Craft Room Makeover

My craft room has been in need of a makeover since before we bought this 1956 fixer upper.  During the 1970’s the original homeowners put paneling in this room plus several others.  I’ve turned this dark and dated décor into a light airy space with an inexpensive paint make over without removing the paneling. This DIY home improvement is an easy and rewarding project a beginner or novice can accomplish in a long weekend under $100.

Five steps I didn’t consider before removing my popcorn ceilings

Let me just start by saying, I should have thought more about it before starting.  This post is all about the things they don't tell you about removing popcorn ceilings in those made to look easy videos. This 1956 fixer upper had and still has in several rooms, popcorn ceilings.  It is one of the first things folks comment on when they come to see what we’ve accomplished.  Are you taking down the popcorn?  And of course my answer is always, “Sure”.  [enthusiastic DIY me  - oh yea!] Time has passed, we’ve taken care of the really big stuff and I began thinking about the ceilings.  First mistake, thinking about the ceilings…
 

Caulk a straight line

Have you ever procrastinated a job on your to do list because it just seems like it's going to be a mess?  Yes, me too.  I finished putting down the vinyl floor months ago but had not caulked around the edges.  Around the entire small bathroom renovation.  The good news is that someone told me an easy method to get a straight caulk line.

Where are the connection points to a dishwasher?

Plumbing is becoming my worst nightmare.  The plumber we were using either retired or has too much to do to call me back. Actually he never calls back, just shows up at my door a day or so after I leave a message and fixed the latest problem. This time he didn't call or come by so I found a handyman that is a whiz at plumbing to replace the crumbling pipes under the bathroom sink and to install a new kitchen faucet. I was thrilled to get all that done for a very reasonable price. Then the ancient dishwasher stopped working. That lead to pulling it out and discovering a disaster in plumbing and electrical issues hidden behind it.

When to make a plumbing commitment

So, I found someone to install new faucets in the kitchen and bath. He noted that the plumbing under the bath sink is pretty deteriorated and to be prepared for a possible escalating of repair needed [and costs]. He said it was kind of like teens in love. Once things get started it's easy to get carried away. Consider if you want to commit to it. Hm. Then this morning it was clear we need to commit.

A DIY small bathroom renovation and reveal

Amazon affiliate links may be included.

I have finished both the guest bathroom and our master bathroom.  They are updated and slightly renovated.  I did most of it myself - DIY hubs changed out the toilets for me.  Those suckers are heavy!  Actually, we put new water saving toilets in the master and #3 bath.  The #2 guest bath toilet is still is good shape and matches the décor.  Here is a tour of the guest bath. 

DIY Refinishing Wood Floors

We quickly decided to refinish the original oak floors ourselves when we discovered them under the old carpet in the 1956 Home Renovation project.   It has taken a couple of weeks to complete but only because there were walls, baseboards, five window frames, two doors and four panel shutter doors on the closet to be painted and a new ceiling fan to be installed.  The room is finally complete and the furniture is in place.  I’d say that even though we took our time (and several breaks) the job of refinishing wood floors was much easier than I expected. 

DIY Home Renovation–The Foundation

The 1956 Fixer Upper is now standing firm on its foundation.  Fixing a foundation is something best left to professionals.  It was a stressful decision choosing a company to stabilize the foundation.  After five bids that varied a great deal we chose a company out of Amarillo, Texas.  They arrived when they said they would and worked tirelessly to finish ahead of schedule.  The process was interesting, even a couple of friends drove out to see as many home owners in the area are checking out recommended foundation repair companies.  The Texas drought has not been kind to foundations.

DIY Home Renovation–The fireplaces

There are two fireplaces in the 1956 Fixer Upper House that we are anxious to use, but not before they are checked out.  We do not know if the previous owners had the chimneys cleaned or inspected so for safety sake we are using a professional chimney sweep.  I will admit I priced the wire brushes and rods and contemplated very briefly having hubs get on the roof.  However, the cost of the equipment was about 1/3 the cost of having it done professionally and hubs wasn’t too keen on climbing the roof.

DIY Home Renovation -1956 Fixer upper plan

The first time we looked at it was a cool spring afternoon.  With no utilities in the house it was a bit dark.  The owners were parents to high school acquaintances of hubs.  The father had passed away 14 years ago and the mother had moved in with the oldest son.  She passed away 5 years ago and the house was closed up until now.

