12 Days of Painting (and 1 Party): Days 9-12

Phew. We didn’t get it all done. but i am happy nonetheless with the progress that we have made in our 12 days of painting, which included hosting an end of the world party, and for which our halfway done staircase / hallway wall was the perfect backdrop )

Painting those walls really, really kind of sucked. Three coats! That’s because I did the second coat only in parts, which meant that it dried splatchey.… Read the rest

Kissing Balls

I saw these kissing balls online this year and was smitten. Must have me some mistletoe kissing balls. The shape works well with the rest of the holiday decorations, and is just somehow more fun and festive than a spring hanging in the doorway. However, it seemed like it would take a little too much time to make, between ordering all the supplies online (where in DC can I get a foam ball?!)… Read the rest

Adding Layers

Its been a few months since the upstairs bathroom has been completed. Right now its absolutely, hands down, my favorite space in the house. Key reason for why kitchen can’t take that prize – its still not complete – there is still quite a bit of painting left to do, plus I can see the rest of the *not yet completed* first floor. But the upstairs bath – close the door, and its blissful!… Read the rest

12 Days of Painting: Day 5

Finishing up and crossing items off the list. The staircase treads and baseboards are done. Two coats of fresh Cloud White by Benjamin Moore.Notice the newel post – I am making progress here too!

Here are some up close and personal on the damaged stairs – its not terrible but definitely not safe. Not sure what can be done to fix this situation besides the stair-runner.

And Sergey finished with a second coat of paint in the small bedroom.… Read the rest

12 Days of Painting (And Other Crap): Days 3-4

Can I just say that I am really, really tired of renovating? How do I know? Even new paint on the walls doesn’t bring me any happiness. But a plan is a plan, so we are sticking to it and powering through. We made a good dent in our to painting to do list this weekend. First up, the stairs. Before any painting and priming, there was a whole lot of prep work – removing the carpet, taking out the nails and staples (a total time consuming pain).… Read the rest

Construction Days 122-126: The End.

We.are.done. And by we, I mean our contractors. Sergey and I still have quite a few items to cross off the list (mainly painting and stripping – will it ever end?!). But back to the topic at hand — there was no dramatic build up, no sense that this was all going to end. Just an email on Wednesday night notifying that the following day was going to be final day.… Read the rest

VIB Moldings and Trim

I love original decorative trim work and molding pieces – intricate moldings for windows and doors, tall baseboards with added bonus of toe kicks – the grand old stuff that just isn’t put into houses anymore, at least your typical contractor-grade flips. The VIB came with a good deal of its original decorative woodwork intact. One of my favorite elements in our home are the staircase panels. And then there are the door and window casing moldings from 1897.… Read the rest

12 Days of Painting: Days 1-2

Merry Christmas! We got a fir tree this weekend, and its all decorated and such. We decided to go the smaller 4.5″ route this year, so its up on a console in the living room, and right by the window too. Its funny, DC has this thing, where everyone puts their tree by the window. I guess to pass along the holiday spirit, and show off their tree decorating skills. Otto has been quite enthused about not loosing his window perch and getting the tree.… Read the rest

Constructions Days 118-121: Bits and Bobs

We are inching along here. I had made a list of everything that needs to be caulked in the kitchen – its actually quite lengthy. I guess I would rather do that than have contractors do less or more. The other big items are baseboards and the last molding pieces to frame the door to the basement. Those should look much better with a coat or two of paint.

But the biggest item over the last week has been plaster.… Read the rest