LavenDon't

While my brain is swimming with all the things on my kitchen 'to do' list, I thought I'd share a funny picture of the side of our kitchen that holds our sad, small refrigerator that cannot stay when we redo the room.  Apparently, Boozie Susie tired easily while painting. 

Which is my best explanation for why she painted only the inside of two cabinets with this awful color.  Oh, and a little of the outside as well...

Imagine staring at that everytime you go for the peanut butter.  

Sorry soffits

In the midst of working on the den, I have other big projects looming that make me wake up sweating at night.  Forgetting to turn off the heated blanket doesn't help, either.  Either way, I am usually pretty crazed about the house.  I think about it as much as men think about....other things.  I tend to motor through projects quickly when I start them, because I don't like looking at this forever:

When I start a room it usually has to be wrapped up within a pretty short time frame, otherwise me and Shaun try to kill eachother daily.  This puts a lot of strain on me to figure out what I want ahead of schedule...because the opinion Shaun has about renovations goes like this..."Is my tv still in the room?  Then do whatever you want, babe."  Absolutely no help.  One room that has me paralyzed by indecision is the kitchen.  Or, home of the 'sorry soffits' as I like to call them.  They are monstrous.  Really big. 

They stand at 11 inches tall and a 1-2.5 inches wider than the actual cabinets.  What the heck??   Ok, the height might be normal, but they seem unnecessarily big to me.

They are so long that there is hardly any space between the counter and the upper cabinets (which are 36 inches long).  Alas, nary a blender, knife block, coffee maker, espresso machine or anything taller than 13 inches can fit on most of our counters.  This is clearly a big issue because you all know how I feel about my coffee!

I guess that when this kitchen was remodeled, people didn't have tall appliances sitting on their counters.  I'm not sure when this kitchen was redone, but the cabinets are solid wood, so I know it was awhile ago.  Our coffee makers are currently living near the windows on an Ikea console table, but we actually want an eating area there (imagine that!) so they can't stay after we remodel:

I decided one day (on my lunch break of course) to put a big drill bit in my Dewalt and go to town 'exploring' what was in the soffits that required so much room.  Because nothing dresses up an outfit like plaster dust. 

What was in these things?  A place for a big screen tv?  Another zip code?  A rodent amusement park complete with ferris wheel? 

What I found was that the entire thing is framed out with extremely sturdy studs.

After I stopped trying to drill into this stud (duh), I was able to peek in and see that as far as 'stuff' goes, there is only a bit of wiring for our light above the sink.  No vents, no plumbing, no Ultra Screen movie theater.  Whew.  Also, no drywall or plaster on the wall side and hardly any insulation.  Great. 

I have yet to check the other side, but I know there will be more 'stuff' over there because our stove is on that side.  To sum up, we have two options when it comes time to tackling the kitchen:

Option 1 - Hire someone to remove the 11" soffits and reattach our existing cabinets a few inches from the ceiling, bridging the gap with crown molding.   

Pros: 

~ Obviously, room for normal appliances on the counter, as we'd now have a 20+ inch space between the cabs

~ Soffits are dated and it would instantly update the room to remove them

~ Cabinets to the ceiling are really hot right now

~ Our uppers are already taller than standard 30" wall cabs

Cons:

~ It is going to be expensive because I don't want to mess with it myself

~ The cabinets might suffer from being pulled out and reinstalled, although they are solid wood and probably will be fine - their quality is why we're keeping them

~ They are going to be really high and I may have to use a stepstool

~ We can't remove the lowered ceiling near the windows because the roofline is lower there, so it may look funny to remove the soffits:

Option 2 - Live with it and paint the cabinets as planned, tile the 13" backsplash area with white subway tile and get our black granite counters as planned.  Dress everything up with trim.  Forget about what future owners may think of the short counter 'headroom'.  We do have one 4 ft long area of counter that is tall enough to hold a blender and coffee maker near the fridge:

Pros:
~ Easier
~ Cheaper
~ Cabinets are not too high to reach
~ I could possibly add an island with electrical that houses our taller appliances
Cons:
~ They may still be ugly, even if I dress them with molding
~ My coffee maker, espresso maker and blender may all have to be crammed into the small counter space by the fridge - which may not even be there if we alter this area to accommodate a standard-sized fridge.  Our current one is 30 inches wide, another what the heck problem!   
~ Resale value, home buyers may be turned off if they notice (I actually didn't when we walked through)
~  And the biggest con, what is the point of updating all the surfaces while ignoring such a big flaw?

