Update

So, since June we have come along on the house. It finally feels like there might be an end in sight.

The kitchen now has pictures and decorations hanging and only awaits cabinets and countertops and then it will be finished. YIPEE.

The dining room has new drywall, is spackled, primed, and painted…and oh yeah now has crown molding, door trim, chair rail, and base board installed.

The living room we decided to leave the old lath and plaster/sheetrock, but Tyler did update the wiring and moved some light fixtures around. The only lights previously were in the dining room and to the far end of the living room. This left the living room in the dark. Now there is a ceiling fan centered in the living room, and a light over the door. Lighting is much better…we can actually see!

Tyler took some fast set drywall mud and skim coated most of the walls in the living room. He then had to sand the walls and float them once more: then a final sand, prime, spackle, and paint. We are bargain shoppers and so when we can’t find what we need on craigslist we search the local Restore and Second Chance stores.

These are two stores that take old house “junk” and offer them for sale to others who are remodeling their houses on a budget. The money is then donated to Habitat for Humanity or to an Alcoholic Rehabilitation Charity.

One day when Tyler and Janis were cruising around town for miscellaneous odds and ends they stopped at Restore and found some crown molding. So they bought it for a killer deal and its now installed in my dining room.

Then while Tyler and I were cruising Restore for valuable treasures we came across chair rail. I had wanted to do a dark brown in the living room as an accent and lighter brown as the main color, but was undecided as to how to go about doing this. When we found the chair rail I knew right away. So, dark on bottom and light on top with the chair rail to separate the two colors. We ended up having enough that we put chair rail in the dinning room too. It is starting to look very elegant.

We also got enough baseboards at Restore to do the living room, dining room, and hall way.

I don’t know if any of you have priced out molding, but it is ridiculously expensive. Tyler has some bits for his saw that look pretty cool, so we went out and bought a couple of sheets of MDF (Medium Density Fiber Board), and made our own molding for the doors and windows.

When we put up the major portion of the door/window trim we had Josh over. He was so excited to help.. Tyler was priming as I was taping and Josh asked Tyler “Can I help paint?” Tyler told him that he would have to wait until he had a chance to find a paint brush. Josh exclaims “I KNOW EXCATLY WHERE ONE IS AT! Its in my craft box, I’ll go get it!” So Josh scampered off in search of his paint brush and comes out with a brush that you use for water colors. He dips the brush in the paint a proceeds to help with the trim.

As he is doing this he notices that Tyler is going outside of the lines. He explains to dad that he is a good artist and maybe he will be one some day too. He also tells Tyler that he can show him how to stay inside the lines. Josh then demonstrates. He says “Dad if you need any help or forget how to stay in the lines, just come and get me and I’ll help you.” We were very proud of Josh, and he stayed inside the lines the entire time.

Ahhh an end is in sight. We are currently priming all of the molding again, and soon the only thing left to do will be kitchen cabinets, the hallway, and flooring…. And the downstairs bathroom… and…