...where distraction is the main attraction.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The Mold Room becomes The Office

HOW THIS:

BECAME THIS:

First there was the removal of the popcorn ceiling.  That required soaking, scraping, sanding, priming, and painting.  It looked like this:


And this:


Then there was the wallpaper removal, which turned out to be considerably more challenging than we had expected.  First we scored the crummy painted-over-NUMEROUS-times wallpaper with a little device that shrieked like metal nails on a chalkboard.  Then we scrubbed the wall down with a toxic wallpaper removal fluid -- its effectiveness debatable.  Then we peeled the wallpaper off.  Then we scrubbed the wall again with the remover.  Then we scraped off the wallpaper adhesive.  Then Kristen hit the considerable mold growths with a bleach tincture.  Twice.

This is what success looked like:


Here's an example of the brilliance we have to deal with:


The previous owner had painstakingly wrapped the INSIDE of the vent cover in wallpaper.  With the outside of the cover encrusted in multiple poor paint jobs and the inside smothered in this homely blind-grandmother-from-the-1950s schlock, it went in the garbage.  I can't wait to see what awaits us when we remove our home's other vents.

Kristen hit the ceiling with primer and Ceiling White.  Then we pondered paint shades for some time, settling on Misty Lake from Olympic.  Then she deftly applied primer and two full coats to the walls, staying up past 1:30am on a weeknight.  Here are some action shots:


While she was doing this, I was making dinner:


Teamwork!  Wherein "Michael painting" ∉ "Teamwork".  Math joke.

One more time:


This room's transformation from mildewed disaster to cozy living space has gone a long way towards making our condo feel like a home.  Thank you, Kristen!