It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since we purchased the 70’s lake house.  I’ve wanted to show you updates as we went along, but every time a room was completed, we moved stuff into it and started on another room.

Does anyone see the tape measure?

During that time, I’ve learned how to use big saws and drills, been through gallons of paint, bottles of ibuprofen and been up and down a ladder 8964 times.

We are not even close to being finished with the downstairs, but the upstairs is pretty close so I thought I would start the tour with the hall bathroom.

Remember this wallpaper?

It was so old it practically fell off the wall and disintegrated at the same time I was removing it.  So that was an easy job.

The ceiling was painted next.  Yes, it still has “popcorn” on it.  That might be removed or covered in the future, but for now it stays.  I really didn’t think it looked that bad until I started to paint.

the middle stripe is the old paint

I used a regular white ceiling paint with 6 drops of brown added.  I did this to tone down the white just enough to remove the starkness but still look white  (and because the guy at Meeks said that’s what all the professional painters do.)  Just curious–how many gallons of paint does it take to become a professional painter?  I might be close.

But professionals never seem to get any paint on their clothes while working.

Maybe I’m not as close as I think.

After the ceiling was painted, I turned my attention to the walls.  When I removed the wallpaper, I found bare naked sheet rock.  Not a bad thing.  It was  good to see what the walls looked like.  No mold and no surprises.  Two thumbs up.

Before I could paint with a color though, I had to prime the walls first.  Zinsser Bulls Eye 123

is a thick primer and stain blocker that came highly recommended as a one coat and done type of paint.  It went on as stated and in no time I had the walls primed.

The countertop was the original formica

and matched the sink.

terrible color on this picture!

and the toilet.

We decided to wait on new countertops mainly because we are impatient and wanted to get done with this room.  Instead, we removed the old sink and painted the formica with this

It was so easy.

Allen lightly sanded the top, I rolled it on,

let dry, and applied another coat.  I had two coats put on within an hour.

before

during (original on the left/ paint on the right)

after

It covered all the old stains

and best part of all, it just cost $20!  Quicker and cheaper than installing new countertops.  Even after a year of use, the surface has held up very well.

All the outlets in the house were black

Allen went through one weekend and switched them all to this.

much better

Another improvement he and his brother did was add plank siding (also called car siding) to the wall behind the sink.  This was left over from another project and added a nice accent to the bathroom.

Car siding is unique as it is tongue and groove,

with one side being a flat 5 inches,

while the other side looks like 2 planks with each plank being 2 1/2 inches wide.

  This gives you two design options on one plank.

Installation is straight forward.  Level and nail the top plank on then insert the tongue (or groove) of the next plank at a slight angle and pop it in.  Most of time that worked. But, if the wood has warped some, a mallet, some muscle and a few choice words will be needed to encourage a piece in place.

I then primed the planks with Zinsser.

The original light fixture was not centered over the sink, so Allen and his brother did some electrical magic and my new light fixture looks much better than the ’70’s version.

new light, new sink, and painted countertops

I painted everything with Valspar Soothing Celedon which is a very pale green.  Even though most paints say only one coat is needed, I personally think two coats are better than one.  Makes for more work, but I like the end result.

I found a nice shower curtain that went well with the paint

and an old shelf at a garage sale that I thought would look great over the toilet to hold the towels.

It was white so I decided to paint it as well.  I found a spray paint at Lowe’s that covered metal very well.

I installed a white, wood blind in the window and made some simple white curtains to finish it off

again, terrible lighting

and I’m using boat cleats to hold the curtain tie-backs.

So, this is where I left it last March.  I didn’t like leaving the cabinets brown with those clunky pulls (that I spray painted and hated),

but I did not have the time to delve into another project.

That is until recently.

When Allen and his brother began working on the master bath remodel, and I was basically in the way, I decided to paint the cabinets.

I took off all the doors and sanded them with a sanding block.  The remaining wood was also sanded and my friend, Zinsser Primer, was applied and allowed to dry.  I painted on two coats of Valspar Gloss White I had used for another project.

New pulls were installed.  We had bought new, white hinges for the cabinet doors but they were the wrong size. After searching and searching, we discovered they didn’t make the size we needed anymore.  I knew my dad had a sandblaster so I took them all to him.  He sandblasted the old finish off,  I spray painted them white, and the next trip to the house, the doors were reinstalled.

I’ve learned you can paint just about anything.

What a difference!

before

after

Accessories were added

shells and rocks we’ve found on the bank

and done!

From this

to this

And from this

to this

Now we can look forward to being

Brenda