The master's done!

Nikki and I finished the master bedroom today. We painted the trim creme (the color's actually called rice cake).

I also took all the hinges, door knobs, and handles off of everything in the room, stripped the paint off of them, and shined them up. They look pretty nice. We found a nice light fixture at the hardware store, too.

I also hung a mirror that Nikki found at the yard sale.

All in all, we spent about 250 bucks to fix it all up.



Here's the built-in wall closet/dresser




Here's the closet door




Here's the light we got




And here's a video of the final product.

Half painted

The master bedroom is half painted now. We put down a coat of "caboose red", which is actually a burgundy color. It looks nice. It'll look better once we paint all the trim a creme color.



I also changed the light switch to a dimmer switch.



Nikki and I decided to put in a floor outlet as well. The other day we took down the baseboard heater and ended up with some wires coming up out of the floor. Rather than just cut the wires and put them away I put in an outlet instead.

Master bedroom progress

Nikki and I primed the master bedroom today. Tomorrow we're going to paint it. I think it'll end up looking pretty nice. I also took all of the hinges and handles from the built in wall-closet/dresser and stripped the paint off them and polished them up. They'll look a bit better.


The windows




The wall (look, no chimney hole!)



The wall dresser/closet

Keely's room updated

Nikki and I made some changes to Keely's room. We painted the trim and windowsills pink. I also removed the nasty baseboard heater. The room looks a bit cleaner and less overpoweringly blue.

Master Bedroom

Nikki and I have been sleeping in a pretty junky bedroom. We decided to go ahead and spruce it up. It's taking a bit more effort than Keely's room, but it's going well.

Here's a photo progress report:


Before




The first (and most painstaking) step was to strip the 4+ layers of wallpaper and paint. Here's what it looked like when we finished (the pictures fuzzy from all the humidity from the water we used to pull down the paper):




One particular challenge was the chimney that started towards the top of the wall. I had to figure out a way to plug and conceal it.


Here's a closer look:



I fashioned a plug out of particle board, then attached it to some thin beadboard paneling. (Sorry, no pic). I then glued/nailed the paneling/plug over the existing atrocity, masked the edges with some drywall joiner and paper tape and majically erased our hole-in-the-wall.

Next, Nikki and I sprayed texture on the walls and textured the ceiling. Thanks to all who lent us equipment.

Here's the chimney prepped for paint:




And some vids

Keely's Bedroom

A few months ago we found out that Nikki and I were expecting our baby Keely. I hadn't had time to fix up our 2nd bedroom before I was deployed to Afghanistan. Our family was nice enough to step in and help us out. They stripped and painted Keely's room. It's really beautiful. Thanks Fam:


Here's the room before they started




And here's the room when they finished




Nikki and I are adding a few more touches. We'll share those when they're done.

This ol' house

I decided to track our home improvement.

Here's a little history if you didn't already know:

We bought out house in November of 2007. When we got it, it was definitely a fixer-upper. The house was built in 1917, and was uninhabited for over a year at the time of purchase. It's a cute house, but it needs some love and attention.

Here are some pics of the house at the time we bought it.

Here's the house from the front




Here's the backyard





Here's the front room




Dining Room




Kitchen




Bathroom




Master Bedroom





Bedroom




Downstairs furnace