Redecorating done!

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Redecorating done!
6
Wed, 08-20-2008 - 9:38pm

It took a week, but DS and partner exited here today. They painted the top (printed wallboard) half of our hall the same color as the living room they did last year - Relaxed Khaki. With the textured finish to the wallboard, it now looks like a giant canvas. I took down the dozens of family photos and will select just a few current ones to display. Hall track lighting was replaced with ceiling fixtures with 3 swivel spotlights that use the new energy efficient bulbs.

The main bath of the hall had peeling wallpaper and border removed, then new paint. I was going to have them remove the shower door, but it looked so good after a good scrubbing that I decided to save the $$ and not replace it. Guess I need to clean more often - LOL.

Finally, kitchen back splash vinyl covering was removed and new paint applied - Apple red. This is one of the colors in new soffit border I will put up later when paint is set. Only big problem was paint color for kitchen walls I chose. One coat told me I would hate it - just didn't look the same as the chip, way too much competition with the red. A quick meeting with the guys convinced me to paint the walls the same pale wheat color as the bath. Looks great. Finally, they put in a new pre-finished door to the basement. The old one had tons of chip paint and was too cheap a door to waste time stripping and refinishing it. This is the door which DH's customers use, so I thought it really need replacing. DH thought the grime was just fine and says the guys who shop there will never notice.

Now I'm removing photos from frames, boxing up the frames to give away. I will put the family photos on my hobby room walls, and move art from that room and my old office walls into the hall.

It will be good to get the floors cleaned and the house back to normal. Our poor cats are worn out from all the activity - disturbed their beauty sleep. We locked them in a room (with their litter box) while the basement door was off. They cried for 2 hours.

Jacquie

Avatar for daggs170
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Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 08-21-2008 - 9:06am

Oh Jacquie, the house sounds just great, and what a lot of work and to get it done in a weeks time.

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-21-2008 - 10:10am

One week seemed long enough to us - LOL. DH is like a cat - doesn't like his routine disturbed and gets edgy. His business is model train sales and repair, so there is little dust and not a lot of customers on site, most is mail order. Now I need to get the kitchen border up and pictures on the walls, but it can wait a day. DH is vacuuming as I type - time to get rid of the junk on the floor.

The old shower doors are on a tub that is seldom used - maybe 2x/year. There is a lot of dust in the room from the cat litter box, so it turned out they just needed a good washing. The last few years of working at the office gave me an excuse not to do a lot of house cleaning. I do have a problem getting him to wipe down the shower doors in the one we do use. He's like a little kid - he'll sneak out and conveniently "forget" to wipe it down. After 50 years together, I'm not turning this into WWIII. I've found the disposable Scrubbing Bubbles cleaning pads make it easy for me to go over the doors weekly. Ya gotta pick your battles carefully at my age - LOL.

Jacquie

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Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 08-21-2008 - 12:30pm
Sounds like a lot of chang going on there.

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-21-2008 - 1:02pm
Well being family, we were comfortable with them working between other jobs. The biggest project was removing the ceiling vent and cleaning the shutter opening for the whole house fan. It had been dusted, but the fan itself was badly in need of cleaning. Once the shutter was down, it was clear the guy who installed it had done a marginal job - no wonder the thing always rattled! DS build a frame to attach to the ceiling, then attached the shutter vent to it. Sounds much better. The door installation alone took 2 hours - nothing in this house is straight, as it's settled over the years.
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Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 08-21-2008 - 2:53pm
I bet it really feels good to get all of that done, Jacquie! You're so lucky to have some one you can trust do the work. That's so important! Now you can relax & enjoy...right? Cal
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 08-21-2008 - 6:18pm
Part of the hallway redo was to take down all the framed family pictures. They had become dust collectors and I feared they might fade with time. The whole scene had become too busy for my aging brain. It took me most of last evening to remove photos from frames, which were donated to the Habitat ReStore today. Most of the photographs will be scanned into my computer, then stored safely in binders. I will put select family pictures on the walls in my hobby room, then move framed artwork out of that room. The pictures and posters from my old work place office will also go in the hall. I have framed posters "Doors of New Orleans & Chicago, plus balconies of New Orleans poster", that will fill the large spaces in the hall. Can't afford a new house to retire into, so a new look is the next best thing. I'd love to get the new border up, but my fibromyalgia is acting up, thanks to the extra activity done this past week. I will probably spend the next day or so laying around on pain killers.