The guest bedroom

A look at the guest bedroom, finished, dressed up and ready for a guest.


The quilt was made by my late Great Aunt.  The solid yellow pillow and yellow roll pillow are made from tea towels.  The painting was given to me by a teacher friend, David Mask.  He painted it on recycled materials from a build at his home.

I replaced the 1970 ugly tile with a plank vinyl product from Home Depot.  It matches the hardwood  laminate in the rest of the house so well you can hardly tell it's different.  And it was really easy to apply.

This is my grandmother's Singer sewing machine.  It still has her things in the drawers.

Did I not say "Ugly 70's floors?"

The rocking chair hubs gave me when we brought home
our eldest child in 1973.  The basket has vintage
toys saved for the grands and that is the fabulous
new vinyl flooring.

The mirror and comb set belonged to my mother in law. The doily
was her mother's and a piece of vintage jewelry from my collection.

Some added crystal closet door knobs
hold on to my monogram.

Hubs put up new crown moulding too.

 Now, bring on the guests.  If you'd like to see more of the whole house do over, click the tab on the menu bar up top or go here.

Check out the parties I like to attend here.

Add rope lighting.

This week hubs is on a hunting trip.  I feel extra motivated to get some projects finished in the home do over.  I finished painting the back doors...color matching is a pain!  Then I tackled adding rope lighting above the kitchen counters.  I am very pleased with the result.  You can see more on how it was done and the rest of the Home Do Over project here.

While hubs is off hunting, I decided to install rope lighting across the shelf above the sink counter and over the top of the upper cabinets.  It went pretty well.  I purchased a 16' rope light from Walmart for $14 and a power bar with on/off switch for about $9.  Bargain!  I also purchased a 1 1/2" hole drill bit at Home Depot and got some basic instructions on using it from a very helpful employee there.  I straightened out the rope light to make it easier to work into place then used the new hole bit on the top of the corner cabinet to feed the power cord through.

The corner cabinet where I chose to put the cord through is too dark to see inside, so I used this opportunity to thread a little of the rope light down the inside of that cabinet.  I love the new light in there.  There was space in the back corner to fit the cord down through the two shelves and exit through the second hole I cut in the bottom of the cabinet near an outlet.  I attached a power strip with an on/off switch to the bottom of the cabinet so all you see is a few inches of the cord attached to the outlet.  I am already enjoying the ambiance of the night lighting.

 

You can see the whole house re do here.

You can see where I like to link to parties here.

Kitchen reveal



I love this scale we found in Elliott's Hardware Store

 

Hooray, the kitchen is done!  I spent most of yesterday deep cleaning after all the painting was done.  I am still new to using my Nikkon D3100 and haven't quite figured out how to avoid the unatural light that occurs indoors, so imagine the walls over the counters are the same Glidden semi gloss Antique White as the ceiling and the walls over the and around the fridge are Glidden's semi gloss Sandbar.  The cabinets are a very dark brown that really do appear almost black. You can see more of the complete project on the DIY One Year Project page.

The other side of the room looks like this (the colors are pretty true in this photo):

The small door next to the fridge is the pantry. 

The double doors open into the laundry closet.

Click here to see close ups of the decorations!

Here is the "BEFORE"

link up parties

Happy Hour Projects

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/ Feathered Nest Friday

Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time

Picture Perfect 8

Staining the kitchen cabinets

I put the guest bathroom back together, decorated and closed the door.  But I wasn't really happy with the cabinetry and hadn't really decided on the mirror replacement.  My designer daughter in law came to pick up the little grands and encouraged me to go forward with refinishing the cabinetry.  We made a trip to Home Depot, checked out the cabinets and found what I dreamed about a possible project.  We bought the supplies and got down to stripping the old and staining with the new.  All I can say is she definitely guided me the right direction.  I like it so much that after she left I took out the little accent table and took down the wall shelf and they are now sitting on the patio work station with the first coat of stain.  I finally feel room 2 of the One Year Project is done.

The patio work station.  Yes, the "Off" is absolutely necessary!

http://forwhatitsworth-jeannie.blogspot.com/p/one-year-project.html