My New 'Old Home' Adventures

Wasn't planning on writing anything today but as usual, things didn't go as planned!!!  Was having a cup of coffee this am while reading Houzz - this great home design website. Happened to see an article on laundry room makeovers and decided to paint my laundry room ie laundry closet.   My laundry facilities are in a hallway at the back of my house between the backdoor and the door from my garage.  I've always hated laundry areas in hallways but when looking for a house, this was the least of my concerns. The closet had bi-fold doors on it but after replacing them once and continually having to fix them, I decided to remove the doors completely.  It's been this way for a year or so but I had never painted this closet and it was looking pretty shabby.  I happened to have a full gallon of paint left from my hallway painting project and proceeded to paint away.  I didn't have any roller covers with my painting supplies but since I was doing two coats and it was small s

Going back to a previous project - remodeling my master bathroom for this post.  For a home from the 70's, I am fortunate that although small, I do have a bathroom off my master bedroom and a walk-in-closet.  Although neither are up to today's standards, they are nice features of the home and work wonderfully for me. New Master Cabinet/Sink The dilemma I had with this project was with regards to the vanity that I ordered on-line.  It was exactly what I wanted as far as the look but the marble sink top came pre-installed to the base.  I had to man-handle the unit (over 300 lbs) up the stairs to the second floor and then came to realize that it wouldn't fit through the narrow 23" doorway into the bathroom.  I took off the door, but still no luck.  Finally removed the door frame and managed to get the beast into the bathroom.  I ended up not replacing the door after the remodel.  The bathroom space is so small that having the door was just a nuisance.  I originally

So I mentioned how much I love removing wallpaper.  Started my final wallpaper removal in my powder room.  This room was actually the nicest room in the house when I bought the house but the grass-cloth like wallpaper is showing some wear and I've never liked the stain glass lamp and gold accessories.  The floor originally was a nice tile but it had a VERY BUSY design that just overwhelmed the space.  I had the floor replaced when I replaced the carpeted areas at the front of the house with wood before I had moved in. Pre-renovated powder room Of all the attempts in this house to take down wallpaper this room has been the 'best' in that I was able to get both layers of wallpaper off without totally destroying the wallboard but this was by no means an easy project.   Removing first layer of grasscloth wallpaper If you've never removed wallpaper before, you first need to get off the top coat followed by the adhesive paper backing. In this case, getting the firs

Never fails that when I'm doing some outdoor project, one of my pieces of equipment or tools has an issue.  I've come to expect this and tend do just do things by hand because of my luck with my mechanical items.  Yesterday I decided to take a break from my bathroom re-do and do something outside since it was a beautiful fall day.  I decided to tear out the grass around the front of my shed and put gravel down.  This has been on my list for awhile just to make the area look nicer and to make mowing easier.  I have a ramp that goes up to the middle of the shed and getting into the corners requires use of the trimmer which I just don't get to very often. I took the truck and purchased a yard of gravel and proceeded to shovel out the grass and top few inches so I could install a frame from lumber I had laying around, lay down some plastic and fill with the gravel.  Pretty physical work but something I could manage. After finishing one side of the shed, I went to mo

It all started when I was painting the molding in my dining room (soon to be office).  All the molding in my home was dark walnut and I prefer white.  One of the first projects was painting the entire house, including all the molding.  While working in the office, I innocently enough starting peeling back a corner of the 70's flower wallpaper only to find that it had been hung improperly and the face sheet of the wallboard came off with the paper.  Results of removing the wallpaper I researched on the web and tried every recommendation for removing wallpaper with no luck.  Covered in fabric softener and totally depressed I stumbled upon a possible solution... spackle the walls to make them look rustic, hence hiding the imperfections caused by removing the old wallpaper.  The technique couldn't be more easy and I've now used it in two other rooms of my house as well as the ceiling of one of my bathrooms.  You simply take spackle or joint compound (cheaper) and spread al

I've been struggling with minimizing my heat and electric bills at my home.  I do have a pretty ancient heating and cooling system that I have checked annually by a technician and so far although not the most efficient, it is still running fairly well.  Besides replacing some of the doors and windows, the second year in my home I added additional insulation bats to my attic and this past year I replaced the insulation in my crawl space.  Both have helped reduce my heating and cooling costs but one thing that has bothered me was the gaps around my doors.  I've tried several times to put foam strips around them but my pets tend to like to claw at this and I end up replacing it fairly often around the lower part of the doors.   The three amigos in their favorite window seat I have been contemplating installing a storm door at the front door which is the worst for drafts.  Every time I come down the stairs I see this gap around the front door.  Today the thought came to me th

I wish I had started this blog back in 2010 when I purchased a small farm outside Richmond VA.  I was recently separated and was living in a rental home with my three teenage children.  I searched for months trying to find a small horse property that was within my means and ability to maintain and finally came across a 5-acre farm that fit the bill.  The home was a short-sale and was looking pretty shabby from neglect but I saw potential and moved in with my children (and two horses and two dogs) the day before Christmas 2010. Original condition of new home I will have to say that I was totally inexperienced as to home repairs and improvements.  I had been married to a very handy man and over the years I contributed very little to the upkeep of our homes.  Suddenly I was buying a 1970's home that required care and tlc and I was a little overwhelmed but also excited at the prospect of handling these things on my own. Over the past several years, I have struggled with  so m