starting the renovations | Illustrations of Tina and Mr. Bee

starting the renovations | September 3, 2007

Nothing ever goes exactly as planned, of course, even with a boat load of lists, research, notes, and double checking. I called the utility company too late in the week, and with the weekend and holiday coming up they were unable to turn on the electricity or water until Tuesday for the bulk of our renovation. This didn’t stop us though, and thankfully the weather was mild enough so that we didn’t die working without air conditioning.

I took some quick photos of the place before we started.

Living Room: Before

I pulled some of the wallpaper off to see how easy it would be to take the whole thing off. It wasn’t as hard as I feared it might be.

Back Yard: Before

Look, they left us some flower pots! There are also a couple of flower pots and a birdbath left for us in the front yard.

This weekend we finished removing all of the popcorn off the ceilings. Before starting this, I kept reading that popcorn is an easy thing to remove. All you would have to do is spray a little water and it turns into a mud that you can easily scrape off. Apparently this method does not work as well if the popcorn has been PAINTED TWICE!

It was rough, but with our muscles burning, our bodies bruised, and three days of nonstop physical labor we scrapped every piece of devil popcorn out of the entire house. We also sanded the ceilings, filled all holes and damaged drywall, and took off the wallpaper in the dining area.

Master: After

Master Bath: After

Living Room: After

There is a lot of clean up to do this week. After everything is spotless we will prime and paint. The cleaning, priming, and painting, hopefully, will not be as difficult as the popcorn turned out to be.

On the plus side, I am developing giant guns.

Filed under: our house, photos

14 Responses to “starting the renovations”

Michelle Says:

YAY for renovation accomplishments!
Seems like we were in the same boat for the holiday weekend. Good luck!

September 4th, 2007 at 10:22 am

onebigholidau Says:

wow, great job! I’m glad you are gaining big muscles from hard labor!

September 4th, 2007 at 2:32 pm

Adam Osgood Says:

Congratulations on your first home. Your house is going to be awesome. How exciting!

September 4th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

Tina Says:

Thanks, Adam! Now you HAVE to come visit.

September 4th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

Kelsea Parks Says:

I can’t believe how much you guys got done. Bravo! I can’t wait to see what it looks like by the end of the month.

September 4th, 2007 at 5:54 pm

Rosie Says:

Aw! I wish I were there to help out! It sounds like you guys got -a lot- done with all that de-popcorning! I hope the process is even smoother from here for you all.

As for them big guns:

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/949/tinaqz0.jpg

September 5th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

Tina Says:

Aaahahahahaha! Rosie, you are ridiculously hilarious as always!

September 5th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

Ariel Says:

Wow, that is an amazing project! Good luck!

September 6th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

Tina Says:

Thanks, Ariel! I’ll need luck as I try to find time to finish this project!

September 6th, 2007 at 1:55 pm