Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Our Home Renovation Part 1 - Wall Restoration & Paint

The time has finally come. We've been renting our new house to the previous owners since September as they had their new house built. They moved out in early December and we're taking this month to do some renovations before our moving day on New Year's eve.

Step one was to paint, but our big goal was to have the carpets ripped out and expose the wood floors before we moved. Since the floor restoration company, Galebach's Floor Finishing, was aiming to start on the 15th we had a small window of time to restore and paint the living room and dining room. And this worked out because carpets make great drop-cloths. To do this we hired my brother, Stephen Sarro, of Sarro Painting (and the band, Unteachers), who did an excellent job!

Here's the two rooms and a close-up of the beautifully detailed radiators BEFORE we bought the home:







Here's the entry-way and living room space as Stephen began working:



This is what renovating looks like. Since the house was built in 1916 and has plaster walls there was much to repair. Restoring the walls and ceilings took about three full days just in these two rooms! We've got an oldie, but a goodie.



We're using Benjamin Moore's Simply White satin finish for the trim and radiators throughout the entire home and that's what you're seeing being applied in the photos. For the ceilings we're using the same, but in a flat finish.

For the dining room we chose Benjamin Moore's Harbor Gray eggshell finish. At certain times of day with with sunlight, it tends to pull more on the blue-gray side. We wanted more of a smoky gray, but it's still a lovely color.



For the living room we chose Benjamin Moore's Windham Cream eggshell finish (the photo below is in low-light, it's a very light, creamy yellow). This is the color I am not sure about yet. I think it is beautiful, but again not the shade we had in mind. We wanted a pale yellow with a little more depth like a golden yellow. At night because of the lighting, the walls look off-white. I'm still trying to get used to it and have thought about trying again. Picking paint colors can be very tricky. I've lost sleep over it!



As soon as we took all of the curtains down and exposed all of the beautiful woodwork, the rooms felt so much bigger. It was shocking! It's still hard to see color in an empty room so we anticipate restored floors and moving day when our home finally begins to come to life.

Things are coming along. Right now Galebach's is just about to apply stain to the wood floors. We've been over to the home about every day since they started and the floors are absolutely gorgeous. Our next post will be about that process. We've taken lots of great photos, but for now here's a taste of things to come ...



Check back often for more of our first home renovation goodness!

10 comments:

Devon said...

Isn't it crazy to think that people had those beautiful wood floors and chose to cover them with carpet? I mean what the? Thank to you, gawty era of...whenever carpeting became "in", for protecting my floors/ (Note: that was you talking) Looking forward to seeing the finished product. :)

Desiree said...

lol, I know! The condition was really good so they had to be covered up for at least 50-75 years!

Deborah said...

The refinished floors are beautiful..and I love the colors you picked out for the walls. When you add furniture, rugs and window treatments it will look like a picture out of a magazine. Great job Desiree!

Desiree said...

Thanks mom, but you always help me make all the decisions!

Deborah said...

no , not this time..you had the colors all picked out without me:)

maybe said...

I'm appreciate your writing skill.Please keep on working hard.^^

Katie Nicoll said...

So far, the progress seems to be going very well, just by seeing how the wall was painted and for starters, the color is totally calm and relaxing. But, I got to commend the previous owners, since they've taken care of that house for a very long time, long enough that only a little redesign work is enough for the transition.

Gulf Coast said...

Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.

Kayce Church said...

Ugh yes, picking the colors out for a room can definitely cause a few headaches, but strangely enough, it’s my favorite part of the process. I enjoy taking colors and combining them to come up with different color schemes. Funny thing is, it’s pretty hard to get the exact color you want, unless you use pre-mixed paint colors, I usually look at paint samples to be sure that I’m seeing the color the way I want to.

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