Monday, November 14, 2011

Hallways 11-14-11

BEFORE


AFTER

What better way to begin the Holidays 2011 than with a new project? The hallways were in dire need of a new paint job and some decluttering. There are three hallways with two sets of stairs. Lots of spackling and sanding was needed on the old plaster walls, and two coats of Lemongrass covered beautifully.

The trim remains to be done, and that will require some more patching, and perhaps even sanding off the multiple coats on paint in some specific areas.

One problem area was scraping off the cracked caulk I had put along the baseboard running up the 1st floor stairs. After scraping it, I saw why I had done it in the first place - there were huge gaps at the top. The new remedy is to use wood putty to close the gaps. It's drying now and looks like it will work just fine.

Another problem area is this very old paper that is covering almost all of the walls in the house. It's not normal wallpaper. The house is 125 years old, and I believe this wallpaper is not much younger than that. I painted over it almost 11 years ago, and now I have painted over it again. That in itself is not a problem, but there are spots where the paper is cracked or ripped or buckled. I hesitate to remove all of it, because I assume it was put over the paster for a reason. The places where I did peel it off revealed a brown paper backing that very easily comes off with a damp rag. And a little joint compound over the peeled paper worked fine. I've never seen this anywhere else.

I will take my time with the decorating, as the walls look really good, and I want to enjoy them before I clutter things up again. I admit it, I have a tendency to do so without really realizing how cluttered things become.

This batch of home improvements is all about minimalism. Well, my kind of minimalizing anyway.


I had a mirror put on the back of this salvaged window and added hooks from IKEA. I need to paint the risers of the stairs and add large house numbers as the decorative element.


2nd floor landing with an old rotary phone that came with the house. It still works and can be reached from the shower just inside this door.


2nd floor hallway with a quilt made from men's suits that I got at an auction.


Steps to the 3rd floor


3rd floor hallway looking south


3rd floor hallway looking north