So, what say you?  Live with the soffits or rip them out?  I should mention that this is not our 'forever' house, but we do plan to stay in this house for the foreseeable future.  Has anyone removed a soffit but reused their existing cabinets?

Chocolatey goodness

Despite my nose woes (heh), I have been hard at work in the maroon palace.  The doors and window are painted, the ceiling is painted, and the walls are on their way to being completed.  This is what it looked like last time we checked in:

And here it is now:

Everybody loves chocolate, right?  It is quite bold.  And dark.  The color is 'Bark' from Glidden, it is the color I used on our fireplace wall in the living room:

I love it in the living room, but I did have a little 'painters remorse' moment after doing a whole wall in this room last night.  Thankfully, I'm over the fear and now hope believe it will be fabulous when everything is done! 

I LOVE my doors now.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!  I must've taken 10 pictures of them this afternoon.  On my lunch break.  With my black dress pants dragging on the dirty, dusty floor.  Hey, that's what those sticky roller thingys are for. 

Can you spot the other (sort of) big change?

The ceilings are NOT WHITE.  I used a very pale blue that Boozie Susie had left in our basement.  Hold the phone, she actually purchased a nice color!  It is Behr 'Harbor Sky', and it looks pretty white during the day, so it was a relatively 'safe' color for me to go with.  Plus, it was free - so that was another incentive to use it.  I'm generally a 'ceilings should be white' kinda girl, so this is definitely a departure for me.  I wanted to be a little more daring in this room, so we'll see if it all works out - or if I will have to call myself 'Boozie Sara' a couple weeks from now!  This pic is a great representation of the colors:

We actually had a good time painting together last night.  Shaun even drew me this stick dude holding a olympic torch rose.  Isn't he cute?

So, what do you think about the color?  Am I nuts? 

Mmm...nuts and chocolate.... 

Humidifier help

For all my cold-climate readers out there, can anyone help me find a humidifier that actually works?  My nose has been in pain for the last several weeks, and I've already bought two bombs....
First up was the expensive Sharper Image 'Ultrasonic' Cool Mist humidifier:

It was rather attractive, I liked the dual water chambers because I hate filling these things, and the 'ultra fine mist' sounded good.  I picked it up at BB&B with a 20% off coupon for $67 total.  It was expensive for me, but I was willing to bet it worked well.  I was wrong.  Shaun liked it, but I found it did nothing for me.  The cold mist would shoot up in the air and then plummet down to the ground just as fast, so the only thing hydrated was our bedroom rug.  And maybe my hand.  Possibly a cat tail or two.  This one also made me freezing cold at night, so it went back to the store. 

Then I picked up the classic Vicks Warm Mist humidifier at Babies 'R' Us for $40.  Because if paranoid moms will use it for their babies, it must be good enough for me, right?

It is also not ugly, the water tank lasts for at least an entire night, and the warm mist didn't make me shiver at night.  However, it really isn't helping my nose much at all, it seems like the mist doesn't travel anywhere except right above the unit.  Shaun is complaining that the last one was better.  And I refuse to sleep on the floor hugging this thing in order for it to work.   

So now I'm not sure if I should take this one back and try again, or if this is as good as it gets?  I've read some decent reviews on Amazon, but I'm afraid to order one from them and then have to ship it back if I hate it. 

