True appreciation...

I was razzed by a co-worker today (ahem, you know who you are) for taking a brief hiatus from blogging and then writing four new posts in one night...to which I answered that it is difficult to blog when you are physically working on the house.

  

So here is the one and only post for tonight so as not to overwhelm. In all the posts about the kitchen so far, I feel that the pictures do not give you a true appreciation for the floral-ness that was before I let 'er rip. May I remind you that this wallpaper was only 12 years old, pasted to the walls in June of 1998? 

In the past 2 days since the completion of the initial phase of the kitchen face-lift, I have appreciated...
1. All the help from family and friends. Really, really appreciated this...we'd have gone a bit nuts without it.
2. The lack of floral.
3. Not looking up to see a spot of something crusty on the wallpaper and wondering if it was from us or the previous owner. It's the truth, the nasty nasty truth.
4. The lack of floral. Seriously, this is big.
5. How big the kitchen really is. 
6. How big the kitchen really is and it's glaring need for an island. 
7. Chris putting all the food and other miscellaneous goodies back into the pantry so that he could find our dining table that appeared to be missing in action. 
8. And many more...


As I mentioned, this was the initial phase of the face-lift for the kitchen. We have a plan, as term which I use loosely because it is ever-changing... new countertops, additional customized storage cupboards, painted cabinets, backsplash, garbage disposal, dishwasher to name a few recurring ideas. Like some say, Dream big or go home. Well, we are HOME...where we continue to dream, mostly big... sometimes small...but mostly do-able (in time).

Before and After: Kitchen Decor

And now, the much anticipated, newly-painted kitchen. I swear "Swiss Coffee" did not look like white on the swatch. For now, the kitchen looks clean and spacious and lacking in floral decor...which will do. 

             Left: Before (during initial house tours)                 Right: After

 

 

 

 

Kitchen Weekend

My parents, Jack and Carolyn, came this past weekend to help paint the kitchen. Due to some schedule shifting, we were not completely ready to paint so they got to partake in the "joys" of the last bits of steaming along with spackling and painting Guardz on the walls before actually painting "color" on the walls. 
1. Remove the rest of glue and wash down walls. Oh, and remove the forgotten backing in "the space between" the radiator and kitchen window (even tighter than in the living room). Carolyn wins for most talented remover of wallpaper backing from behind the toasty radiator.

2. Sand down rough spots and spackle. Even though we used the plastic taping knives we still made some divots in the walls...which required some filling in. We intially used joint compound which dries slower than lightweight spackle...thus, the hairdryer was used to speed up the process. Note Chris' enthusiasm as witnessed in his "dazed drunk guy" expression.

3. Wash down walls with TSP (actually, TSP-Phosphate Free) to prep for Guardz. Guardz (Zinsser) is a awesome product that our neighbor (a professional painter) recommended to apply to the walls after removing wallpaper and before painting because it seals in any remaining glue which paint would not adhere too and would cause bubbling. Absolutely fantastic. No bubbles. I didn't actually get any pictures of the TSP fun fest (made possible by Chris and Carolyn) because I conveniently had to run to the hardware store and so did my dad...I hate washing with TSP. However, my mom is on to me and I'm seeing payback in my future. 
4. Apply Guardz. No pictures here either because we were in a hurry due to the onset of hunger pains.
5. Go out for dinner at a quaint little Italian joint down the street. Yum! 
6. Paint the ceiling...some of us. Chris and Jack painted the ceiling while Carolyn and Keri fell asleep on the couch, but not before proof was captured.

7. Paint walls "swiss coffee" (next day). As Chris put it, the Swiss must put a lot of cream in their coffee because the COLOR we chose turned out basically white. Argh. Well, at least it's better than floral wallpaper.

 

Call in the reinforcements...

My mother-in-law, Shari, may now regret giving me a coupon for Christmas that was good for 4 hours of wallpaper removal assistance. After peeling all the wallpaper off the kitchen walls the night before, I cashed in my coupon and called in the reinforcements to help me remove the paper backing and scrub the glue adhesive off the walls. Shari, Kelly (SIL) and Jenna (Kelly's roommate) arrived just after lunch.

Armed with Dif and plastic taping knives, we started to remove the backing and glue. Why plastic tape knives and not metal scrapers you wonder? Run your hand along our 105 year old plaster walls and you will understand...they are not what you call flat. They are in excellent shape for their age and have been well cared for over the years...but with age comes some sagging and some relocated material. If only this was the case for plaster walls alone. While removing wallpaper in the living room, Chris and I found that metal scrapers gouge the walls too much which meant more hours spent with spackle and sandpaper in hand. 

Shari hard at work with the scraper and spray.

