If you're a regular reader, then you know we bought a house, and we moved last weekend. Although we did not swear at each other, there were some swear words bandied about. Some memorable injuries I suffered included being poked in the eye with the wheel of a bed frame, having the wind knocked out of me when the corner of a box I was carrying met the wall - ooof! I fell up the steps, and I wrenched my back helping carry the sofa downstairs. Otherwise, it was a good time.
I am not completely out of my house yet - luckily I don't have to be out until January. So we've been doing the upgrades to the new house before we move in. I had a lovely schedule of "flooring on Monday, wallpaper removal on Tuesday, painting on Wednesday", and it was all organized and I thought I figured enough time to complete everything. Not so much.
The new bathroom floor took longer than anticipated to fully install, and we're still doing finishing work. The wallpaper border has proven to be the biggest pain in the ass to remove. Seriously - one half seemed liked it was held on with glue stick and the other half was some kind of NASA-approved adhesive. Not only did I remove the border, I also scraped off the top layer of the drywall. So I've got to skim coat and sand my "oh crap!" moments. Fantastic.
However, the full-wall floral and striped wallpaper in the bathrooms is coming off like a dream. I can only hope that this is the case in the kitchen as well. That's the next project.
On the upside, Uverse is installed so Maddy can watch TV downstairs, the living room furniture is set in place (kind of), the new carpet is gorgeous, our bedroom is painted, and the kitchen updates are on track (for the most part). While waiting for the wallpaper stripper to work, I switched out the kitchen cabinet knobs from bright gold brass to a brushed nickel pull and wow, did that make a huge difference. I like the kind of updates that have an immediate impact.
I've pitched my original schedule and am now doing what I can when I can. My dad is coming in for Christmas so that's my incentive to keep at it until I get it done. Tonight's schedule is skim coat the gouges, finish stripping the paper in Maddy's bathroom and start stripping the wallpaper in our bathroom.
At some point I will post before and after pictures, but until then, I'm covered in wallpaper paste and paint spatters and am afraid to touch anything.
7 comments:
That's so weird.
I swear I woke up this morning and thought, "I wonder if Kim's moved in yet?"
Then the first blog I read over my morning coffee is this one.
Just keep moving.... time enough to sit down and relax when it's Christmas!!!
Oh wallpaper.....we have a love/hate relationship. Try the cheapest fabric softener you can buy mixed with warm (almost hot) water. Put it in a spray bottle. Cheap and it works great. The idiots who lived here before us used some wierd glue on the seams that wouldn't come off. The wallpaper guy at the paint store we used told us that is what he uses.
I can't wait to see pictures of your new house.
I'm glad to hear the moving is coming along! I wish you all the best of luck in getting moved in fully by Christmas! It is good that you are doing all the repairs though before you fully move in, that way you don't have to fully live in the chaos yet. I can't wait to see pics!
Congratulations on the move.
It will all work out in due time. Enjoy the season,Craig, and Maddie.
Oh moving. It's a pain in the neck no matter how you slice it.
Congrats on surviving and good luck getting settled!
Good for you!
You've had your hands full, but it sounds like great improvements. I am always amazed and fascinated by the wallpaper choices found in "new" homes. They inevitably always need to be changed, and you have to wonder who chose them and why. Usually they are things that have NEVER made sense let alone been in style.
Can't wait to see the pics!
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