thanks for the idea!) It’s a really special piece and I’m so proud of that find. It’s a Florence Knoll Parallel Bar sofa and we did have it reupholstered. It weighs a TON! I’ll work on that one. FUN!
Post please! It’s the one in the first photo. I just saw the back and was like fanning myself.
I love the white. It looks so fresh and clean. You are very thorough and you will always be rewarded with excellent results due to your patience and respectful care of the origins of things.
I don’t know about you but there’s just something about a nice fresh coat of white paint on something that use to be dark and dingy that just makes you feel so good. I’m usually a girl who goes for lots of color but everything in this house was BROWN so I’ve gone crazy with the white. I figure with all the wild colors in the mural it would be overload to do anything else. Thank you so much for that!
You always say the right thing.. and it makes me feel like I’m doing okay with all this house business. HA! :-)
Just as I suspected…even your closets are perfect. I’m not sure we can be friends…
Looks fantastic, Stacey!
OH NO! I’ll smear some mud on the wall or something!!! Please Cathy, Please!!!
(laughing). You are so wrong my dear, but I appreciate the sweet lie. At this point perfection would be nice but totally impossible. You are too sweet, as always! I usually just squint my eyes and go “yes, it looks great”. Squinting and over 40 vision is the key to perfection. :-)
No mud necessary:) I’m just teasing! But that is may dream: to tackle every deep, dark, closet in this joint! You’re living it!!
House looks so beautiful:) I love the sliding panel mural – I didn’t realize there was storage behind it. Genius! And even when one panel is open, I bet it still looks coherent and fabulous. That Mr. Rex…genius, I say!
I love it when you tease me! There is A LOT of storage behind those mural doors. Here’s a picture of the other side that I took when we first got the house. You can see I have a lot of work to do on that side too… but all the shelves and cubbies are so cool!
That IS cool! Do you have records to fill those slots? Looks like it would be a good size for magazines, too. Atomic Ranch or …Horse and Hound. Is that a real publication?
HA HA HA! Horse and Hound… I loved that movie!! Unfortunately we got rid of all our vinyl a few years ago… but have plenty of magazines that are already filling up those spaces. Atomic Ranch, Met Home, Dwell, and Metropolis are a few I keep around. So yes, they’re going to be magazine storage. But how cool that he made it just for vinyl way back when. So unexpected and special!
OMG. i hadn’t even clicked fully on your blog in my reader and i squealed seeing your mural photo!!! it’s just so stunning. no, it’s magnificent! and now it has innerds (ew) to match! so clean looking and refreshing. superior undertaking and accomplishment for both of ya!
ps i wasn’t going to mention it, but the bed is taking quite awhile. i thought it must be held up at the cali border, but maybe you haven’t sent it yet, so go ahead and throw in that smashing yellow credenza while you’re at it! :D
now i’m going to scroll back up to look at the art again and hope one day you’ll write about how it came to be! so rad.
Okay you… I got your comment while I was in the grocery store and caused a scene in the dill pickle aisle! I just burst out laughing and apparently said very loudly “THE BORDER!!!!” I think even the folks in the pancake aisle were shocked!
I can’t believe the bed hasn’t made it yet… it was an oversized package so maybe it is caught up somewhere and somebody decided to take a nap on it. Be on the look out… I’m sure it will get there soon. (LOL) You crazy girl.
Thank you for talking sweet about our innerds! They are no longer icky or ewey.
(I’ll have to check the dictionary on all those words??)
I was going to surprise you but I’ll tell you now Tamara… because it’s especially for you… The artist who did that mural is coming over with some of his friends to the house on Saturday and I’m going to get the FULL story on how it all came to be. Maybe he’ll let me snap a picture of him next to it. I know only part of it… so I’m dying to hear his part. YAY! So yes, I will finally do a post. And now to get mushy… I thank you so much for always being interested in it. I realize it’s totally unique and outrageous to have something like that take up an entire wall of your house but it means something to us and I appreciate you always making a fuss.
YOU are the one that is RAD!
you’ve GOT to be kidding me. i just got butterflies in my belly! no wonder you had the gumption to fix her up. wow. i am so excited for you (and us) and wished i lived closer so i could be the proverbial fly on the wall. i hope, i hope, i HOPE he lets you take his photo next to the art so we can all appreciate its creator. i swear, i can’t wait for that post. i have a feeling the people in your pickle aisle will hear me too! xoxoxoxoxox
Like I’ve said before,the room is amazing…
But seriously,if you two ever get up to Tennessee and want a “working holiday”,I’ll throw you the keys and leave so you can just go to town on my place. Everything you two do always looks awesome! Every time!
We might be able to work something out! Nashville is great and we could work on your place during the day and then celebrate the mess we made at your house at night! We’re in! I’m afraid I’d get distracted by all the cool stuff in your house and want to steal it all. I’d leave you with a very “minimal” look. HA HA HA!
Thanks Paul! LOL. Sorry, RMS gave you away. Always appreciate your visits and comments. And I didn’t get a chance to tell you… but I love your new GREEN trail shoes. Sweet! Ahhh, the perks of being in the biz. Lucky you!
Oh,the perks are great… The money? Well,not so much.LOL!
Nah,my place can’t begin to compete! An I keep trying for a “minimal look” but fail because of all my crap. That would be one way to solve the problem. :)
HA HA! Why do you think I’m fixing up a “storage unit”. I HAVE TOO MUCH CRAP to hide in there. I know, I know. I can’t give up my “stuff” either – no matter how much I want to or try. We’re in the same boat… so I guess we should just enjoy the “waves”!
Money ain’t everything… but you and I already know that!!!! I’d rather be happy and have green trail shoes. :-)
Oh,no doubt. Had the “great” (said in a sarcastic tone),excellent paying,good benefits career. I was well off and totally miserable… Will always now pick HAPPY over WEALTHY but hey,I do alright ;)
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