One Shade of Grey: A Progress Report

The day I posted my last post, I finally closed on the house.  In fact, about 15 minutes after I posted about how impatient I was, my attorney's paralegal called to let me know we were good to go.

The first thing I did was remove the weird shower curtain rod + too short regular curtain rod above the living room window, as well as what we have dubbed, "the Jesus curtain" which I'm pretty sure was a shower curtain, but it had bible verses all over it.

two different lengths, two different rods... the stuff nightmares are made of

Currently, the window is naked, and a new rod (one that'll fit) has been purchased.  It is the same exact rod that is in the dining room, which I just love.  In fact, I love just about everything that is going on in the dining room now.  Gone is the tomato soup orange-red, the apple-trimmed cafe curtain, and the feeling that the room is a lot smaller than it actually is.

The only thing this color should be on is a Barchetta (it's never too early for Rush humor)

The dining room is now light, bright, and definitely updated.  First, I covered the walls with Behr's Ultra Premium Plus paint that was color-matched to Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Gray.  I had no idea that you can just walk into Home Depot and ask for a color from a different paint supplier, and had samples mailed to me from Benjamin Moore first, which cost a pretty penny--the shipping was more than the paint sample!  Now, I just find colors I like, go to Home Depot, and buy an armload of samples until I figure out which color I want.  Consumer Reports rated the Behr paint as their first or second interior paint, not to mention that Home Depot is a mere 30 minutes from my house (the nearest Benjamin Moore store is over an hour away).  It's a light grey/beige that looks equally good with the blues, wood trim, and beige ceramic tile in the room.  Since you can also see the kitchen cabinets due to the open floor plan, it was important that those colors work together until I figure out what I'm going to do with those cabinets.

The only red things left are the apples

 My dining table has a story, of course.  In the summer of 2014, I went to Massachusetts to visit my mom.  Whenever I visit my family there, I stop at what I think is one of the best Goodwill stores in the country, just over the border in Nashua, New Hampshire.  I walked in during that visit to see this gem in the window with a price sticker on it for $9.99.  TEN FREAKING DOLLARS!  It just so happened that it was marked down on the color sale for that week, so for five bucks, that puppy was MINE.  Unfortunately, as the employees moved it from the window into the area that one picks up large items, one of those tripod legs snapped from it's attachment.  When asked if I still wanted it, I said, "well, if you can knock half off..."  The manager said, "Done."  So that's how I got my dining room table for $2.50.  My friends Jason and Trinda helped to take it apart and load it into my minivan, and we made the trek back to Pennsylvania with three kids and a table.  Some Gorilla Wood Glue and an overnight of clamping fixed it right up.  It has been well worn and loved, and still extends another foot for when we have guests.

I love, love, love my table.  Oh, and the seats of the side chairs match the stain

The first time I saw the chandelier on the Young House Love website, I gasped.  It's flipping gorgeous.  When I saw the price at West Elm, I wasn't sure if I could swing it.  I slowly started saving for it, but at nearly $400, I wasn't confident that I'd have enough money to buy it before it was discontinued.  By my birthday in September, I was about $175 from my savings goal when I gifted myself $100 (hey, it's my birthday, I do what I want).  The following week, it was on sale for 20% off, and I snagged it for $75 off of the original price.  Sometimes waiting has it's benefits.  Everything else came from Overstock.com.  The table runner and fruit basket came from trips to HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx, respectively.

curtain detail

This window is eventually going to be a door to the backyard.  Currently, I either have to walk around from the front of the house, or to go through the garage, onto the back porch, then out that door if I want to access the back yard.   I think a door and a stairway here would provide a faster route, and once there's a patio there, a great extension of our dining room to an outdoor dining area.

The dining room is no where near completed yet.  I still need to put something on those walls and maybe add a buffet or something that'll add some personal touches to the room.  I love how it's turning out.

Sources:

Upholstered Chairs

Side Chairs

Curtains

Curtain Rod

Area Rug

Chandelier

Paint Color

Final Walk-through...

I bought a house!

