Stairway Reveal

June 2012

After we had fulled bead boarded the stairwell we had to think about the finishing touches.  We needed to patch, sand and paint the space as well as install new lighting.  Due to the height of the space and the large amount of work needed we decided that we would hire out the painting.  This was a tough call for us.  On principle alone, I refuse to hire out any work that I believe we can do as good or better then the professional. There is not many tasks that fit that description, so we really try to utilize our skills when we can.  The issue was timing.  We wanted to get the house refinanced, we wanted to get the room done and we had other 'life things' that needed to get accomplished. 

So we hired a painter,  I will say now, I regret it but I would not take it back.  It had to be done to get the refinance moving.  The fact is there is no one who will do as good of job on the details as you would.  You're more invested.  The room looks 'fine' but I see lots of spaces that were not sanded as smooth, or where you can still see a nail hole, caulk in the bead lines and other issues.  However, I cannot discount the fact they did the space in three days, which would have easily have taken us several weeks to complete. 

So, happy faces.  All I can say is the stairwell is completely transformed. The space is so bright and clean it's almost too perfect!   We chose to paint the entire space our Bone White. I know you just gasped, Taylor actually painted an entire space white! I know I can hardly believe it myself, but in the end I wanted to keep the stairwell light and airy and there was really no color that I felt would do that except for our trusty Bone White.  We have plans to eventually strip and stain the banister, which will make the space more dramatic. Since I haven't completely lost my technicolor obsession I did paint the stairwell window the same red as our doors and windows (not in the pictures because I haven't taken new ones yet).  This was to copy what we also did in the mudroom since that space was also bead board.

For the lights we went to our favorite Schoolhouse Electric and ordered some very delicate glass and bronze pendants.  They are small and simple, possibly too small and too simple.  But I figured if I was going white I should make all the components match the same aesthetic. I eventually see the entire space covered in art and objects and I want that to be the show stopper not our lights or wall color. The room is bare for now, it still needs the art and new rugs and potentially down the line a better cabinet at the top of the stairs.  But for now it remains the lightest and brightest place in the house.

Before 2010:

 After 2012:

Round Up:

Paneling materials and installation: $1,435, Paint materials and application: $600, Two custom built lights: $420, installation- free we installed them ourselves, New window-$700, Paint for window- free- used old paint, applied ourselves. Total: $3,155

This was our least DIY room in the whole house, but it was probably in the worst shape with the most challenging access so I think everything was required.

Before:

After:

Plaster and Paint, And Then Paint Again

February 2012

After our built-in's were completed we brought in a contractor to skim coat our bedroom walls.  We did this for two reasons.  The first being the room was drywall with a speckle texture which did not match the rest of the house.  The second was we had done several repairs/modifications to the walls.  There was the access panel, which added some drywall to the South wall, we had framed in the closets and added some new drywall to the North wall, and finally when we insulated the house we went ahead and added some additional insulation into the walls from the interior.  All in all, it made our walls look like a hot mess.  Some had texture, some were smooth, some had large holes. It was rough.

Over the course of two days, the contractor skimmed all of our walls and applied a rough texture that was a close match to our downstairs plaster. During this time, Josh and I worked on paint colors.  We both were on the same page with having a nice serene blue gray color in the bedroom. We thought this would go well with our vibe, and also with the existing headboard fabric and our duvet which was a mixture of blues, grays and tans.  A little before the remodel we went to a awesome bar in Seattle and when I was in the restroom I thought, this is the color I want in my bedroom. Is this weird?  Most likely.  So when I came out of the restroom I asked Josh to come take a look (which got us even weirder looks from the staff).  But they were kind enough to tell us the color was Sherwin Williams Foggy Day. Bonus!  As soon as I got home I went to Sherwin Williams and got a sample, as well as two other colors just to be safe. 

Josh and I thought the best way to work with our low sloped ceiling was to paint it the same color but in a lighter hue.  So I also picked up several shades for the ceiling.  We put our test colors on and actually felt the Foggy Day read a little too-- dare I say Foggy. So we went with a similar shade called Storm Cloud which was a bit more punchy.  We went to Miller Paint, color matched and started painting the ceilings the lighter hue of Storm Cloud and then the walls got painted. This was pretty hard work, ceilings are miserable and it tooks us one VERY long weekend to paint the entire room.  The whole time I painted I had a weird feeling.....

When we were completely done I stepped back and thought, HOLY PURPLE.  With having the color on all four sides of the room it became overwhelming.  The color which appeared to have NO purple in it from the swatch was reading like a mother-of-the-bride lavendar dress gone wrong.  I took a gulp and asked Josh what he thought.  He was silent and then admitted he too was overwhelmed by the color. We went back in forth about being able to live with it.  But in the end, we knew we would always lay in bed hating it.