Are my crusty boogers just too indestructible to be helped by a small unit?  Do we need to invest in an AprilAire system?  Should I just cram damp tissues up my nose every night and call it done?  Please share any insight!

No more maroon, let's drink!

We spent the weekend giving "Boozy-Susie's maroon palace" a good scrubbing and de-marooning.  Yeah, I like to make up words because this is my blog, and where else can you make up words?  Here is sexy-pants removing the screws-from-hell that refused to come out of our beautiful doors:

Does anyone else find it funny that the poor treadmill is always surrounded by remodeling debris?  We worked this room over good with some soapy water and then a nice coat of primer.  It looks much better, however there were MANY obstacles I had to overcome before primer could even go up on the walls.  Observe the highlights:

French Doors - blind hardware removed, holes caulked, everything sanded down, removable parts boiled and spray painted, hinges and knob spray-painted in place, doors primed with BIN (which took hours because of all the divided lites):

Casement windows - Blind hardware removed, holes caulked, storm glass removed, entire window scraped and sanded, handles spray painted in place, everything primed with BIN:

(Gah!)

(Ew!)

Louvered doors to the room - hinges stripped (couldn't get them off without using some paint stripper), removed and boiled, hinges spray painted, doors sanded, awaiting primer:

Amazing what a little bath can do to remove that paint!

I haven't even thought about touching the yellowy closet doors yet.  Seriously, there is so much woodwork in this room I'm crying inside just thinking about all the work I still have to do.  Needless to say, I am disappointed that it took so long just to get everything primed, and it's not all done yet.  Here is where we're at today:

No more maroon!  I'll drink to that!  After I paint the ceiling, I will be able to give all the primed doors, windows, and trim a nice coat of Ultra Pure White. Then it's wall-paint time!  Or, 'closet doors' time.  Or, 'louvered doors' time.  Let's just say that something is getting violated by my paint brush tonight!

Happy Monday, everyone. 

Wallpaper Wrap-up

Now that I have taken all the wallpaper off the 'orange room' (and for those that asked, I am not repainting the orange color on the walls) I can finally say that the wallpaper saga is over.  I'd like to take this opportunity to recap all the removals we've been through in our home.....and I thought I'd grade them for 'ease of removal.'  Because wallpaper should always be judged.  And possibly graded harshly. 
Front and back hall

This area did not come off without a fight, but it did come off.  I would say this removal was a C. 

Methods used:

Steamer

Scorer

DIF/Fabric Softener and water

Scraper

Stairway and upstairs hallway

Try not to be distracted by Shaun's sexy apparel.  The stairway was a real pain because the wallpaper went up to the top of the 15 foot ceiling: 

And the paper extended all the way down the upstairs hallway, so that was fun.  I'd give this area a D just for sheer annoyance and the death-defying location.  It came off about the same as the entry. 

Methods used:

Steamer

Scorer

DIF/Fabric Softener and water

Scraper

Dining Room

This paper came off pretty easy, some of it was in larger strips, too.  I would give this removal a solid B because we didn't have to use any steam or sprays.

Methods Used:

Scraper

Box Cutter (for the corners and edges)

Downstairs Bath

This room was a lost cause from the beginning.  The ceiling had layers of I-don't-know-what on it, and the walls had wallpaper in some spots, thick latex paint in others.  We scraped, steamed, scored, and sprayed to no avail.  This room gets an F because we ended up having to do this:

Yeah, wallpaper removal is a big FAIL when you have to re-drywall the entire room.  But we added tall beadboard to the walls, so it all turned out great. 

Methods used:

Every removal method possible 

Art Room

Shaun did all this removal himself, and he gives it a C- due to all the little scraps that came off the walls.  You can see in this photo that it was not coming off the smooth plaster walls easily.  At least it was a small room, so it didn't take that long.  Alas, I'm not quite finished because this still lurks in the small closet:

Even though all the wallpaper isn't off, I still reserve the right to consider myself done with wallpaper.  Who knows when (or if) I will get to this closet!