 

Jenna removed the remaining wallpaper from the space between the radiator & wall.

The Dif worked well to remove the backing but the glue was determined to stick to the walls and seemed to be baked onto the plaster over the chimney. We tried out the steamer my parents had loaned Chris and I...and it was AMAZING. I completely regret not trying it a few hours sooner. Since four people per steamer is not quite optimal for efficiency, I ran out and bought another one for the cost of 3-4 big jugs of Dif...all of which we would have needed to finish the job. 

Kelly going to town with the steamer.

Ah, steamer, how I love thee.

Good to note, two steamers plugged into the kitchen blow the circuit breaker. The new steamer seemed to be taking forever to heat up...that's when Jenna opened the now-quiet fridge and asked if a light was supposed to go on when you opened the fridge. As I trekked down to the basement, I heard someone ask if the garage lights were on motion-sensors. Nope, they are on dusk-to-dawn sensors. I opened the circuit breaker box and flipped the blown breaker. Guess an outlet or two in the kitchen and the power to the garage share circuit breaker #14. 

Overall, we had a productive afternoon, removing all the wallpaper backing in the kitchen and the glue off one whole wall...a fantastic feat.

I dare me...

Just above the kitchen sink there is was this annoying spot where the wallpaper was slightly peeling from water being splashed on it. Every time I saw it I just wanted to grab hold and pull...so I did. Yup. At 10:30 pm this evening. I have the annoying any-time-you-get-slightly-horizontal-you-have-a-coughing-attack kind of cough so I figured I'd prolong that fun misery by staying up and vertical for awhile. Chris had told me that he wasn't going to be the one to start the next de-wallpapering job so I stepped up to the job...and let 'er rip. 

I have to mention that the wallpaper in the living/dining room came off quite a bit nicer (in complete sheets) than the kitchen wallpaper. 

 

So I have the rest of the week off from work which works out well since I had a squeak of a voice left by the end of today. Being a speech pathologist doesn't work very well when you lose your voice...who'd have thunk it? Good thing you don't need a voice to strip wallpaper...here's a sneak peek at the kitchen minus floral print (with the wallpaper backing still on the walls)...

 

 

Bye bye glue, Bye bye scraping you, Hello putty knife, I think I'm going to spackle

Chris and I said goodbye to the last of the glue last week and we have been spackling the walls to repair all the marks from scraping and general wear. In my up-close and personal interaction with the walls, I discovered that they are definitely more wavy than initially meets the eye. But, I dig it. The old lath and plaster walls are charming and add some character our abode. Next up is sanding the trim and walls, followed by a bath of TSP and Kilz....and, drum roll please.....PAINT.

PAINT? Do you know how many choices there are for paint colors? AHHH. Chris and I have been experiencing what I've termed *the paint wars* for the past month. He wants "color" and I want "neutral" ...and we are both stubborn firstborns of stubborn Friesan Dutch descent who think we are right. Makes for marital bliss...how many more rooms do we have to pick a color for? Yikes. Alas, we have finally decided on a warm colorish-neutral to try. Our neighbor, who happens to be a professional painter and general handyman, offered to get us the good stuff at cost and dropped off the test quart this evening. We'll see how it looks...after we finish the sanding, etc.

The space between.....

Ah, radiators. Source of warmth and comfort (now that the boiler has gotten down to business). Also, source of frustration and loathing when it comes to removing wallpaper and glue. Guess who's arms were small enough to fit between the radiators and the wall? Mine. Guess who's did not fit? Chris'. Spackle application was also fun times. I'd try to get the darn putty knife at the right angle... and then THUNK. Ouch. Radiator 47, Keri's forearms 0. Can't wait to paint the trim and walls in these spaces between. How'd they ever get the wallpaper behind there?

Sunday afternoon...

Chris and I were enjoying our cinnamon rolls from the Geneva Farmers Market & coffee on our front porch in the early afternoon on Sunday. Chris stepped back inside for a minute and came back out on the porch with the "I've got a plan" look on his face. Here's how the conversation went...

Chris: "I've got an idea for what we should do today...take down the wallpaper in the living/dining rooms."
Me: "Hmm" (Note: I had been people-watching out the windows on the porch when Chris had gone inside but then realized I had heard the sound of ripping paper.) "Hold up! Did you already start?"
Chris: "Yup" as he shows me the mass of crumpled wallpaper in his hand.Thus, we are in the process of removing the living/dining room wallpaper from the 25 X13-15 room. I am really excited that Chris decided to go for it since we haven't put the furniture back in since redoing the floors; however, I can say I'm 99% sure he won't be impulsively ripping off any more wallpaper since he is not so thrilled with the enormity of the current removal task. More pictures of the chaos soon!