For the most part, the closing process on the new house has been remarkably uneventful... until this week, of course.  I was supposed to close on the new casa yesterday, but due to a failed sewer inspection last week, some work had to be done to the basement bathroom.  Namely, the shower there had to be hooked up to the town sewage in a way that would pass code inspection.  That work was completed as of today, and the new inspection takes place tomorrow, so let's hope that everything is wrapped up by Friday morning.  

Regardless, my final walk through is tomorrow afternoon.  I haven't been in the house for a few weeks, so I can finally make a list as to how many cabinet hinges, drawer pulls, and cabinet pulls I'll need to revamp the kitchen, which hasn't been touched since the house was built.  Once again, I'm dealing with some serious ugly, but it's structurally sound, well-insulated ugly, and THAT I can definitely deal with.  

On design inspiration, I've definitely been loving the Petersik's current home at Young House Love.  I never thought I'd embrace gray/greige as a wall color, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be the main wall color throughout the house.  Currently, the walls are a bright, tropical blue abutted by Campbell's Tomato Soup (the actual color of the soup) orangey-red.  The contrast is startling in a bad way.  Throw in 1960s aesthetic, and you have the rancher I'm about to own.  YHL's foyer is light, bright, and captivating.  Look at that Moravian light!  I LOVE it!  And the dining room!  The capiz pendant light is awesome, and would look amazing in my dining area.  I don't mind if the only drama in my life is from light fixtures.  In fact, I prefer it that way. 

The living room has some issues, not all of which are cosmetic.  The fireplace's fire box was drilled through in order to make room for a vent pipe for the wood furnace in the basement.  In order to make it functional again, I'm going to eventually convert to be used with a vent-free gas insert.  

Living room

The one room that absolutely has to be dealt with immediately is the bathroom.  Apparently, there was a local trend to not install a shower and to put a standard window in the bathing area.  I've tried to contemplate the reasoning behind that, and I'm still coming up empty.  Further, the original tile is 4x4 blue and pink that was painted over with cream colored latex paint.  I'll stop and just let you see it for yourself: 

I'm speechless too.

Possibly the worst feeling is when you have a room that you completely want to change, but it's also completely liveable as-is while you fix the uglier aspects (bathroom!) of the house.  For me, this room is the kitchen.  Definitely a first world problem, but it just screams the need for updating.  On a side note, that refrigerator is from the early 1980s.  It's still going strong, but likely costs a small fortune to run.  I'm going to have to break down and get a new refrigerator.  

Got wood?

The microwave over the stove top(to the far right) definitely has to go.  As it is, it doesn't allow clearance for my larger stock pots or canning pots.  I can't deal with having a stove top that I can't use to its fullest extent... and I don't feel like waiting an entire year to get my apples canned.

There's a small preview.  I can't wait to close so that I can get in there and start scrubbing and painting.

Young House Love's Winter Pinterest Challenge

I've been an avid Young House Love reader since way back in the day when they were This Young House.  I love me some Petersiks.  So, when my favorite Youngsters decided to team up with Sherry's BFF, Katie Bower of Bower Power Blog, and two other illustrious co-hosts--Megan from The Remodeled Life, and Michelle from Decor & The Dog, I was completely on board.

The biggest challenge of the Winter Pinterest Challenge is narrowing down a project to conquer.  I decided that my challenge would originate from one of two boards:  Do or 1868 Pleasant.  At first, I was going to sew up the pillowcase dress for my two youngest kidlets (they take the same dress size).  I received the Amy Butler fabric a couple of weeks ago, and thought that this would be the perfect time to light a fire under my butt and get it done.

But then, I found a pin about distressing wood with paint and Vaseline (petroleum jelly).  My love affair with painted furniture has been ongoing, but really hit home during my field trip to The Blue Cupboard.  I wanted something that picked up the shabby chic vibe that Stacy cultivates in her shop, without the whole Rachel-Ashwell's-cabbage-roses-on-everything element that makes me cringe.  This could be because I've been suffering living with a pink walled, pink carpeted bedroom since July, but I'm completely not about the florals.