Methods Used:

DIF spray

Scorer (used minimally)

Scraper

Den/Family Room/Office/Whatever this room is

The paper in this room came off like a dream, as you already heard.  I obviously still have some little pieces to remove, but I would say this is as close to an 'A' removal as it gets. 

Methods Used:

Scraper

Box cutter for edges

To wrap up, here are my wallpaper removal tips:

~ It is best to lay down a tarp or dropcloth before removing the paper, because wet pieces will stick to your floors like you wouldn't believe. Don't skip this step!

~ Evaluate the paper you have.  Some papers are thick and vinyl-like with a paper backing, some are thin and come off in tiny pieces.  Removal methods are different for every type of paper. 

~ Outlets and switches are a great place to get a good tear started to check out how easy removal will be.  It also is a good place to see what the original paper looked like if it has been painted like ours!  Here's a fun strip we found in the orange room:

 

Here, chickie chickie!

~ Use a steamer to loosen the glue, using a scorer can help to get behind the paper, however it also makes it very hard to get large pieces off the wall.  Use it when you absolutely have to! 

~ Sometimes the paper's glue is so dried up you don't need to use any steam or spray, which really saves you from a nasty, sticky mess.  Don't get it wet until you know you need to!

~ We do like DIF, but I have had success with fabric softener and water as well.  

~ As you can see from my list, we used different methods for almost every room.  Play around with the possibilities until you find what works best.

~ Most importantly, wash the walls like IT'S YOUR JOB when you have all the paper off.  We washed all our walls with hot water and a couple drops of dish soap at least twice before attempting to prime, changing out the water often.  If you don't, the glue can make your paint job streaky and go on funny.  Of course, priming helps a lot, but it's still best to make sure you have a nice smooth, glue-free surface. 

Adios, wallpaper!

A maroon masterpiece

The lovely orange room that I showed you a glimpse of in my sticky and stanky makeover post was full of drama.  We're talking tears, anger and excessive amounts of paint and primer-slinging.   

I was horrified when I saw the condition of this room during our first viewing.  The highlights of the room?  The gross maroon paint and creatively-run cable:

The weird (undescribable shade of) paint on the baseboards, desk, and doors, the dingy carpet:

The gorgeous 12-lite Prairie-style french doors that were VANDALIZED with maroon paint, cheesy blinds, and were CAULKED AND PAINTED SHUT:

Yes, some yahoo (I'm talking to YOU, Boozy Susie!) decided to caulk these wonderful and completely operational doors shut, probably because it costs about $200 a month just to heat our house in the winter.  Instead of putting up plastic or using rope caulk, she used the real stuff.  Removing the caulk and excess paint was a multi-day ordeal involving heat guns and scrapers.  And swear words.  And adult beverages.  I'm happy to say that they work fine now, but are sorely in need of a good sanding and repainting, as you can see by this present-day photo:

Even though the floors were in remarkable condition after we ripped up the carpet, the wahoos previous owners had decided to use massive amounts of glue on the carpet pads - yes, there was more than one pad in some areas.  This resulted in a sticky goo along the perimeter of the room that would only come off with hours of working at it with a plastic scraper and Goof-Off.  Let's just say it isn't all off yet:

You can only scrape so much, people!  And there is still maroon paint on the casement window above the built-in desk:

But, I saved the best for last. 

The entire room was painted-over wallpaper.  Under the advice of my mom, when we closed I had decided to just put a fresh coat of primer and paint on everything, and deal with the wallpaper when I was ready to address this room.  The walls were dirty and I just wanted them covered with something I could live with for awhile.  I love the orange paint (Behr Pumpkin Toast), but it just doesn't flow with the red, brown, and teal in the rest of the first floor.  So I did this on my lunch break yesterday:

And when I got home from work, it had somehow turned into this:

This wallpaper came off in SHEETS, people!  I wish I would've taken it all off in 2008...alas, you never really know how it's going to come off until you get to strippin.  Do I get bonus points for most creative use of a treadmill?