The house was built in 1914 and there are little areas all over that need touch-up. There are also “improvements” that were made by previous home owners who did not know what they were doing that we need to go back and re-do.
Little things to get done include putting base on a small portion of a wall in our hallway next to our bedroom. All of the other rooms in our house have a four inch flat base with a quarter-round nailed at the bottom. Should be simple enough, right? You would think. The logistics of it are beginning to make my head hurt already. The top of the base (throughout the remainder of the house) has a nice rounded smooth edge, which means another tool and more attention to detail on such a tiny little area. The quarter round will prove to be no problem and attaching it to the wall is also no problem. But staining a brand new piece of wood to match existing wood that was stained 95 years ago does not sound like an easy task. I know, I know – pathetic. I am sure it will go much smoother than I am thinking it will. Paul has owned this house for 3-1/2 years (which I have been with him that entire time) and could have fixed it long ago. I am now disgusted with my lack of willingness to take care of such a small detail that I plan to do it this weekend.
Other things that need to be done include caulking under a window where it has settled and separated from the wall and touching up the ceiling in our bedroom where we accidentally got paint on it from painting the walls. The whole ceiling in that room could just get a fresh coat of paint.
Bigger things that need to get done include new back porch steps, painting the brick and trim on the entire house, new front porch boards, new or cleaned up front porch ceiling, new front porch steps, new ceiling in the office (which makes me cringe), new kitchen cabinets, new bathroom flooring and refinishing or getting new wood floors.
The wood floors seem to be a daunting task to me for a few reasons. If we get the floors refinished in all rooms but the kitchen then we have to move everything out of each room, keep the cats out of certain spaces because of work people and chemicals and pay money to keep wood floors that don’t all match (main reasons for getting new ones). But if I decided to get new wood floors in the rooms that don’t match (TV room, hallway and bedroom) the original wood (living room and dining room) then I have to find someone to match the existing which I am sure will cost me a fortune. I would still then have to get the original floors refinished and either way it just seems to be such a chore.
I think another reason I dread all of these projects is because I am afraid of what I am going to find every time I rip something up or out. What if I pull up these old wood floorboards to find mildew or damage to the sub-flooring? (I’m the kind of person that likes to pretend it can’t be there if I can’t see it). What if I rip the old kitchen cabinets out and there are holes in the walls where I wanted a great feature and it costs me extra to fix items the “old fashioned” way. No gyp board walls, tape and mud here. We’re talking lath and plaster people. Gorgeous, stupid lath and plaster.
As I stated before, I am going to do that small baseboard fix this weekend. I would really like to get the garage and house trim/brick painted before winter this year. My problem with this task is (I always have a problem with home repair tasks) I hate to have a freshly painted house with gross looking front steps, porch and porch ceiling. I feel like all of those have to go together to be done properly.
The nice thing is, other than the kitchen cabinets and the ceiling in the office – none of the items I want to do to the house are necessary. They’re all issues I want to take care of because I am a designer. I could sell this house with a few minor tweaks and be fine which may happen before I get all of this taken care of…
So about the kitchen cabinets…when it comes time to take care of those, I am just going to re-do the entire kitchen and I am thrilled about it. I have had lots of ideas over the past few months but have really narrowed it down to what I think both Paul and I would be happy with. I need to sit down and draw some elevations and get some budget pricing figured out so I can start saving up to do it. Check out these light fixtures I want to use in my new kitchen – or in some room someday.
Little things to get done include putting base on a small portion of a wall in our hallway next to our bedroom. All of the other rooms in our house have a four inch flat base with a quarter-round nailed at the bottom. Should be simple enough, right? You would think. The logistics of it are beginning to make my head hurt already. The top of the base (throughout the remainder of the house) has a nice rounded smooth edge, which means another tool and more attention to detail on such a tiny little area. The quarter round will prove to be no problem and attaching it to the wall is also no problem. But staining a brand new piece of wood to match existing wood that was stained 95 years ago does not sound like an easy task. I know, I know – pathetic. I am sure it will go much smoother than I am thinking it will. Paul has owned this house for 3-1/2 years (which I have been with him that entire time) and could have fixed it long ago. I am now disgusted with my lack of willingness to take care of such a small detail that I plan to do it this weekend.
Other things that need to be done include caulking under a window where it has settled and separated from the wall and touching up the ceiling in our bedroom where we accidentally got paint on it from painting the walls. The whole ceiling in that room could just get a fresh coat of paint.
Bigger things that need to get done include new back porch steps, painting the brick and trim on the entire house, new front porch boards, new or cleaned up front porch ceiling, new front porch steps, new ceiling in the office (which makes me cringe), new kitchen cabinets, new bathroom flooring and refinishing or getting new wood floors.
The wood floors seem to be a daunting task to me for a few reasons. If we get the floors refinished in all rooms but the kitchen then we have to move everything out of each room, keep the cats out of certain spaces because of work people and chemicals and pay money to keep wood floors that don’t all match (main reasons for getting new ones). But if I decided to get new wood floors in the rooms that don’t match (TV room, hallway and bedroom) the original wood (living room and dining room) then I have to find someone to match the existing which I am sure will cost me a fortune. I would still then have to get the original floors refinished and either way it just seems to be such a chore.
I think another reason I dread all of these projects is because I am afraid of what I am going to find every time I rip something up or out. What if I pull up these old wood floorboards to find mildew or damage to the sub-flooring? (I’m the kind of person that likes to pretend it can’t be there if I can’t see it). What if I rip the old kitchen cabinets out and there are holes in the walls where I wanted a great feature and it costs me extra to fix items the “old fashioned” way. No gyp board walls, tape and mud here. We’re talking lath and plaster people. Gorgeous, stupid lath and plaster.
As I stated before, I am going to do that small baseboard fix this weekend. I would really like to get the garage and house trim/brick painted before winter this year. My problem with this task is (I always have a problem with home repair tasks) I hate to have a freshly painted house with gross looking front steps, porch and porch ceiling. I feel like all of those have to go together to be done properly.
The nice thing is, other than the kitchen cabinets and the ceiling in the office – none of the items I want to do to the house are necessary. They’re all issues I want to take care of because I am a designer. I could sell this house with a few minor tweaks and be fine which may happen before I get all of this taken care of…
So about the kitchen cabinets…when it comes time to take care of those, I am just going to re-do the entire kitchen and I am thrilled about it. I have had lots of ideas over the past few months but have really narrowed it down to what I think both Paul and I would be happy with. I need to sit down and draw some elevations and get some budget pricing figured out so I can start saving up to do it. Check out these light fixtures I want to use in my new kitchen – or in some room someday.
For an interior designer who loves old homes I sure do hate the thought of what I am going to be doing.
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