So, round two:  Foggy Day (I never should have questioned) and a Bone White ceiling to match the rest of the house began.  As much as we complained it was not that bad.  The ceiling took two coats and was horrible, but the walls only took one coat since the Foggy Day was so close to Storm Cloud.   This was the first time Josh and I have ever had to repaint a room.  I am not proud of it, but it happened.  It meant a  wasted weekend and about $100 in paint.  But now the room was perfect and Foggy and we loved it.

Built-In Finishing Touches

February 2011

After several weeks of stripping... the built-in.  I moved on to sanding, patching, and painting the lower portion.  This got a healthy three coats of Bone White (see earlier blog for color information).  I also bleached all the drawers down and put new cork liners in the bottom.  Apparently, I am not only a DIY maven but also apparently a clean freak.   After the drawers were lined I installed some brand new knobs I got at Restoration Hardware.  These are amazing, they are real solid oil rub bronze knobs that weigh about a pound each.  I love that they are slightly over sized and remind me of the talking door knob in Alice in Wonderland.  
 

The lower portion went so quickly and easily I felt super successful and excited about the end of the project.  Then I started staining the top.  This took a few tries to get right.  I was trying with a brush at first and it just didn't seem to be going on evenly.  Each time I would sand all the stain off and start again.  Finally I discovered staining with a rag... this was much more successful and after three coats I felt pretty good about my staining jobs.  The second to last step was applying a sealer... I debated between varnish, lacquer, poly or just an oil treatment.  The Internet is a warren of conflicting information, after hundreds of articles and blog entries I gleamed this: varnish is REALLY hard... you should be a professional or at least have a spray gun for it.  Oil would require me 3-4 times a year apply a fresh coat to protect the wood from sun, water, and whatever I left on top.  Apparently lacquer can also go yellow and eventually chip off... urgh.  So I decided good old fashion poly would be my trick. 
 

Of course, I had similar issues with the poly.  I was tentative and putting it on way too light.  The issue with poly is when you are applying it to the surface it looks horrible.  No matter what you do there is brush strokes and small air bubbles.  What I eventually learned was if you apply it thick enough then these spread out and go away as it dries.  After a few different methods I settled on foam brushes. These did not leave brush strokes and after three coats of poly I finally had to admit, I might be done.   I touched up the paint around the top and called it a day.  Needless to say this was a labor of love.  It took we two months and way too long to be proud of.  I think a capable person could do this in about 5 days but in the end I feel like the result was pretty professional and I will admit to running my hands along the glossy top every time I pass it!
 

Dining Room Bliss and Other Rambles

July 2010

I abruptly left the last blog post about the dining room because I felt it was getting long and probably not overly interesting.  Also, I wanted to convey the length of time it takes us to finish these projects.  It feels a bit criminal to sum up 2-3 weeks of work in one blog entry... although I am sure to blog world it makes it look like Josh and I are rock stars. 

 

Since I broke this blog up into two I can also talk a little about our trim/ceiling color.  As many of you may know from this blog, life, or any other interaction with me I do not like white.  Apparently, this is one of the reasons I can never be a true architect.  I feel quite simply, white is for pussies... wow I said it, gulp.  I love color, I think in colors, I want to express my moods in colors.  To the white lovers, I apologize, I try not to make it personal- I just feel deeply about this and wish I could go into every white house/apartment and paint it when their on vacation (so far this has not happened, so friends and family you are safe).   I realize that artwork and furniture can 'pop' against a white wall but so to can a sky blue vase on a chocolate brown wall.  Okay wow, that was a huge aside. I didn't know you could ramble in writing but proof is here.

So yeah, trim, I didn't want white trim in the house. Trying to pick out non-white white is kinda similar to a slow death by fire.  So I was lucky that we were using an 'attractive' cream white at our buildings.  It seems crazy to use a color that is used in health care clinics... how is that not cold?? But it is the perfect shade because it doesn't seem to fight any colors and doesn't change much with the lighting.  So, I had Josh buy a huge 5 gallon bucket for the trim and another for the ceilings.  We applied our Bone White and let me tell you, it was a leap of faith, against the stark white of the primer it kinda looked the color of flesh, urgh.  And Josh was looking at me in that... 'we just spent $200 bucks on the ugliest thing ever look.'  However, as soon as the white was banished with color it looked AMAZING.  It was antique without looking dirty, cream without looking pastel, and it looked fabulous with our oil rub bronze hardware, yay!

After we finished with the trim we pulled up the paper on the floors, cleaned the room and rolled out my favorite rug I got in Morocco, which fit perfectly!  Josh's boss was amazing and gave us an 80 year old Oak dining table and chairs that had been in his basement for years.  It is adorable and totally something I might have bought at an antique store if we had to go.  We slowly unpacked the room and ate our first dinner at a table in our own dining room.  Bliss.

 

 

Also can we all love this Gus photobomb?