My New 'Old Home' Adventures

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