Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy 2013!


faux_taxidermy pearl_antlers deer_tiara
Mavis was pure class ringing in the new year.



We had a cozy, homey New Years Eve at home which is just what we wanted.  Eric read, I painted my toenails and got Mavis all dolled up for the holiday while the Beastie Grrrlz worked over the antlers that Santa brought them.  Then we drank bubbly in the hot tub and looked out over the valley.  I saw one exploding firework and we heard others.

View from New Years Morning 2013:  (clockwise from upper left) Blue sky, sun shining through forest, grapefruit mimosa, hot tub, freshly painted toenails.


We managed to stay up until midnight (Mountain Time) and were given a late Christmas gift from the dogs: sleeping in until 9:17a!  After coffee, Eric went back to his reading and I went back to the hot tub.  After that I went back to working on our redecorating of the upstairs hall bathroom which was significantly less holiday-esque.

bathroom_makeover 70s_bathroom
The 80s wallpaper is down and ready for the trash.  Most of it came off without the steamer, but that which was stuck on well was stuck on really well.


All the wallpaper is down.  I've started in on repairing the walls which included your basic hole-filling as well as, wall anchor hole-filling, caulking some inside corners, and figuring out how to deal with the texture left by the original 1976 wallpaper.  Blech.  If I can't get it sanded off relatively easily, I'll skim coat the walls.  Also, blech.  Why is my own project harder than my clients' projects were?

bathroom_makeover 70s_bathroom
See that texture on the wall?  I think it's wallpaper glue from the original 1976 paper (a strip of which is shown here) that has been primed over to accept the 1980s wallpaper that I just removed.  Kudos to them for taking down the old before putting up the new; I just wish they'd taken the glue off, too.

The caulk is curing tonight, so I'll try sanding in the morning.  If it works, I may have that sucker primed and ready for paint by the end of the day.  WOO!




6 comments:

  1. I love Mavis!

    Your New Year's Day view is wonderful.

    So I have no advice for your walls but will the paint "stick" to the glue texture stuff? If so, why not go for it and have interestingly textured walls?

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    1. Thanks!

      Primer would have stuck to the glue so that paint would have and had it been consistent over the entire surface of the walls, I probably would have rolled with it. However there were smooth areas from former wall repairs, the smooth spots I was adding with my repairs and spots where maybe the glue hadn't adhered in the first place, as well as ropey glops of some kind of seam repair stuff. As it is, it's going to be far from perfect, but I'm about to lose my mind sanding and smoothing for what is hopefully a temporary (3-5 year) fix until we tear that sucker out.

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  2. Mavis knows how to party! Great job on the wall paper. I love how youre tackling all this now instead of waiting and then 6 years go by and you think, "why haven't I tore off that wall paper?" The house is looking great. LOVE the way you rang in the New Year.

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  3. Thanks! After showing our families pictures of the house, I was inspired/freaked out into getting more done. I mean it's one thing to be here and see the little tweaks to be made, but photos make the little things seem like the only things!

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