Of course, last Friday, I found my future nightstand at the thrift store.  Did I mention that there was also a large, basketball-sized red cabbage on a table?  An actual cabbage.  I asked about it, and the clerk told me that if I needed it, to take it.  I thought it was very sweet, but declined, leaving it for someone who did indeed need food (insert shameless plug to ask you to please "grow a row" in your garden this summer to donate to the local food bank, veterans' home, senior center, or soup kitchen).

the latest resident at Danielle's Home for Rescued Furniture

I stopped by Home Depot to pick up some paint, and ended up with a quart of Behr's paint & primer in Belgian Cream in a flat finish:

and some sandpaper.

Since prep is 75% of painting work, it was time to get down to business.  After the dropcloth was down and my painting clothes were on, I removed all of the knobs from the cabinet.

There was a spot on one of the drawers where some tape had been applied, so I had to bust out the Goo-Gone.

While cracks and dings can be lovely on a distressed piece, some of them just need some love... and wood filler.

The legs also needed some filler, since there were deep chips in them.  I filled in all of the divots made by screws, and all of the larger scratches.  The legs had to set up for a minimum of 8 hours, so we went on a shopping trip to find a new quilt for the bed, since the current turquoise one clashes with our bedroom's future paint color (we're still prepping the bedroom for paint, if you're wondering what is up with that).  After the wood filler set up, the above crack looked so much better!

Then it was time to sand down all of the finished surfaces that would be painted.  I painted the insides of the drawers as well, but they were unfinished, so no sanding was necessary.  I did wipe them down with a damp microfiber cloth after everything was sanded.

I love this tiny sander

I don't know about you, but if I don't empty out the dust catcher immediately after I turn the sander off, I completely forget to do so.  My dust catcher is a bit sticky to get off, so I got my face too close to it and ended up with a face full of dust.  A lot of sneezing followed this, so I'm going to make a note to wear a dust mask when sanding and emptying the catcher in the future.  By the time I finished sanding, it was around 10 p.m., so I changed my clothes and cozied up on the couch with the tall drink of water that is my man.  I watched a couple of episodes of Lie to Me then hit the hay.

When I woke up, I started in on the Vaseline application.  I like that there was already some greenish paint crazed onto the wood, so I wanted to make sure that some of the petroleum jelly was on those bits.  I didn't want to go overboard, so I applied a few thin swipes with my finger, since the original post said not to apply it thickly.  

The Vaseline is hard to see in the photo, but it is there.

Once I was happy with what I had, I applied the first coat of paint.  The spots with the Vaseline were immediately noticeable, even with paint on them.

After the third coat, however, it was somewhat difficult to tell where the Vaseline had been applied.

Do you see the Vaseline spots?
Neither do I.

I would suggest numbering the drawers and taking a photo after the first coat to help you keep track of where you need to rub paint off.  I'm sure that the bits that I missed will eventually have the paint rub off, so I'm not that worried about it.

Once my final coat was completely dry, I took a paper coffee filter and used it to rub the areas where the Vaseline was applied.  I just moved it around in a circular motion, making sure that  there was no peeled off paint bits around the edges.  

When the paint was completely dry, I could see a little crackle-like finish
where the Vaseline had been applied.

I rubbed off all of the jelly-covered spots.  This is what one drawer ended up looking like:

I scored some fantastic glass knobs on ebay on Sunday morning, and am excited for their arrival.  Since the bedroom is going to be dark, I really needed something to reflect some light.  Besides, who doesn't love a little sparkle?  

Photo used with permission
Want knobs at great prices?  *Find them at GrandCentral on ebay!

I waited a good 12 hours for the paint to completely dry.  It still looks very naked.

I wanted to get some sort of idea as to what it'd look like when the knobs do finally arrive, so I popped in a couple of glass knobs that I had laying around.  I only have the two, and they're too big for the nightstand, but you can really see how the light is refracted by the glass.

I kept the flash off

I styled it up a bit, and shopped the top knobs onto the bottom two drawers so you could get the idea of what it will look like when the knobs finally do arrive.  It is also in the dining room at the moment, because there is no sense in putting more furniture into a room I'll be painting this weekend.  I love how it came out!  

Doesn't it look sweet?

*The folks at GrandCentral kindly allowed me to use their photograph, without any sort of exchange for promotion or perk (so they didn't pay me or give me anything for free).