Welcome to our home … our second attempt at a fixer-upper.

That’s what happened this past weekend.

We were so productive.  It was our biggest weekend yet.

There’s not much to say about this stuff.  We went in and just worked.  Saturday, we literally worked all day.  We got to the house around 10am – took a quick break for lunch and to run to the hardware store – and didn’t leave the house again until 7 or 8 … who can remember?  On Sunday, we got down to the house around 9am.  We went a little earlier because it was Sunday Masters and Patrick wanted to leave by 2pm to get home and watch the final rounds.  We ended up not leaving until closer to 2:30pm … but it was a well-deserved early-quit day.

Here’s what we accomplished.

Patrick prepped all of the stair fronts and stairwell walls.  It was quite the task – they were not pretty.  Plus (to my dismay), we have to paint the fronts of the stairs … so that made it all the more tedious.  He literally spent the entire day scraping, spackling, and sanding.  But, now they are ready for paint … whenever I can get around to that.

Patrick prepped the upstairs hall and bedrooms for painting.  He was originally going to move on to cleaning the garage and basement next, so we could start moving stuff down here.  But, since all of the ceilings need to be painted in the bedrooms before we move in, I requested that he patch & prep those walls first.  So, if I can get to painting upstairs soon (okay, at least just the ceilings), they are ready to go.  (I hope it happens. I don’t realistically think that it will happen.)

Again, it took most of Sunday.  Every room had curtains and valances, which were screwed into the window frames and wall above it, all with multiple, large screws.  Also, the previous owners had bedside lamps hung on the walls in the master bedroom.  They needed to go.  These small lamps were secured to the wall with 4 anchors and 4 large screws – each.  They were so secure.  Enter Patrick.  And some wall destruction.  The lamps are no more, and the walls are repaired.

I finished painting the living room … but we haven’t removed the paper yet.

I wallpapered the foyer (mostly), hallway, and half bathroom.  I had to sand the mudded walls first … that was a huge mess.  Again.  It’s seriously never-ending … the drywall dust.  Sanding the foyer literally spread a fine layer of dust all over the family room (which is still there, the cleaning is wishful at this point, but not really executable).  And, as I’ve mentioned before, I used the same paintable, beadboard wallpaper that I used in our first house, to wallpaper the foyer and hallway.  This time, I bought it in the wide plank version and hung it horizontally.  I think it turned out really well.  The corners (and ceilings) in this house are not square … so it definitely took some finessing and leveling to even it all out and make sure the lines were horizontal for real.  And, since the corners are not square, the wallpaper created these air pockets underneath.  So, I had to cut those out and add corner molding, which was not part of the plan, but it looks pretty good.  [Also, I ran out of wallpaper, and had to order more, so the other side of the foyer (not pictured) is still just messy walls and mud.]

I fixed holes in half bathroom and mudded the walls to prep for wallpaper.  The previous owners had the toilet paper holders that sit inside the wall, which we removed and it left a big hole.  They also had a medicine-cabinet mirror, which we also removed and left a bigger hole.  I added (my scrap-wood-version of) furring strips, pieces of drywall, and spackled around them. Then, on Sunday, I was able to wallpaper the bottom half of the walls.  For this room, I used the narrow, paintable, beadboard wallpaper, leftover from the kitchen at our first house.  I literally had JUST enough, and had to forgo behind the sink … but once painted, I don’t think you’ll even be able to see it, unless you’re searching for it.

I also mudded a lot of the upper walls in preparation for the wallpaper.  Later I’ll sand, and create a huge mess – at least this room has a door and window, so maybe the mess will be minimal to the surrounding areas.

I primed [most of] the kitchen.  Because we left early on Sunday, I didn’t get around to priming the hall and bath area … but I did get the kitchen ceiling and eating area walls primed beforehand.  It’s the last big space to paint on the main level.  I kind of wish I had started here … the cutting in and taping off and so-much-trim work … I miss the simpler roller days of the other rooms.

On an upside … we found a great lunch spot just down the street from us.  It was amazing.  Like totally fantastic.